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2023 CONFERENCE AGENDA

Monday, October 2, 2023

EARLY ARRIVAL

Early Check-In
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Location: Oncenter, Gallagher Hall

The Reading League’s Reading Buddies™ Season 3 Launch Party
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Location: Exhibition Hall A

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

DAY ONE

Breakfast and Check-In
7:30 AM – 9:00 AM

Location: Oncenter, Gallagher Hall

Opening Address & Keynote
9:30 AM – 11:00 AM

Location: Civic Center Theater

Opening Address from The Reading League
Keynote Address from Kareem Weaver: Literacy, Liberation, and Love

The education sector is filled with goodwill and the desire to provide education that empowers students. We will examine the inextricable link between love and the development of literacy skills that lead to self-determination.

Kareem Weaver

Kareem Weaver is a Co-Founder and Executive Director of FULCRUM, which partners with stakeholders to improve reading results for students. He is the Oakland NAACP’s 2nd Vice President and Chair of its Education Committee; his advocacy is featured in the upcoming film The Right to Read. Mr. Weaver previously served as New Leaders’ Executive Director of the Western Region and was an award-winning teacher and administrator. He has undergraduate degrees from Morehouse College and a master’s in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina. Mr. Weaver believes in the potential of all students, the brotherhood of man, and the importance of service above self. His educational heroine, for literacy instruction, is the late Marva Collins.

Exhibition Hall Viewing
11:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Visit sponsors and vendors in Exhibition Hall B

Breakout Session #1
11:30AM – 12:30 PM

Oral Language is the Engine and High-Quality Reading Instruction is the Fuel
Dr. Pamela Snow

In this session, the Language House Model (Snow, 2021) will be used as a way of considering similarities and differences between oral language and reading, writing, and spelling. Key dimensions of spoken and written language will be considered (phonology, morphology, syntax, vocabulary, pragmatics, and discourse). Particular emphasis will be placed on the fact that oral language skills are biologically primary, and reading, writing, and spelling skills are biologically secondary (Geary, 2008). Although children have different starting points by virtue of the home language and literacy environments they have experienced, the instructional environment is the one that teachers can influence. Ways of doing so, using the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986) and Scarborough’s Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2009) as conceptual frameworks, will be discussed.

Language Comprehension and Developmental Language Disorder: Attending to the Other Side of the Simple View of Reading
Dr. Tiffany Hogan

Reading comprehension scores are not improving in the US. Reading comprehension involves two primary skills: the ability to read words (word recognition), and the ability to understand the language created by these words (language comprehension). Recent legislation, reporting, and discussions have focused on evidence-based curricula for word reading, and how to best identify and treat children with dyslexia, who have a primary deficit in word reading. In this seminar, the focus will be on assessment and curricula for stimulating language comprehension. Participants will learn about recent advocacy for children with specific language comprehension impairments, those with Developmental Language Disorder, including how to identify and support these children. Developmental Language Disorder is a common learning disability — 10% of children are affected, or 1-2 in each classroom — but one that is often hidden, with only 20% of cases identified for support. This lack of identification means that these children go on to have reading comprehension problems, often as late-emerging poor readers who fall through the cracks. Participants will leave with a better understanding of language comprehension, ‘other’ side of the Simple View of Reading.

Fact Not Fiction: The Science of Reading Includes Comprehension Instruction
Nancy Hennessey

It’s time to face the facts and recognize the reality that the science of reading does address comprehension and instructional practice. This session will examine what the research has revealed about comprehension and the critical contributors to making meaning. Additionally, participants will explore how that understanding can inform an instructional framework that addresses both the acquisition of literacy skills and content. Then, they will experience examples of instructional tools for acquiring the necessary language skills and knowledge that support readers’ understanding and application of what they have learned from their texts.

The Science of Teaching Letters: Maximizing Learning and Engagement
Dr. Theresa Roberts

This session focuses on emerging evidence on how to teach young children alphabet letter names and letter sounds. Overall, this evidence reveals that small details of instruction influence learning. These details include what alphabet content to teach, the instructional routines to teach it, and the most favorable classroom contexts in which to teach it. Evidence of the effects of these variations in the what, how, and context of letter instruction will be presented. A unique feature of this emerging science is that both learning and engagement outcomes have been assessed. Preliminary findings from new classroom research investigating the effectiveness of teaching letters when letter forms are embedded in pictures in particular ways will be presented. This most recent research includes a study in which kindergarten teachers provided instruction using letters embedded in letter characters, and another in which embedded letter instruction was provided by short, animated videos that can be played on most any device. Finally, a novel approach to early literacy instruction in which letter sound instruction, phonemic awareness instruction, and decoding instruction are bundled together for preschool-age children or kindergarten intervention will be described. Video clips of children engaged in effective learning routines will be shared. Detailed outlines of lesson formats leading to enhanced letter-learning will be provided. This research was carried out in deep collaboration with Aparna Ramanathan, Gennie Gorbeck, Patricia Vadasy, Elizabeth Sanders, and Carol Sadler.

Translating Research at Scale: Problems, Progress, and a Path Forward
Dr. Neena Saha

Assuming that colleges of education begin to teach reading science, how are education professionals supposed to stay informed of current research developments? The Problem: This talk will do a deep dive into the problems that the field currently faces when it comes to translating research at scale, including: 1) the paywall problem & access to research, 2) the aggregation of research across journals, 3) understanding scientific jargon, 4) scientific literacy and understanding how to “translate” the results to the classroom, and 5) synthesis across studies (some with conflicting findings). Some Progress (in Medicine): Next, I will show how the field of medicine has “solved” the above problems through non-profit Standards of Care (such as the American Heart Association’s Guidelines & Statements), as well as commercial applications such as Wolters Kluwer’s UpToDate App. I’ll share my thoughts on how these compare to different resources we currently have in education, including the IES Practice Guides. A Path Forward (for Education): Finally, I end with a path forward that draws upon the progress made from medicine. I will present a framework for a sustainable, scalable, lovable way of keeping educators informed of the research they need to best serve their students. I will open this up for discussion and feedback.

Effective Reading Instruction with Decodable Texts: What, Why and How
Alexandra Harper

Choosing the right decodable books for your students means they will never be asked to read a book that is too difficult for them — children LOVE to read them because they CAN read them. As part of our exploration of best practices, we’ll investigate what makes a good decodable book, and how to choose the right decodables for our students, before we delve into how to use them. The way decodable books are used matters. Evidence-based reading instruction using decodable texts is explicit and engaging, building students’ decoding, reading fluency, and comprehension skills. We’ll walk through a format for effective small group reading instruction, and attendees will take away some templates and sample resources to use in their own setting with their students. At Little Learners Love Literacy®, we call decodable books our ‘secret ingredient’ to success—join this breakout session to find out why!

Lunch & Author Signing
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM

Location: Exhibition Hall A

Breakout Session #2
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

The Science of Reading Goes to College
Dr. Stephanie Stollar
Dr. Amy Murdoch

Around the world, hundreds of college and university professors are expanding their knowledge of reading research and revising their courses so that they can prepare undergraduate- and graduate-level educators to teach reading effectively. This session will feature the stories of these brave innovators and the collaborative networks they have formed to support their work. Highlights will include recent events, publications, webinars, podcasts, cross-program collaborations, partnerships with PK-12, and state and agency initiatives that are getting results. The audience will be asked to provide input on future directions for this work. Educator Preparation Providers at all levels are encouraged to attend, as is anyone invested in improving the alignment of higher education and reading science.

An Adaptive, Scientific Response to Uncertainty: Improving Reading Instruction by Learning From Other Disciplines
Dr. Steven Dykstra

Sometimes, the answers aren’t absolutely clear, and anyone who works with humans knows that things don’t always go according to plan. There are better and worse ways to respond to uncertain situations and unexpected events, and we can learn a lot from other disciplines like medicine, psychotherapy, physical therapy, and other professions that all cope with similar challenges. We will explore how those professionals deal with various forms of ambiguity, and why the “mastery of how” needs the “deep understanding of why” in order to be truly effective at any scientific craft. We’ll discuss the limits of observation, the critical importance of explanatory models, and the dangers of holding on too tightly to what we believe, lest we end up like others and create more of a religion than a scientific profession.

Orthographic Mapping and Phase Theory: Translating the Research to Guide Practice
Dr. Katharine Pace Miles

This presentation will review Ehri’s well-substantiated theories of Orthographic Mapping and Phases of Word Reading and Spelling Development. Dr. Miles will explain how these theories provide an essential framework for instruction to support emergent readers. Examples of the research that support both theories will be presented, and connections will then be made to Share’s Self-Teaching Hypothesis and Perfetti and Hart’s Lexical Quality Hypothesis. Dr. Miles will include hands-on activities and ground the theories in practice to support translation to practice.

S.P.A.R.K. a Transformation of Tier 1 – Why, What, and How
Dr. Melissa McCray
Angy Graham

After 20+ years of Balanced Literacy, current overall and subgroup district data demanded change come to our A-rated district. We noticed student writing diminishing, reading scores declining, and more and more students being referred to Tier II or Tier III. Students were testing into Special Education or being diagnosed with dyslexia at a concerning rate. The current Tier I model of instruction being employed in our district was not teaching all our students to read, write, or think critically at grade level as evidenced by the fact that 39% of our students were not proficient readers. As the percentage of non-readers grew, so did the number of small groups teachers were expected to meet with on a weekly basis. Plain and simple, we were missing the “…95% can learn to read…” goal. The proverbial white towel had to be thrown in on Balanced Literacy and a systems approach to transitioning to structured literacy grounded in the reading research became necessary. We implemented a slow walk to a system-wide shift in our instructional practices grounded in research. We began with our own elementary curriculum team members by digging into the research. We then rolled out a soft implementation by working with schools to implement explicit phonemic awareness and phonics instruction based on screening and diagnostic data. Simultaneously, we provided professional development to our principals and assistant principals on the basics of structured literacy and the science of reading via our district elementary principal’s academy. This session will explore the why, what, and how of our transition from Balanced Literacy to Structured Literacy across all content areas in the elementary division of our Pre-K through Grade 12 system.

The Reading League Chapters: Moving the Mission Forward Together
Andrea Setmeyer

Join National Chapter Coordinator, Andrea Setmeyer, and a panel of chapter leaders for an in-depth look at the impact chapters are having in advancing The Reading League’s mission throughout the country. Meet the leaders that are doing this important work and hear the challenges and successes involved in moving the science of reading forward at a statewide level. Whether your state has a chapter yet or not, participants will come away with insights into how collaboration, knowledge-building, and leadership are essential elements for building a local movement.

School Psychologists and the Science of Reading: Implications for Assessment and Intervention
Dr. Michelle Storie

This presentation will provide an overview of the scientific research into reading followed by an in-depth discussion of its implications for school psychologists. Attendees will identify the components that lead to skilled reading and analyze whether their current assessment tools are measuring each of these elements. Participants will learn which measures should be incorporated into reading disability evaluations and identify any gaps in their current assessment practices. Participants will also learn how to evaluate their school’s reading curriculum and intervention practices to determine whether they align with current research. Participants will leave with knowledge of tools that could be incorporated into their assessment batteries and methods for evaluating the reading intervention practices in their districts. In addition, participants will learn strategies and advocacy techniques to promote evidence-based reading instruction in their districts.

Breakout Session #3
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM

Why I Love This Language: In Celebration of English Orthography
Dr. Louisa Moats

The English spelling system is much maligned for its irregularities. Nevertheless, we and our students can make sense of it, make our peace with it, and even learn to love it. To do so, we must understand and draw on several kinds of information: phoneme-grapheme correspondences; the positions of sounds and spellings in words; the arbitrary constraints on letter-use imposed by printers, scribes, and dictionary makers; the meanings and uses of words and their constituent morphemes; and the history or etymology of a word. In this session, I’ll share some recent discoveries of my own about the fascinating ways that sound, spelling, meaning, and usage interact to explain words in English. The goal is to fuel your passion for teaching a glorious language.

Comprehension is an OUTCOME
Dr. Anita Archer

Whether it is reading comprehension in elementary or secondary grades, the same big ideas must be addressed with research-validated practices to ensure student success.

  1. Can students read the words?
  2. Do students know the meaning of critical vocabulary?
  3. Do students have the necessary background knowledge for the passage?
  4. Do students use powerful strategies for focusing cognition on critical content in text?

In this session, Dr. Archer will address each of these questions with current research. Leave with procedures that you can put into practice immediately. Target Audience: Educators serving Grades 2 – 8

Early Phonological Awareness Must-Dos and How-Tos
Dr. Lucy Hart Paulson

Phonological awareness (PA) is a vital foundation for learning to read and write. These important skills begin to develop early in young children’s lives as they become sensitive to the phonological structures of the words they hear and those they are learning to say. This session describes PA developmental sequences with age expectations and instructional strategies to playfully model, teach, and facilitate PA skill development in everyday early childhood classroom routines. Check out the activities shared and see how they match up with what you are already doing.

Language Variation and Reading: Rethinking our Approach
Dr. Julie Washington

Teaching reading to children who speak language varieties that differ in important ways from the structure of print adds an additional layer of complexity not only to reading acquisition, but also to reading instruction. Language variation is particularly important to consider for children who are dense users of cultural and/or regional dialects of English. For African American children, high dialect use suggests that the SOR must include integration of dialect into the teaching of reading in order to facilitate development of strong, automatic reading abilities. In this way, high density speakers of African American English would be permitted to utilize their full linguistic repertoires to support the development of reading skills, including and beyond foundational reading. This presentation addresses the use of dialect in African American children and the importance of considering translanguaging instructional approaches to improve outcomes for students who present strong, within language variation.

A Discussion About Translating Reading Science to Evidence-Based Practice: Processes, Barriers, and Successes
Dr. Emily Solari
Dr. Tiffany Hogan
Dr. Jessica Toste

The translation of scientific findings into evidence-based practices in authentic school and community settings can be a challenge. This panel will disucss the how scientific knowledge can be successfully translated to bridge the research to practice gap.

Why the Parent Voice Needs a Seat at the Table
Lauren Taylor
Ashely Roberts

During this breakout session you’ll be able to learn why parents, the very individuals in the trenches fighting for their children to be afforded the RIGHT to learn to read, deserve a seat at the table. You’ll hear how a mother’s fight to prevent history from repeating itself with her dyslexic son led to her child being able to master decoding inside a public school district in Metro Atlanta. A lifelong battle with dyslexia mapping back 85 years in our family set the scene for what I knew: I would have a 50% chance of having to take this on myself when my own son entered the halls of that K-12 setting. As a child, I watched as my mother fought tooth and nail for my younger sibling to be given the same rights as her peers. My sister, like my son, is dyslexic and dysgraphic. I watched as the best school district in the country attempted to place her inside a self-contained classroom, claiming she was plotting against her teachers, accusing her of being defiant and not intelligent enough to learn. I as a child watched the war my mother waged on behalf of her youngest daughter. My sister, like my son, was able to read fluently by the end of third grade due to the years of advocacy put in by our mother. My son left public school in fourth grade having mastered decoding as well as being able to read fluently without the need for any accommodations. During this fight for my son, I had to explain to administrators, superintendents, and everyone else, that dyslexia was never just dyslexia. You’ll learn in this session how I as a mother not only made sure my child was identified and on an IEP by the age of 3 years old, but how I also made sure my son was immersed in Orton-Gillingham an hour a day, five days a week, inside a unicorn of a public school in Dekalb County. We never hired a tutor. We never went to an academic summer camp aimed at “catching him up.” We want the audience to understand that we as parents are charged with being our child’s case manager, their mentor, their tutor, and their unpaid attorney. We do everything we can for our children.

All Attendee Reception
5:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Location: TBD

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

DAY TWO

Breakfast and Check-In
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM

Location: Oncenter, Gallagher Hall

Breakout Session #4
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM

Why I Love This Language: In Celebration of English Orthography
Dr. Louisa Moats

The English spelling system is much maligned for its irregularities. Nevertheless, we and our students can make sense of it, make our peace with it, and even learn to love it. To do so, we must understand and draw on several kinds of information: phoneme-grapheme correspondences; the positions of sounds and spellings in words; the arbitrary constraints on letter-use imposed by printers, scribes, and dictionary makers; the meanings and uses of words and their constituent morphemes; and the history or etymology of a word. In this session, I’ll share some recent discoveries of my own about the fascinating ways that sound, spelling, meaning, and usage interact to explain words in English. The goal is to fuel your passion for teaching a glorious language.

Necessary But Not Sufficient: Being Able to Read Isn’t Enough, It Isn’t Even the Goal
Dr. Steven Dykstra

In the latest and most mature discussion of how and where reading and language fit in the process of modern human development (we’ll cover what that means, or at least what it should mean), there are no limits to where we’ll go. Language and reading are critical to human success in the modern world for nearly everyone, but to enjoy the real fruits of living we need more—a lot more—and the same children who are most likely to struggle with reading are also most likely to get short-changed in other ways. While learning to read is important, it isn’t enough; it isn’t even the goal, and if we fixed reading instruction tomorrow, there would still be a lot we need to advocate for if every child is going to have their best chance. Talking about it helps us put better reading instruction in an important perspective.

Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines: What, Why, and How?
Kari Kurto

Join National Science of Reading Project Director, Kari Kurto, and TRL curriculum consultants for a presentation on The Reading League’s Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines. This popular resource has undergone several changes since it was first posted in 2021. Come to this session to learn about the important shifts, and how to use this seminal resource. This interactive session will include opportunities to rate curricular materials, and it will also provide information on how to leverage the added citations to steer important conversations with colleagues on the science of reading. Participants will also learn about exciting next steps that The Reading League is taking in supporting stakeholders in understanding if their instructional materials align to the science of reading. You won’t want to miss these exciting announcements!

Advancing Student Learning through Complex Text Instruction
Mitchell Brookins

For over a decade, literacy teachers have been charged with supporting students in honing their skills in navigating increasingly grade-level, complex texts. In this session, Mitchell Brookins will share action research from a New Orleans school site where he supported the implementation of an instructional routine that engaged middle school students in building their word knowledge, syntactic awareness, and writing skills. Participants will learn how to plan and deploy teaching strategies that develop students’ capacity to go beyond retelling and move toward a deeper understanding of complex texts.

Expanding Our Reach: How The Reading League Is Working to Diversify the SOR Space
Dr. Altheria Caldera

To help realize its mission of advancing the awareness, understanding, and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction, TRL has prioritized expanding its reach to underserved communities. The ultimate goal is to help ensure that all children receive reading instruction that is rooted in the science of how children learn to read. In 2022, TRL entered into a 3-year contract with a DEIB consultant to help the organization do this work. Dr. Caldera will provide an overview of her work with the League, share Year 1 accomplishments, and reveal plans for the next two years.

Improving Reading Outcomes Among English Learners
Dr. Philip Capin

Despite their significant potential, many English learners have difficulty meeting grade level expectations in reading and content-area classes. Dr. Capin will describe evidence-based literacy practices that can be integrated during content-area instruction. These practices benefit all middle school students, but are particularly critical to the development of English learners. Dr. Capin will also present recommendations for intensive interventions for English learners with reading difficulties.

Breakout Session #5
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Getting Them All Engaged – The Power of Active Participation
Dr. Anita Archer

Do you have students who are not attending or participating during your lessons? In this session, Dr. Archer will present research validated procedures for actively involving ALL students in instruction including the use of verbal responses (e.g., choral responses, precision partner sharing, structured discussions, and non-volunteer individual responses), written responses (e.g., short written responses), and action responses (e.g., gestures, hand signals, and hold-ups). In addition, procedures for involving all students in the reading of classroom materials will be presented. Procedures will be explained, demonstrated, and practiced. Examples will represent a variety of courses and age levels. Audience: Educators serving K – 8th grade students

High Frequency Words: An Update on Research to Support Translation to Practice
Dr. Katharine Pace Miles

This presentation will provide an up-to-date review of the research on high frequency words. Dr. Miles will breakdown experimental findings, as well as important action research, to support the translation of research to practice. She will also present her most recent work with colleagues on analyzing the orthographic regularity of one of the most popular high frequency word lists. Dr. Miles will summarize what evidence is and is not yet available with regards to instructional approaches for high frequency words.

Rewriting the Script: A Blueprint for Improving Literacy Outcomes
Kristen Wynn
Jill Webb Hoda

This session highlights the implementation of key initiatives and strategies set forth by Mississippi’s literacy leaders to continuously improve reading and writing outcomes for students.

Sound Walls Across Languages: The Cross-Linguistic Transference of Skills
Dr. Antonio Fierro
Nereida Antunez-Gamon

As word walls evolve to linguistically based sound walls, so too do classroom teachers’ approaches to their children’s learning of our language, moving from speech to print and targeting the articulatory features that create each phoneme. But what if a phoneme does not exist in the child’s native language, or if it does, what if it is not articulated in the same position as it is in English? This is only the beginning, as the connection between phonemes and graphemes adds even more complexity to the learning. This session will focus on the transference of linguistic skills from one language to another, and what can be done to lighten students’ cognitive workload.

Instruction to Support Comprehension in Content-Area Classrooms
Colby Hall

The most powerful approach to improving student reading comprehension involves teaching reading comprehension across the school day, including during content-area instruction. But secondary content-area teachers frequently circumvent the need for students to read text: they convey content knowledge via videos, PowerPoints, or lectures; and they read text aloud to students (e.g., Swanson, 2015). In this presentation, Hall will talk about ways content-area teachers can scaffold students’ text reading to ensure content knowledge acquisition and contribute to improvements in reading comprehension skill.

Word Connections: Implementation of a Multisyllabic Word Reading Intervention Program for Upper Elementary Students
Dr. Jessica Toste

As students move into the upper elementary grades, they face greater amounts of texts with more complex words, yet many lack a systematic approach for decoding these words. Students with reading disabilities (RD), even those who have attained foundational reading skills, often experience substantial difficulty with multisyllabic words. This session will provide an overview of processes involved in multisyllabic word reading and describe research-based instructional practices that comprise the Word Connections program. Word Connections is a supplemental, targeted reading intervention program for students in third grade and above. It includes 40 lessons (40-min.) focused on multisyllabic word reading fluency. The Word Connections program has been tested with students identified as with or at-risk for RD, and findings from three experimental studies have demonstrated positive effects (i.e., Filderman & Toste, 2022; Toste et al., 2017; 2019). Specifically, students who participated in the intervention showed greater gains in word reading and decoding, reading comprehension, spelling, and accurate reading of both isolated affixes and multisyllabic words. In this session, we will demonstrate the instructional routines used for each of the seven Word Connections activities and discuss considerations for effective implementation.

Lunch & Author Signing
11:30 AM – 12:45 PM

Location: Exhibition Hall A

Breakout Session #6
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Read, Rede, Reed, Red – How Misspellings Inform Instruction
Dr. Carol Tolman

Just use a mirror, look at your mouth, and make your mouth look like mine”, I’d say as students misspelled words in their journals. As a teacher in elementary, middle, and high schools, I was proud of the knowledge I gained to support students’ phonological spelling errors. I quickly learned, however, that there was so much more to consider! Join this session to explore the importance of articulatory gestures, orthographic patterns, morphemes, and semantics/syntax when responding to students’ misspellings. We’ll have fun while learning how to ‘work smarter, not harder’!

School Transformation Toward Evidence Aligned Reading Instruction: A Marathon Not a Sprint
Dr. Heidi Beverine-Curry

Hear from a panel of school leaders who are doing it! Join us as they share their successes, obstacles, and solutions. Time for Q&A will be provided.

Keys to Early Writing Instruction
Joan Sedita

What are effective, evidence-based practices for teaching beginning writing to students in grades K through 3? After a brief review of early writing research, this session will identify the components of writing instruction that are developmentally appropriate for young students, and aligned to The Writing Rope framework (Sedita, 2018). This includes transcription skills (spelling, handwriting); drawing/labels/lists; sentence and paragraph writing; introduction to the writing process (think, plan, write, revise); basic text structure for informational, opinion and narrative text; and the importance of an engaged community of writers.

What’s All the Buzz About Morphological Awareness?
Dr. Deborah Glaser

How do I teach morphology? Is morphology important in the early grades? Is it important for students to learn the meanings of affixes and roots? These are the kinds of questions teachers are asking, and with greater urgency as time passes and they are hearing more about it. Missing from the questions asked, is “What is morphological awareness?” In the early grades: Morphology, as a morphophonemic system, lends itself to instruction through oral and receptive language learning. Then, through orthography with early inflectional suffixes: plurals, past tense, and comparatives. Spelling, writing, an oral language focus, and phonics lessons are all ripe with opportunities to create morpheme awareness. Intermediate grades: As students’ reading materials and areas of study begin presenting ‘big words,’ words built upon Latin stems with a greater variety of prefixes introduced, morphological instruction becomes much more directed and purposeful. Over 87,000-word families can be attributed to morphological combinations. Knowledge and awareness of these word parts, along with curiosity and research to answer questions about words, can create classrooms rich with word study. Teachers can learn morphology alongside their students and over time, develop confidence in their morphological awareness instruction. They need a system to follow. They need structured approaches that can be implemented easily within the framework of their existing literacy block. They need to see how morphology plays out throughout the day in their classrooms in order to purposefully approach and teach this important skill.

Improving Reading Comprehension through Evidence-Based Instruction
Dr. Amy Elleman

Reading comprehension requires the coordination of a complex set of cognitive skills. Despite decades of research devoted to comprehension research, reading achievement has remained stagnant in the U.S. In this session, we will consider why students struggle with reading comprehension, and what can be done about it. The session will cover current research in key factors undergirding comprehension including vocabulary, inference generation, knowledge acquisition, and motivation. Participants will learn how to support students’ vocabulary development, inference generation, and knowledge acquisition using evidence-based instructional strategies. Literacy educators will leave the session with practical, research-supported strategies and resources to add to their comprehension teaching toolbox.

Understanding the Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory (R-TFI)
Dr. Kim St. Martin

The Reading Tiered Fidelity Inventory (R-TFI) is a school-level MTSS fidelity assessment designed to help elementary and secondary schools assess their level of implementation for the reading components of an MTSS framework. The classroom-focused questions in the R-TFI align with the Simple View of Reading, the Simple View of Writing, and a variety of literacy IES Practice Guide recommendations. Social, emotional, and behavioral supports are also integrated into the assessment since safe, predictable, and engaging classroom environments are needed to maximize learning. The R-TFI also specifies the teaming structures needed to successfully implement MTSS and assists those teams in continuous improvement. The session will provide an overview of the tool, the constructs it is built upon, and how to administer, score, and use the data for ongoing action planning.

Breakout Session #7
2:15 PM – 3:15 PM

Fluency: Reading FAST or Reading Well?
Dr. Jan Hasbrouck

Fluency is essential for skillful and motivated reading, but it is often misunderstood. This session defines reading fluency and clarifies the link between fluency and comprehension. The role of fluency assessments and effective fluency instruction will also be discussed.

A 4-Step Process to Making Words Stick
Lyn Stone

We know that orthographic mapping happens best if word learning is initially driven via the phonological route. But what about those words that don’t conform to the rules? What about polysyllabic words? Homophones? Schwa vowel-words? Syllable elision? Relying only on sounding out words for spelling isn’t going to get your students very far. How can we help children learn the tens of thousands of so-called ‘irregular’ words out there? By taking four steps. In this session, Lyn Stone will take you through the four steps used at her busy practice. She will use a variety of simple to complex words. Using this technique, educators will equip their students with:

  • The ability to study any English word in a useful, memorable way
  • A deeper understanding of our writing system and its conventions
  • High-quality tools to help lessen the impact of dyslexia and other language-based disorders

Language Variation and Literacy: Where Do We GO From Here?
Dr. Brandy Gatlin-Nash

For this session, the speaker will summarize research on relations between language and literacy outcomes for children. The session will focus on language diversity, in particular, nonmainstream dialects of American English, and describe features of African American English. The speaker will detail empirical research findings on relations between nonmainstream dialect use and literacy achievement. Finally, the speaker will discuss implications for classroom instruction and assessment for linguistically diverse learners and provide research-based recommendations for stakeholders.

Not Just for Phonics: Using Structured Literacy to Help Students with Varied Reading Problems
Louise Spear-Swerling

Structured Literacy approaches are often associated with students who have difficulties in decoding, such as those with dyslexia. However, Structured Literacy can benefit students with a variety of reading problems, including not only dyslexia, but also reading difficulties based in language and text comprehension. This presentation explains the key content and features of Structured Literacy, as well as why Structured Literacy can be effective with different profiles of reading difficulties. It describes multiple examples of Structured Literacy activities for helping struggling readers in the K-8 grade range, including those with problems based in vocabulary, syntax, and other components of language comprehension, as well as phonics.

How Knowing the Logic of English Eliminates the Need for Sight Words and Cueing
Denise Eide

As we learn more about the Science of Reading, podcasts like “Sold a Story” and movies such as “The Truth about Reading” are helping to bring forward a focused conversation around classroom practices. In this session, we will explore why so many teachers and programs blend cueing and whole word memorization with phonics. Together, we will discover how you can replace cueing and sight words with logical answers for English spelling that empower students with the ability to decode. We will discuss accurate and complete phonics rules to explain high-frequency words, vocabulary found in children’s books, and academic vocabulary. Denise will model a method for teaching spelling analysis that helps students to orthographically map words and develop the skills needed to analyze all words. You will leave this workshop with free resources to help you answer students’ questions about decoding and spelling, as well as some free learning activities to try in your classroom. This session will not only equip you with the phonograms and rules that unlock 98% of English words, but it will also inspire you with new ways to get your students fired up about reading and writing.

Why the Parent Voice Needs a Seat at the Table
Lauren Taylor
Ashely Roberts

During this breakout session, you’ll be able to learn why parents, the very individuals in the trenches fighting for their children to be afforded the RIGHT to learn to read, deserve a seat at the table. You’ll hear how a mother’s fight to prevent history from repeating itself with her dyslexic son led to her child being able to master decoding inside a public school district in Metro Atlanta. A lifelong battle with dyslexia mapping back 85 years in our family set the scene for what I knew: I would have a 50% chance of having to take this on myself when my own son entered the halls of that K-12 setting. As a child, I watched as my mother fought tooth and nail for my younger sibling to be given the same rights as her peers. My sister, like my son, is dyslexic and dysgraphic. I watched as the best school district in the country attempted to place her inside a self-contained classroom, claiming she was plotting against her teachers, accusing her of being defiant and not intelligent enough to learn. I as a child watched the war my mother waged on behalf of her youngest daughter. My sister, like my son, was able to read fluently by the end of third grade due to the years of advocacy put in by our mother. My son left public school in fourth grade having mastered decoding as well as being able to read fluently without the need for any accommodations. During this fight for my son, I had to explain to administrators, superintendents, and everyone else, that dyslexia was never just dyslexia. You’ll learn in this session how I as a mother not only made sure my child was identified and on an IEP by the age of 3 years old, but how I also made sure my son was immersed in Orton-Gillingham an hour a day, five days a week, inside a unicorn of a public school in Dekalb County. We never hired a tutor. We never went to an academic summer camp aimed at “catching him up.” We want the audience to understand that we as parents are charged with being our child’s case manager, their mentor, their tutor, and their unpaid attorney. We do everything we can for our children.

Snack Break
3:15 PM – 3:45 PM

Location: Exhibit Hall A

Closing Address & Keynote
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

Closing Address from The Reading League
Keynote Address from Emily Hanford: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong

In this keynote, reporter Emily Hanford will talk about her hit podcast “Sold a Story.” She’ll explain why this story needed to be told, take you behind the scenes on the making of the podcast, and share what she’s been hearing in response from teachers, parents and kids. She’ll also highlight some of the actions taken by states and school districts in recent months and provide a journalist’s perspective on what’s next for the science of reading.

Emily Hanford

Emily Hanford is a senior correspondent and producer for American Public Media. Her work has appeared on NPR and in The New York Times, Washington Monthly, The Los Angeles Times and other publications. She has won numerous honors including a duPont-Columbia University Award and the Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research Award from the American Educational Research Association. Emily is a member of the Education Writers Association’s Journalist Advisory Board and was a longtime mentor for EWA’s “new to the beat” program. For the past several years, Emily has been reporting on early reading instruction. Her 2018 podcast episode “Hard Words: Why aren’t kids being taught to read?” won the inaugural public service award from EWA. You can find all of her reporting on reading at apmreports.org/reading, including her new podcast, Sold a Story: How teaching kids to read went so wrong (soldastory.org). Emily is based in the Washington, D.C. area.

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