Lead With Literacy

Leading for Literacy: What Every School Leader Needs to Knowis an inspiring and practical resource for all school leaders-teacher leaders, literacy coaches, school administrators, and district-level leaders. Filled with useful "look-for" tools for observing literacy teaching and reflecting upon the culture and systems of your school, Leading for Literacyhelps school leaders understand key principles of effective literacy teaching and create equitable communities of learning for all students. Leading for Literacyprovides guidance for creating a culture of collaborative professionalism, facilitating conversations about effective practice, and making high-impact decisions based on evidence and the values identified by the school team. An important resource for every school leader aiming to scale up excellence, Leading for Literacyhelps leaders create effective systems for improving the literacy outcomes of all students. With OVER 30 TOOLS to support your work, discover how to... Beginning of the book - 1. Harness the foundations of inspirational school leadership 2. Build effective teams that deliver high outcomes for all students 3. Create a common vision and shared values to create a healthy, collaborative school culture Middle of the book - 4. Implement evidence-based instructional practices 5. Observe and document student progress effectively 6. Teach English learners strategically 7. Design effective systems for intervention 8. Create high-quality book collections End of the book - 9. Harness responsibilities and opportunities as a school leader 10. Create new leadership opportunities 11. Nurture coaches and teacher leaders as important agents of change 12. Sustain and scale up systemic improvements in your district or school

Leaders are readers! Elementary school principal Mandy Ellis offers practical, immediately actionable, fun ideas and strategies that will deeply embed books, reading, and literacy into your school culture. You'll learn how to make reading a joy for every member of your school community.

Literacy is a skill for all time, for all people. It is an integral part of our lives, whether we are students or adult professionals. Giving all educators the breadth of knowledge and practical tools that help students strengthen their literacy skills is the focus of Read, Write, Lead. Drawing on her experience as a mentor teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and staff developer, author Regie Routman offers time-tested advice on how to develop a schoolwide learning culture that leads to more effective reading and writing across the curriculum. She explains how every school—including yours—can: implement instructional practices that lead to better engagement and achievement in reading and writing for all students, from kindergarten through high school, including second-language and struggling learners; build Professional Literacy Communities of educators working together to create sustainable school change through professional learning based on shared beliefs; reduce the need for intervention through daily practices that ensure success, even for our most vulnerable learners; and embed the language of productive feedback in responsive instruction, conferences, and observations in order to accelerate learning for students, teachers, and leaders. In their own voices, teachers, principals, literacy specialists, and students offer real-life examples of changes that led to dramatic improvement in literacy skills and—perhaps just as important--increased joy in teaching and learning. Scattered throughout the book are “Quick Wins”--ideas and actions that can yield positive, affirming results while tackling the tough work of long-term change.

This booklet will show how to create an early childhood environment that will help lay the foundations of literacy.

Directly linked with overall student achievement, graduation rates, and success in higher education, literacy is essential for reaching academic goals in a school or county. Adolescent literacy has become the focus of many school improvement efforts to meet the needs of secondary and high school students. Without the requisite expertise in literacy, administrators and other school leaders charged with literacy improvement initiatives need a systemic and sustained approach for improving student literacy and learning. Taking the Lead on Adolescent Literacy presents a concrete, user-friendly, and practical guide to developing, implementing, and monitoring a schoolwide or county-wide literacy action plan. Readers will find rubrics, tools, and processes developed and field-tested by the authors over more than 10 years of close work with schools across the country.

Clear, on-the-ground guidance for Reading Apprenticeship implementation Leading for Literacy provides tools and real-life examples to expand the benefits of a literacy approach that sparks students' engaged reading and thinking across disciplines, from middle school through community college. A companion to the landmark Reading for Understanding, this book guides teachers, leaders, and administrators through the nuts, bolts, benefits, and stumbling blocks of creating Reading Apprenticeship communities that extend a culture of literacy beyond individual classrooms. This book explains how to generate authentic buy-in from teachers and administrators, use the Reading Apprenticeship Framework to turn reform overload into reform coherence, and create literacy teams, professional learning communities, and Reading Apprenticeship communities of practice that sustain an institutional focus on a student-centered, strengths-based culture of literacy. Key insights from Reading Apprenticeship practitioners across the country address how to get started, build momentum, assess progress, and build partnerships and networks across schools, districts, campuses, and regions. Persistently low levels of adolescent literacy continue to short-change students, contribute to discredited high school diplomas, and cause millions of students to drop out of high school and community college. Forty percent or more of community college students require remedial reading courses as college freshman. The researchers at WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative developed the Reading Apprenticeship Framework to provide educators with a proven path to improving literacy for all students, and this book provides clear guidance on bringing the framework to life. How to integrate Reading Apprenticeship with existing reform efforts How to use formative assessment to promote teacher and student growth How to coach and empower teachers How to cultivate literacy leadership How to provide long-term support for a strong content-literacy program Nationwide classroom testing has shown Reading Apprenticeship to promote not only literacy and content knowledge, but also motivation and positive academic identity—leading to better student outcomes that reach beyond the classroom walls. Leading for Literacy lays out compelling ways to spread the benefits of Reading Apprenticeship, with practical guidance and real-world insight.

This book explains how to design classroom experiences that encourage students to take risks and explore their passions in a stimulating, motivating, and supportive environment where improvement, rather than grades, is the focus.