Building Teacher Content Knowledge in Reading and Literacy

Strong reading and literacy skills are critical to success in school and life. We provide professional development, technical assistance, and resources to assist educators in strengthening literacy support at all levels, from designing statewide literacy programs, to incorporating reading strategies across content areas, to engaging parents in helping their children learn to read. In addition, our research and evaluation team conducts studies of reading programs to measure their effectiveness and expand our knowledge of how best to teach this core subject.

Professional Development

Services We Provide

Our Center for High-Performing Schools offers a range of professional development and consulting services to educators, schools, and districts to improve teaching and learning in reading and literacy for early childhood, elementary, and secondary settings.

Featured Work

“A lot of times, the decision as to which program to
adopt is based on the skill of the [textbook company’s] presenter. . . . [With research], you have some sort of ability to sort through the data and find out what works and what doesn’t.” — Gary Jones, Superintendent, Rapides Parish School District, Louisiana

Advancing Knowledge in
Teaching Reading

Adopting a core reading curriculum is a high-stakes decision. School districts need to know they are investing tight funds in programs that work. SEDL is conducting two randomized controlled trials, the gold standard in research, to provide rigorous evidence of the effectiveness of two reading programs—a core curriculum for elementary school students and a supplemental curriculum for adolescents reading below grade level. The results will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the programs as well as reliable evidence to guide education leaders' decisions. Read more

Significant Work

Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC): The SECC provides professional development and technical assistance to the state education agencies of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina to build their capacity to support districts and schools in meeting student achievement goals, including achievement in reading and literacy. Work varies by state.

Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC): The TXCC provides professional development and technical assistance to the Texas Education Agency and the state’s 20 regional education service centers to build their capacity to support districts and schools in meeting student achievement goals, including achievement in reading and literacy.

Center for High-Performing Schools: Through this Center, SEDL builds the capacity of district and school leaders and educators to improve teaching and align curriculum, instruction, and assessment to national and state standards.

Georgetown County School District: In South Carolina, SEDL is providing professional development and technical assistance on content-area literacy strategies at two high schools to boost student achievement. The work involves developing professional learning communities and aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment to standards.
New Mexico Reads to Lead Grant: In New Mexico, SEDL is building the capacity of K–3 administrators and teacher leaders to serve as reading and instructional coaches. The work involves providing training and modeling in using content-area literacy strategies.
Pecos Valley Regional Education Cooperative: In New Mexico, SEDL is providing support to districts in the Pecos Valley Regional Education Cooperative in implementing the Common Core State Standards for English-language arts and math. The work involves developing professional learning communities and aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment to standards.

SRA Imagine It! Today's Open Court Randomized Controlled Trial: SEDL and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are conducting a national, large-scale randomized controlled trial assessing the effectiveness of SRA Imagine It! Today's Open Court, an elementary school reading program. The study, which will involve more than 40 schools across multiple districts, uses a multisite cluster randomized trial design to examine whether the program affects achievement outcomes for K–5 students over 2 school years and whether those outcomes vary significantly across students, schools, and districts.

Hide More Work

Past Work

Southeast Comprehensive Center (2005–2012): The Southeast Comprehensive Center provided technical assistance and professional development to the state education agencies of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina to build their capacity to improve student academic achievement, including achievement in reading and literacy. Work varied by state. For example, staff provided support for the Louisiana Adolescent Literacy Partnership Project and are assisting with the integration of the Mississippi statewide literacy plan into the Career and Technical Education programs.

Texas Comprehensive Center (2005–2012): The Texas Comprehensive Center at SEDL worked with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the state’s 20 education service centers to build staff capacity to improve student academic achievement, including achievement in reading and literacy. For example, staff assisted TEA in revising a home-based program for 3- and 4-year-old migrant children to support migrant families in developing children’s school readiness and language and literacy development.

Louisiana Striving Readers Randomized Controlled Trial: SEDL conducted a 1-year randomized controlled trial of the Voyager Passport Reading Journeys supplemental program for struggling adolescent readers (those reading 2 or more years below grade level) as part of the Louisiana Department of Education's Striving Readers grant. The study involved 10 middle schools in 4 parishes and assessed whether students using the Passport Reading Journeys curriculum demonstrated greater advances in reading outcomes and under what conditions. SEDL submitted a final report to the Louisiana Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education.

Lancaster and Georgetown County Public School Systems: SEDL assisted the Lancaster and Georgetown County Public School Systems in South Carolina with implementing the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle to develop professional learning teams among teachers. The goals were to improve classroom instruction with a focus on literacy and to assist school and district leaders as they developed processes that support teachers engaged in professional learning teams. SEDL staff also conducted an internal evaluation of the project.

Bright Futures Early Reading First Project: SEDL worked with the Madison Parish Public Schools and the Delta Community Action Association-Tallulah Head Start on the Bright Futures Early Reading First project to develop, test, and refine strategies for creating family-friendly preschools that support language and literacy development. The project involved 250 preschoolers from low-income families in Tallulah, Louisiana. SEDL staff worked to increase parental involvement in children's language development and provided training on research-based literacy instruction for young children. In addition, SEDL researchers conducted a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the project's effectiveness. Significant gains were found for children’s receptive vocabulary, letter recognition, and print awareness skills; and instructors showed significant increases in their knowledge of instruction for developing literacy and language.

New Mexico Rural Partnership for Technology: In a subcontract with the Magdalena Municipal School District in New Mexico, SEDL worked with four rural school districts to help elementary language arts teachers use technology to improve students' literacy skills and knowledge of traditional Navajo culture. Staff also used technology to link the schools, provided technical assistance and professional development to help teachers integrate technology into literacy instruction, and modeled parental-involvement activities to support the use of technology in students' homes.

Bernalillo School District: SEDL worked with a Bernalillo, New Mexico, middle school to help them implement the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle to incorporate literacy strategies into instruction in mathematics, reading, science, and social studies. SEDL staff worked with faculty and administrators to help them align curriculum, instruction, assessments, and state standards with the goal of increasing student achievement.

National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) K–3 Literary Resources Dissemination Evaluation: SEDL conducted an internal evaluation of the NIFL literacy resources being distributed nationally to teachers and families of K–3 students, with a focus on students from families with low literacy skills. The multiyear internal evaluation assessed both the perceived usefulness, relevance, and quality of the materials provided and the distribution channels used.

Louisiana Recovery School District (2007–2008): To support the Louisiana Recovery School District, established to turn around underperforming schools in New Orleans, SEDL developed and held training sessions on literacy and provided on-site assistance. In addition, SEDL researchers conducted an evaluation of the training and assistance initiatives and documented the outcomes.

Reading First Program (2003–2007): SEDL supported the U.S. Department of Education’s Reading First program, which puts proven methods of early reading instruction in classrooms, by developing and maintaining the Reading First Awards Database and publishing the program’s newsletter, Reading First Notebook.

Reading Assessment Database (1996–1999): SEDL developed this online database, which enables teachers to search for preK–3 reading assessments that test the 14 reading skills outlined in the Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework, as part of the Reading Coherence Initiative. This initiative was, in turn, part of the Program for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, funded under SEDL’s 1996–1999 Regional Educational Laboratory contract.

Regional Educational Laboratory (1996–1999, 2000–2006): SEDL’s regional educational laboratory (REL) contracts included working intensively with 60 sites across the Southwest to assess student reading abilities and improve students’ reading comprehension. We also modeled instructional strategies and provided resources for educators.

Bilingual Education Multifunctional Resource Center (1986–1996): SEDL operated this regional Multifunctional Resource Center, which provided training, technical assistance, and materials to help implement and improve programs for students with limited English proficiency. In 1996, the Multifunctional Resource Center was incorporated into the broader Southeast Comprehensive Assistance Center, which provided support for reading instruction and English language learners—work SEDL continues today through the Southeast and Texas comprehensive centers.

Teaching Reading to Bilingual Children Longitudinal Research Study (1979): This study tracked more than 300 bilingual children in more than 20 schools in five Texas school districts from kindergarten through the third or fourth grade. At the time, the study was one of the nation’s most comprehensive and extensive studies of bilingual students.

Follow Through: Language Development Approach Program (1969–1995): SEDL’s Follow Through program provided comprehensive instructional support to improve the academic success of younger children with limited English proficiency.

Resources

	Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework This book provides a concise summary of the research findings related to how children learn to read. A graphical representation of the framework is provided to familiarize teachers with the cognitive elements that research has shown to be essential in learning to read.
	Reading Assessment Database for Grades PreK–3 This database, a complementary tool to the Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework, enables reading teachers to search for preK–3 reading assessments that test the framework's 14 reading skills.
	Building Reading Proficiency at the Secondary Level: A Guide to Resources This publication reviews the scholarly literature to determine (a) current theoretical perspectives and research findings on building reading proficiency at the secondary level and (b) the implications of these findings for classroom instruction.
	Literacy Profile Folder (quantity 10) This portfolio system helps teachers track individual student data in the areas outlined in Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Framework.
	Literacy Profile Folder: How to Use the Literacy Profile This brief guide demonstrates how to use the Literacy Profile Folder effectively in the classroom.
	Literacy in Afterschool: An Instructor's Guide to the Afterschool Training Toolkit The six promising practices in student achievement in literacy identified in the Afterschool Training Toolkit are as follows: Book Discussion Groups and Literature Circles; Read Aloud; Story and Literature Dramatizations; Writing; Family Literacy Events; One-on-One and Small-Group Tutoring. When used with the Afterschool Training Toolkit, the lessons in this instructor’s guide will help you master these promising practices. Once you become proficient at these practices, you should be able to use them to develop other literacy lessons.
	Literacy in Afterschool: An Instructor's Guide to Read Alouds with the Afterschool Training Toolkit The National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning developed this instructor’s guide to accompany its Afterschool Training Toolkit, a free online staff development tool. Both the guide and the toolkit materials are designed to give afterschool instructors the resources they need to build fun, innovative, and academically enriching activities that not only engage students, but extend their knowledge in new ways and increase academic achievement. For afterschool instructors, this guide offers the opportunity to enhance your teaching skills in literacy by seeing read alouds modeled and getting a chance to try them out in your classroom. Site directors and afterschool training coordinators can use this guide in combination with the toolkit to plan staff development in literacy instruction and create tailored training highlighting the best practices most appropriate to your sites.
	Literacy in Afterschool: A Guide to Using the Afterschool Training Toolkit for Professional Development The six promising practices in afterschool for literacy identified in the Afterschool Training Toolkit are as follows: Book Discussion Groups and Literature Circles; Read Aloud; Story and Literature Dramatizations; Writing; Family Literacy Events; One-on-One and Small Group Tutoring. Each practice is built on youth development principles and research on effective literacy instruction. At their core, Afterschool Training Toolkit materials are designed to illustrate techniques and activities that leverage student curiosity to make literacy in afterschool both enjoyable and relevant. This guide provides professional development ideas for each of these practices.
	SEDL Letter, Volume XIX, Number 2 (Oct. 2007): Reading: Practices to Help Improve Instruction This issue of SEDL Letter examines ways to strengthen literacy through father-child interactions and systemic approaches, including Response to Intervention and school improvement.
	SEDL Letter, Volume XVII, Number 1: Reaching Our Reading Goals This issue of SEDL Letter is devoted to topics related to reading instruction, including the role of literacy coaches, how to motivate readers, and instruction to improve comprehension.
	SEDL Letter, Volume XIV, Number 3 (Dec. 2002): Putting Reading First This issue of SEDL Letter focuses on early reading instruction and assessment, including topics such as reading and migrant students and the importance of phonemic awareness.
	Southeast Comprehensive Center eBulletin, Volume 5, Number 1: Strengthening Literacy Programs and Instruction This issue of the Southeast Comprehensive Center eBulletin focuses on literacy, specifically on how states can strengthen their literacy programs or plans and provide effective professional development and technical assistance for high-need districts in their efforts to implement quality literacy instruction.
	Rapid Response: Eighth-Grade Technology Literacy Assessment This paper was produced by SEDL’s Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) in response to the request, “What are states in the southeastern region using as assessment tools for No Child Left Behind (NCLB) eighth-grade technology literacy?” The SECC conducted a comparative study of 16 states to address the question.
	Rapid Response: Alignment of University Curricula for Preservice Teachers With Scientifically Based Reading Research This resource was produced in response to a request: "What are state departments of education (SDE) doing to ensure that their universities are aligning their curricula with scientifically based reading research (SBRR) resources and practices with regard to teaching preservice teachers reading courses? This includes content, instruction, and books."
	Rapid Response: Alternate Reading Core Curriculum for Students with Disabilities (K–3) This resource was produced in response to the request: "Are states using an alternate reading core curriculum to teach students with disabilities in kindergarten through third grade (K–3)? Include any research on efficacy, if possible, specifically with reference to the southeastern United States."
	Reading First Notebook: The Newsletter for the Reading First Program The Reading First Notebook was published on a quarterly basis from 2004 to 2006, and is now available online for download in pdf format. The newsletter provided thematic issues covering topics such as assessment, professional development, and instruction for special population students.