The Beacon

Throughout her career, Dr. Gillis has steadfastly worked to improve reading education for all children, especially students with dyslexia, by targeting teacher preparation and professional development, shaping state policy, and broadening education and information about reading.

A recent study by Capin et al. sheds new light on the profiles of students with significant reading comprehension difficulties and casts a lantern’s glow on important considerations for reading interventions targeted toward these students. 

The various circles within schools must link together with the support of administration and dedicate themselves to advocating for and building upon the foundational needs of not just the students but themselves, the teachers, and the families.

Just as science has informed our understanding of the reading brain and instruction, researchers are also providing expertise into this process through a lens of implementation science.

Positive reviews of RR have been countered by an ever-increasing number of reports that are critical of RR and cast doubts on the claims that RR is effective and research based.

In the first two articles of this series, I discussed the importance of pairing a solid core reading program with universal screening and pairing a solid intervention program with screening for dyslexia. This article will explore crafting a coherent framework for professional development. 

In the quest to meet the needs of students, inclusion of historically invisible populations such as English Language Learners (ELL) must be at the forefront.  

The Windward School, through the Windward Institute and its affiliation with the Haskins Global Literacy Hub, has played a significant role in the process of translating research findings into research-based and research-informed practices and programs for the benefit of its students and the larger educational community. 

Winning in reading education means collectively recognizing the efforts already made and looking ahead toward fostering further collaboration to reach more children through a more equitable, scalable, and sustainable lens.  

Skilled use of language is one of a teacher’s greatest, most valuable, and potent tools, if it is well and wisely used.

The first step in improving reading outcomes for all students is recognizing that most learners will struggle at some point in their academic journeys, and there must be supports in place to address learning gaps as they occur. 

Individually and together, Emerson and Georgette Dickman’s impact on education and in supporting the livelihood of countless individuals with dyslexia is prolific and unmatched.

Framing the notion of screening solely as a means to identify students with dyslexia has had the effect of minimizing a much larger issue.