Greetings!
Since we last wrote, we have been engaged in many interesting conversations about literacy instruction and developments both locally and beyond. And we have been busy planning for future events. Please read further to learn about:
- The Brookline Literacy Coalition’s upcoming virtual discussion on Sunday, March 5, 8-9 pm on the topic “Literacy: What’s Social Studies got to do with it?” Our guest will be Gary Shiffman, Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator at Brookline High School. Please register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcud-GhqT8vH9NQzh_xDJUJgEZ5Jv0g02rU
- The new literacy bill proposed to the Massachusetts State Legislature that outlines requirements and opportunities for school districts to ensure their assessment, curriculum and instructional practices are aligned to the best evidence on what children need in order to become strong readers.
- Upcoming Non-BLC events and our favorite resources.
Literacy: What’s Social Studies got to do with it?
Please join us on Sunday, March, 5 from 8-9 pm for a discussion about the relationships and interactions between literacy and social studies with our guest, Gary Shiffman.
Gary is a Brookline resident and the parent of two Brookline High School graduates. He has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan and is a former Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego. He has served as Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator at Brookline High School for the past 17 years. He is also the co-creator of “The 4 Question Method”, an approach to planning and teaching history courses. Gary and his co-author, Jon Bassett, have outlined this method in the book From Story to Judgement: The 4 Question Method for Teaching and Learning Social Studies. They have worked with teachers and schools at multiple grade levels on writing and revising curriculum, and on developing effective and engaging ways of teaching history.
We will discuss the relationship of social studies content knowledge to both reading comprehension and writing. Gary will share the insights he’s gained from cognitive science, education research, and his own experiences as an educator. What are the obstacles and barriers? What are the successes?
We will discuss long-standing concerns about time spent on social studies in K-5 and the opportunities and challenges of integrating social studies and English Language Arts at different grade levels.
How can we ensure that teachers in Brookline provide robust social studies education that fosters student learning of history and civics as they develop strong literacy skills?
To spur your thinking on these themes, we invite you to:
- Watch this short video presentation, “Teaching Content Is Teaching Reading” by cognitive scientist and University of Virginia professor, Daniel Willingham.
- Read an excerpt from The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler
- Read the post, “History=Literacy” on the 4 Question Method blog
Register here to explore this important topic with us. Bring your questions and share your own experiences. You are also welcome to email us in advance with questions and issues you’d like to hear addressed in this conversation.
This is bound to be a dynamic, thought-provoking conversation. We hope to see you there!
SD 1751 and HD3566: An Act to promote high-quality comprehensive literacy instruction in all Massachusetts schools
This bill has been filed and already co-sponsored by several legislators. You can read it here.
The bill includes requirements for districts to submit strategic literacy plans and to select programs and curricula approved by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE); to provide professional development from approved vendors or from free offerings designed by the state; to assess all students from kindergarten through at least third grade using approved measures; to inform parents when students score below benchmark; to create individual reading improvement plans for students who need support and to provide intensive reading intervention until the student no longer has a deficiency in reading. It also stipulates that all districts submit their data on the number and percentage of students identified with a potential reading deficiency and the literacy intervention approaches being provided. Committee assignment and hearings will likely take place between May and July.
Legislation alone cannot bring about the changes needed in order to ensure all children learn to read well in school. And there can be unintended consequences if it is not carefully and thoughtfully crafted. However, legislation can be an important, even critical lever. The team at DESE has done a lot of great work on early literacy over the past few years and continues to do so. We think this legislation will help push districts into making use of all the available knowledge and resources in order to bring about needed improvements in their schools.
We encourage you to contact your legislator and ask them to support this bill. As this bill goes to committee, it is also very important that our legislators have a basic understanding of the issues. You might suggest that they talk to parents and teachers in their community, perhaps even visit a school, and do some reading on their own. This reading list provides some great starting off points for them to learn about the science of reading. You can find your legislator and their contact information here.
Events and resources
BU Wheelock Forum: Supporting Students with Reading Disabilities: Toward Equity and Access. March 30-31. Registration is free.
This is an amazing opportunity to hear researchers, translational scientists, practitioners, policymakers, and community members come together to share their knowledge and experiences and chart a course toward improved reading achievement for students. Speakers include Emily Hanford, a reporter who has done in-depth investigations into reading instruction (and was a guest at a 2020 event organized by the Brookline Parents Organization), and Dr. Nancy Nelson, who was our guest at the last Brookline Literacy Coalition discussion.
You can attend this free forum Thursday evening only, Friday only, or both. Early registration is encouraged if you plan to attend Friday. Some presentations will be livestreamed and available as recordings. Learn more and register here.
See, Hear, Speak is a podcast from our May speaker Dr. Tiffany Hogan about the science of language, speech, and reading development and disorders.
The podcast was created by Dr. Tiffany Hogan, a Professor at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston Massachusetts and a speech-language pathologist. Dr. Hogan studies reading, language, and speech development and disorders such as dyslexia, developmental language disorder, and speech sound disorders. The podcast covers a range of topics related to language and reading disorders, reading comprehension, implementation science, and much much more!
That’s it for now! We really hope you attend the discussion on March 5, and please don’t hesitate to reach out with your thoughts or questions.