Decoding the Data

Dr. Jill Dunlap Brown

Jana Schmidt

What's Inside: In this episode, we chat with Dr. Jill Dunlap Brown and Jana Schmidt about their work as leaders in the field of literacy. Together Dr. Jill Brown and Jana Schmidt wrote Matching Reading Data to Interventions: A Simple Tool for Elementary Educators to serve as an accessible guide for teachers so they can better determine their student's instructional needs.

Dr. Jill Dunlap Brown has worked in the education field for 20 years as a teacher, literacy coach and Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education in a school district of 19,000 students. She is currently an Educational Consultant with Brown & Schmidt Consulting providing literacy training and support to teachers, leaders and school systems. Jana Schmidt has worked as an associate director in the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia and as an educational consultant. Jana served as a language arts coordinator for kindergarten through eighth grade in a school district with approximately 19,000 students.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

This podcast episode was sponsored by Heggerty Phonemic Awareness

From PD to Implementation in New Orleans

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What’s Inside: In this episode, we chat with three dynamic educators working to change the way teachers collaborate, teach and learn in New Orleans: Nan Sterling, Dr. Jawan Brown-Alexander, and Adrienne Dowden.

Nan Sterling serves as the Executive Director of Instructional Quality with New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO) where she provides opportunities to support charter schools with professional learning and curriculum implementation. Dr. Jawan Brown - Alexander is Chief of Schools at NSNO and Adrienne Dowden is an educational consultant and owner of ASD Educational Consulting Group, LLC. ASD a consulting company that specializes in providing on-going job embedded professional development who works with NSNO on their school-based initiatives.

Jawan, Nan and Adrienne share their experiences navigating the challenge of providing consistent, high-quality research -based professional development in a district made up of several different Charter management Organizations (CMO) while also providing the time and space for teachers to collaborate and learn across CMOs.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

This podcast episode was sponsored by Heggerty Phonemic Awareness

Leading the Charge for Change in Louisiana Literacy

What’s Inside: In this episode, we chat with Shanna Beber, Director of Literacy, and Catsaha Edwards, Literacy Professional Development Specialist, with the Louisiana Dept of Education (LDOE). Beber and Edwards share their work in Louisiana to support the initiatives passed in two recent pieces of state legislation: Senate Resolution 182 and House Resolution 222. These resolutions provided the funds and resources to establish the Early Literacy Commission whose purpose is to guide the state-wide implementation of practices rooted in the Science of Reading research base.

Beber and Edwards, both former school-based educators, are now a part of a larger team who are leading Louisiana school districts through this process by creating an approved list of professional development providers, designing accessible, "on-demand" professional development for leaders and teachers, holding office hours so that school leaders can call in for support. On the podcast, they share the insights they've gained while providing training, gathering data, and connecting with stakeholders amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruptions of hurricane season.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

This podcast episode was sponsored by Heggerty Phonemic Awareness

District Literacy Improvement for Administrators

What’s Inside: In this episode, we chat with Brent Conway, Assistant Superintendent of Pentucket Regional School District in Massachusetts about his experience with district literacy improvement. Several years ago, Brent began his administrative career as a principal of a school in danger of state takeover. With this task ahead of him, he set about doing the strenuous work of school turnaround which included changing schedules, curriculum, and mindsets. Brent is a firm believer in systematic, explicit instruction. 

Brent currently serves on the Massachusetts Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education's Literacy Champions advisory group, charged with developing the state’s Early Literacy Guidance Plan. He has contributed to the development of guidelines for schools and districts in implementing the Massachusetts Dyslexia Law and is a founding member of the Northshore Literacy Leaders group which has brought in speakers such as Emily Hanford to help build professional knowledge and dialogue around the science of reading and evidence-based practices. Brent recently spoke to the MA Board of Education on the state’s work with early literacy and serves on the MA Reading Association’s Professional Development Committee. He regularly speaks at professional conferences on the need for professional development on literacy and tiered literacy systems, among other topics.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

This podcast episode was sponsored by Heggerty Phonemic Awareness

Special Edition: Meet the Staff - Introducing Nita Cerise

This podcast episode was sponsored by Heggerty Phonemic Awareness.

In this episode, we chat with Nita Cherise, state-level trainer and podcast producer at Glean Education about her experience as a school leader, trainer, and coach about what teachers need to know about literacy instruction.

Nita explores her experience rising through the ranks from teacher to coach to school leader. She talks about how she supported her students with high quality literacy instruction and the importance of bringing your whole self to the classroom.

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Analyzing District Literacy Achievement from a School Board Member Lens

This podcast episode was sponsored by Heggerty Phonemic Awareness.

What’s inside: Palo Alto Unified is widely recognized as the one of best school districts in California, but a dive into district literacy data reveals a different story.

In this episode we chat with Todd Collins, school board member at Palo Alto Unified School District, about his journey investigating how his district was supporting their “most challenged and least resourced students”.

His exploration led to an understanding of how all districts should look at their district data with an eye to equity and how doing so can reveal important opportunities for school improvement. Todd’s data dive also prompted him not only to learn more about literacy instruction best practices to help guide decisions he may make in Palo Alto related to his board duties, but also motivated him to create the California Reading Coalition, an initiative founded with the vision of bringing reading experts and change makers together to collaborate on issues regarding literacy improvement and equity specifically related to California.

Links: See links mentioned in this podcast listed below -