A guest post by Dr. Jeffrey Lawson and Dr. Cathy Nacrelli of Cecil County Public Schools in Maryland. Right now, we need to be sharing positive stories in K–12 education! That’s true because we’re going through a tough moment – and we don’t just mean the challenge of the coronavirus. Midway through this school year, … Continue reading Cecil County Had the Highest Literacy Growth in Maryland. Here’s How We Did It.
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A guest post by Kyair Butts, a sixth grade teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools where he works with Janise Lane. I never thought I’d be explaining how curriculum helped me to navigate a global pandemic – but here we are. It’s a story that deserves to be told. In social media, I see many … Continue reading Curriculum Matters Even More in a Crisis
by Robin McClellan and Millicent Smith We have the honor and privilege of working in districts that have achieved meaningful literacy gains in recent years (more on that below). This work inspires us daily – and it would inspire you too, if you could see it. Unfortunately, we're unable to provide windows into our classrooms … Continue reading Supporting Our Fellow Equity Warriors
Most reading comprehension assessments are grounded in the belief that reading is a specialized set of skills, such as finding the main idea or identifying the author’s purpose. This may be one of the ways in which the assessment cart drives the instruction horse: on state assessments, students read a random passage they’ve never encountered … Continue reading Reading Assessments Need an Upgrade
A year ago, three of us published an editorial in EdWeek, We Have a National Reading Crisis, which seemed to strike a chord in the midst of a growing conversation about literacy. We formed a Professional Learning Network of C&I leaders dedicated to sharing our work with high-quality curriculum, because of the positive outcomes in … Continue reading A Window into the Work: Our Survey of Field Needs
This piece – authored by Jared Myracle – was originally published in the February 2020 edition of Educational Leadership and can be viewed online in that format. It has been reposted with permission from ASCD. Why I decided our district needed to move in a new direction. This past year has seen a significant uptick … Continue reading A District Leader’s Education in Early Reading
This piece — authored by Jared Myracle — was originally published by Education Week on September 2, 2019. A better way to think about curricula I can vividly remember my first few days as a new school administrator. I remember getting in a routine of greeting students as they exited buses and cars and entered the building. I remember … Continue reading The Hidden Mistake School Leaders Should Avoid This Year
I have always been passionate about equity. And the longer I have been in K–12 education, the more I appreciate curriculum as a powerful equalizer, ensuring strong teaching and learning in every classroom. This first became clear to me when I became a principal in 2005. Our school was highly impacted with a high-needs population. … Continue reading Curriculum Is Misunderstood. Let’s Overcome That, in Service of Equity.
This piece -- authored by Jared Myracle -- was originally published by Education Week on May 28, 2019. We actually know quite a bit about how to teach reading. So why don’t we do it right? Spoiler alert: The hard part about reading instruction is not figuring out how to teach reading. We actually know … Continue reading The Hard Part About Reading Instruction
We believe we're witnessing a movement that is beginning to elevate literacy and math instruction. And we'd like to talk about the role of social media, and specifically a hashtag – #CurriculumMatters – in that work. (At first blush, that might seem silly. Please stay with us!) We use social media in a lot of … Continue reading #CurriculumMatters: Let’s Bring Tangibility and Team to Essential Work via Social Media
