In this final episode of our four-part adolescent literacy miniseries, Susan Lamber, Ed.D., is joined by Kymyona Burk, Ed.D., a senior policy fellow for literacy at ExcelinEd and former Mississippi state literacy director and secondary English teacher. Together, Susan and Kymyona connect what we know from early literacy to the urgent needs of middle school reading, including the policies, professional development, and practices it will take to reach the adolescent readers who need us most. They also explore what comprehensive adolescent literacy policy must include, what other states' legislative momentum for secondary literacy can teach us, and why literacy belongs in every content-area classroom.

Show notes:

• Check out our Science of Reading resources for grades 6–8.
• Read the Educator Preparation Program Literacy Policy Playbook.
• Learn more about the Advancing Adolescent Literacy Model Policy.
• Listen to Kymyona Burk's episode from Season 5.
• Learn more about Kymyona Burk.
• Connect with Kymyona Burk on LinkedIn.
• Get ready for Season 3 of the Amplify podcast Beyond My Years.
• Join our community Facebook group.
• Connect with Susan Lambert.

Quotes:

There's a literacy crisis in middle and high school, too." —Kymyona Burk

"We've been ver proactive with early literacy, but more reactive, I believe, in adolescent literacy." —Kymyona Burk

"Think more about what the students need in response to data instead of pacing." —Kymyona Burk

Timestamps*:
0:00 Introduction: Adolescent literacy policy, with Kymyona Burk, Ed.D.
5:00 "I knew how to teach English, but I did not know how to teach reading."
7:00 Comparing and contrasting early literacy and adolescent literacy policy
12:00 What good adolescent literacy policy looks like
15:00 The case for universal screeners in middle school
18:00 The Virginia Literacy Act and other states building momentum
24:00 Professional development for middle and high school educators
28:00 Advice for secondary educators
33:00 "Think more about what students need in response to data instead of pacing"
35:00 Educator preparation programs: the next frontier
39:00 Closing thoughts
*Timestamps are approximate

In this third episode of our four-part adolescent literacy miniseries, Susan Lambert, Ed.D., speaks with Jeanne Schopf, interventionist, national literacy consultant, and editor of the new book Reading Isn't Optional: Fulfilling the Promise of Literacy for Secondary Students. Susan and Jeanne discuss why belief systems about at-risk readers are often the biggest barrier to change, and why that's true at every level of a school system. They also explore how scheduling, data, and coaching serve as system-level levers that principals and teachers can use to transform secondary literacy outcomes—and why leadership remains the single most powerful lever of all.

Show notes:

• Our Summer Learning Academy is underway! Reserve your spot now to join Susan Lambert for the next session and dive deeper into the latest reading comprehension research.
• Check out our Science of Reading resources for grades 6–8.
• Read Jeanne's book Reading Isn't Optional: Fulfilling the Promise of Literacy for Secondary Students.
• Check out Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention Practices.
• Read Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–9.
• Listen to "Focused Implementation: Doing less to do more," with Doug Reeves, Ph.D.
• Get ready for Season 3 of the Amplify podcast Beyond My Years.
• Read Susan's NEW Science of Reading Substack.
• Join our community Faceook group.
• Connect with Susan Lambert.

Quotes:

"Everything rises and falls on leadership." —Jeanne Schopf

"I had to learn that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." —Jeanne Schopf

"If we really, truly want to change kids' lives and graduate readers, it's going to take all hands on deck. Everybody has to have a voice." —Jeanne Schopf

"Success is a team sport." —Jeanne Schopf

Timestamps*:
0:00 Introduction What adolescent readers really need, with Jeanne Schopf
3:00 Jeanne's journey from whole language to structured literacy
7:00 Discovering structured literacy
10:00 "We fall to the level of our systems"
15:00 "Everything rises and falls on leadership."
20:00 Belief systems and their impact on instruction and expectations
22:00 Building intervention time into the secondary schedule
26:00 What a good data meeting looks like
30:00 Reading Isn't Optional as a call for action
34:00 Inside the book: from belief to transformation
42:00 Oral language and scaffolding grade-level text
46:00 "You were never taught to read and it's not your fault"
47:00 Closing thoughts
*Timestamps are approximate

In the second episode of a special four-part Science of Reading: The Podcast adolescent literacy miniseries, Susan Lambert, Ed.D., speaks with Julie Burtscher Brown, Ed.D. a PreK–12 literacy facilitator. Julie talks about how she and her colleagues built a whole-school literacy initiative from the ground up, and what three years of data about it then revealed. Together, she and Susan also discuss why a few targeted, evidence-based practices (not sweeping overhauls) were what actually moved the needle for Julie's students; how content-area teachers can begin supporting literacy without reinventing their lessons; and what real, measurable change can look like at the secondary level when a whole school commits to the same practices.

Show notes:

• Our Summer Learning Academy is back! Reserve your spot now to join Susan Lambert to dive deeper into the latest reading comprehension research.
• Check out our Science of Reading resources for grades 6-8.
• Connect with Julie Burtscher Brown on LinkedIn.
• Learn more about the Project for Adolescent Literacy.
• Explore Structured Literacy Interventions with Secondary Students.
• Review the IES 2022 Practice Guide
• Watch: Anita Archer: Secondary Reading—Implementing High-Leverage Practices.
• Get ready for Season 3 of the Amplify podcast Beyond My Years.
• Join our community Facebook group.
• Connect with Susan Lambert.

Quotes:

"Adolescent literacy is enormous and multifaceted. There's specialized instruction that needs to happen." —Julie Burtscher Brown

"If you think of the word 'intervene' as a verb, it means to take action to prevent a predictable outcome." —Julie Burtscher Brown

"Real, meaningful change can happen." —Julie Burtscher Brown

"We reframed the word 'intervention' as an action, not a place." —Julie Burtscher Brown

Timestamps*:
01:00 Introduction: Actually moving the needle for adolescent readers, with Julie Burtscher Brown, Ed.D.
09:00 A structured literacy program at Vermont's Woodstock Union High school and Middle School
11:00 Grouping students by readiness
17:00 Moving toward a whole-school literacy initiative
23:00 High-leverage practices #1 and #2: Reading accurately and fluently
30:00 High-leverage practices #3 and #4: Building word and world knowledge and accessing complex texts
39:00 Building teacher leadership
44:00 "Adolescent literacy is enormous and multifaceted. There's specialized instruction that needs to happen."
46:00 Closing thoughts: what three years of whole-school effort produced
*Timestamps are approximate