Betsy Duffy, Director of Language Arts and Instruction, met with Dr. Hogan about Windward’s curriculum and shared the School’s extensive online instructional materials, protocols, and resources available to teachers. With Ms. Duffy, Dr. Hogan also met with Windward’s Coordinators of Language, Nicole Berkowitz, Christine Cruz, and Diane Happas to discuss aspects of the School’s specialized language-based program. Topics of discussion included the need for multi-layered classroom interventions and the ways in which vocabulary, syntax, and narrative and expository discourse can be supported through rich classroom discussion, comprehension monitoring, retelling, summarization, and think-alouds.

Before preparing for The Windward School’s Fall Community Lecture that evening, Dr. Hogan shared lunch with Windward faculty and members of the school’s senior leadership team; then she met with Jamie Williamson, Head of School and Executive Director of The Windward Institute, to discuss topics related to assessment, leadership, and the impact of the pandemic on diagnosis, instruction, and learning.

Later in the day, friends and colleagues of Windward—including local school administrators, thought leaders, and literacy specialists—attended the Fall Community Lecture Researcher’s Reception on campus. Guests were fortunate to share in a special Q&A with Dr. Hogan, which addressed questions about English Language Learners, dyslexia and DLD screeners, and listening comprehension.

With more than 1,000 registrants for the lecture, the day and evening Dr. Hogan spent at The Windward School will undoubtedly have a lasting impact, not only on the Windward community, but also on the countless educators and advocates committed to early diagnosis and evidence-based instruction for children with language-based learning disabilities.

Watch the recording of the lecture here