1. Purposeful Literacy Leadership for Administrators: Start a Movement
Kristina DeWitt, PhD
Liberty University
VSRA 2016

2. Today… School-wide Literacy Assessment Start a Movement!
Principles of Adult Learning
Literacy Defined
Components of Effective Literacy Leadership
Prioritizing for Action

3. Literacy Self-Assessment
Complete the assessment related to school-wide literacy
We’ll use the results for prioritizing and action planning
When finished, be prepared to share the item needing the most attention

4. Principles of Adult Learning
Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction
Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities
Adults are most interested in learning about subjects that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life
Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented
Adults need someone (YOU) to start a movement:

5. Agree or Disagree or Both?
All teachers are teachers of reading,” (Gray, ).

6. Literacy Defined
“…the term literacy has morphed to characterize someone’s level of knowledge or competence in a particular area or subject in a multimodal society,” (Bean, 2010, p.12)
“…has come to represent a synthesis of language, thinking, and contextual practices through which people make and communicate meaning,” (Bean, )
reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing
the language of the content and discipline
socially constructed
a democratic right and an economic necessary
evolving and more rigorous as the grades increase

7. Long-term, School-wide
Across all content areas and specials
Language Arts is a content area
Three years to create a foundation
Five years to build sustainability
Expect short-term gains and slippage
Change takes time
Don’t accept the ‘this is the way we’ve always done it’ mentality
Must have follow-up and will

8. More Than a Program
High quality instruction from highly qualified teachers
Not a computer program, an intervention program, an after-school program or a summer program
Avoid and reduce the ‘lifeboat’ mentality
All students, every classroom, every day

9. Reading affects everything you do. (Stanovich)
A School-wide Culture
Mindset!
Collective thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors
Must have a 100% commitment of all teachers
What’s happening in a classroom or your school when no one is looking?
Time spent reading and writing directly impacts achievement and gaps
Matthew Effect
Reading affects everything you do. (Stanovich)

10. Increase Expectations
Teachers’ expectations of students create the school culture
A secondary student who has a teacher with high expectations is three times more likely to graduate from college than one who does not (Riddle, 2015)
Must raise teacher expectations in the midst of change
Need:
Common expectations, vocabularies, mindsets, support, and accountability

11. Improve Instruction Less teacher-talk
More student reading, writing, and speaking
Focus on systematic instructional routines based on Before, During, and After lesson cycle:
Purpose-setting for reading
Instructional level text to foster engagement
Explicit teaching of comprehension
Skills (automatic)
Strategies (self-selected)
Assessment of each lesson on individual student understanding
Time for independent reading of self-selected
Classroom libraries in every room with all genres available

12. Three Barriers to Literacy Instruction
Objection 1: “I don’t have time.”
Objection 2: “I’m not a reading teacher.”
Objection 3: “Students should already know how to read.”
Work with a partner
Craft a response to one of these statements
Be prepared to share

13. Capacity Building, Not Inspecting
Many teachers simply lack the training and resources to fully understand and implement highly effective literacy instruction
Decrease:
walk-throughs and checklists
Increase:
coaching
professional development led by teachers and administrators
strategic follow-up
celebrations of student and teacher successes

14. Focus on All Students’ Needs
School-wide assessments
Screenings
Diagnostic
Comprehension strategy-based
Formative and summative
Ensure appropriate interventions with progress monitoring
Striving readers need weekly monitoring
Strong readers may only need semester monitoring
Flexible and strategic grouping

15. Implement with Fidelity
Less is more
No more than three ‘big initiatives’ per 5 years
Conduct action research
Monitor results
Listen to your teachers
Acknowledge fatigue
Reward accomplishments

16. Grow Your Own Literacy Leaders
Build a literacy team
Rely on your instructional and literacy coaches
Determine their roles
Keep in mind: they are teachers, not administrators
The principal is the lead learner and mover
Be present, visible, and knowledgeable

17. Prioritizing for Action
Taking into consideration:
Literacy self-assessment data
Information highlighted today
What is one step you can immediately take to increase a school-wide literacy focus?
-Thank You!