Reading Apprenticeship

Sustaining Evidence-Based Literacy Learning and Leadership

Dec 4 webinar invitation

What's New

Sustaining Evidence-Based Literacy Learning and Leadership

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Are you looking to enhance your secondary program and student outcomes? Join us December 4 for a lively conversation about instructional leadership and the power of Reading Apprenticeship to bring about continuous improvement for both teachers and students in all subject areas.

Facilitated by leaders from two WestEd teams, Reading Apprenticeship and Educational Leadership and Systems Design, this webinar will feature a panel of educators from across the nation.

Key Takeaways:

  • Gain insights from experienced educators and administrators who have successfully implemented Reading Apprenticeship in their schools, districts, and states.
  • Discover practical strategies for building trust with, and among, teachers and students and establishing a shared culture of learning.
  • Learn about Reading Apprenticeship and its proven track record of improving student literacy and academic success.

Session Details:

Session Topics:

  • Introduction:
    • Experience the Reading Apprenticeship approach
    • Highlights from Reading Apprenticeship research
    • How School and District Administrators Support Reading Apprenticeship
  • Breakout Sessions:
    • Addressing the Needs of Diverse Learners
    • Overcoming Challenges to Implementation in Large Systems
    • Ensuring Sustained Support for Instructional Improvement

Register here

Panelists:

  • Dr. Kevin Gallick, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, Rich Township 227 IL
    Dr. Kevin Gallick, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services for Rich Township HS District 227, leads the district’s focus on literacy and instruction. He believes that literacy is a critical resource for personal transformation and a powerful lever for school and district improvement efforts. Dr. Gallick witnessed the power of literacy firsthand as an educator in Chicago Public Schools for 17 years, including 8 years as a principal of a large neighborhood high school.
  • Rachel Goisovich, Coordinator, Secondary ELA/Literacy, Division of Curriculum and Instruction Baltimore County Public Schools, MD
    Rachel Goisovich works for Baltimore County Public Schools as the Coordinator of Secondary English Language Arts and Literacy. She previously served as the disciplinary literacy specialist for grades 4-10, where she partnered with educators across all disciplines to support students in deepening their literacy skills. Goisovich believes that every student deserves the opportunity to expand their thinking and develop critical thinking skills to become lifelong literacy learners.
  • Kindel Launer, Literacy Teacher on Special Assignment, EL Coordinator, Palo Alto High School, CA
    As a Literacy Teacher on Special Assignment and English Language Specialist, Kindel Launer brings a wealth of experience from her time as a high school English teacher. With a strong research interest in reading comprehension and student well-being in secondary classrooms, she is committed to enhancing literacy outcomes for all students. Launer brings a deep understanding of the intersection between literacy and student well-being.
  • Diana Mansour Ed.S, ELD Specialist, Fordson High School, Dearborn, MI
    Diana Mansour serves as the English Language Development (ELD) Specialist at Fordson High School in Dearborn, Michigan. With over 17 years of teaching experience (including in Lebanon), Mansour is passionate about understanding the communities where she works and how they make meaning of the world. She is also trained as a Reading Apprenticeship facilitator with WestEd and has presented about her work at national and local conferences.
  • Julie Orzechowski, ELA Instructional Coach, Dearborn, MI
    Julie Orzechowski serves as a facilitator for Reading Apprenticeship and an instructional coach for 6th-8th grade ELA in Dearborn, Michigan. She was first introduced to Reading Apprenticeship as a teacher at Fordson High School in 2013, where it transformed her instructional practices. During the 2018-19 school year, Orzechowski completed facilitation training for the program and has continued to support other educators since that time.
  • Dr. Harley Ramsey, St. Mary’s Area School District, PA
    Dr. Harley Ramsey is the Superintendent of the St. Mary’s Area School District. He started his career in education as an agricultural education teacher before spending six years as a director of multi-state operations in the electrical and lighting service industry. Since returning to education, Dr. Ramsey has served in multiple leadership roles in K-12 and higher education with a “true north” commitment of supporting rural high-poverty communities.
  • Lauren Spenceley, Secondary ELA Specialist, Arizona Department of Education
    As the Secondary English Language Arts Specialist with the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), Lauren Spenceley provides support to districts, schools, and educators with implementation of Arizona’s English Language Arts Standards, particularly in grades 6-12. Prior to joining ADE in 2020, she was a secondary ELA classroom teacher for over 14 years. Spenceley sits on the board of the Arizona English Teachers’ Association.

WestEd facilitator:

Stephanie Patterson

Stephanie is the Director of Partnership Development for the Reading Apprenticeship team. She is a former elementary school teacher with over 25 years’ experience in the field of education including teacher coaching, assisting with curriculum selection, and providing professional development.  Stephanie obtained her BA in Psychology from Clark Atlanta University and her MA in Education from Pepperdine University.

Who Should Participate:

  • K–12 Educators
  • Administrators and CIPD leaders
  • Instructional Coaches
  • All interested in enhancing instruction at the secondary level

Register here

Reading Apprenticeship Featured in EdWeek

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We’re thrilled to share that a recent EdWeek article, “What Happens When Every Teacher in a School Has the Tools to Improve Reading?” features Reading Apprenticeship. The piece is part of a larger special report on Disciplinary Literacy.

EdWeek reporters interviewed several teachers and leaders, as well as WestEd staff Misty Sailors and Mary Stump. The story showcases the success of teachers and students using disciplinary literacy routines in Rich Township, IL, and Clarkston, MI, school districts. Fawn Phillips of Clarkston and history teacher George Vlahakis of Rich Township, describe how they see their students’ work accelerate and deepen with Reading Apprenticeship.

Vlahakis describes the benefits of a whole-school approach:

“Before the Rich Township district turned to a whole-school approach to disciplinary literacy, Vlahakis said he had already been teaching his students how to read, write and think like a historian. It used to take him three months to teach freshmen how to read, annotate, and think about a nonfiction text in the way that someone working in the history field would. But now that students are learning parallel strategies in their other classes, Vlahakis said students are getting comfortable and confident at a faster pace.”

And which of us doesn’t strive for the results articulated by Phillips who persisted with the Reading Apprenticeship framework and literacy routines over time:

“It took probably until my fifth year of doing it that a student sent me an email from college saying, ‘The strategies that you taught me, the things that we developed, I’m still using in college because it gets a lot harder, and the reading is not easy.’”

By implementing Reading Apprenticeship, districts like Clarkston and Rich Township are fostering a culture of advanced teaching and reading comprehension that benefits students in every subject.

Read the full EdWeek article here.

Interested in learning more?

Visit the Reading Apprenticeship Our Services page to explore resources, professional development opportunities, and see how Reading Apprenticeship can transform your school!

Cultivating Classroom Community Through Literacy

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Join WestEd literacy leaders Linda Friedrich and Heather Howlett  on Oct. 15 as they discuss practical ways to create a welcoming classroom where every student feels valued, heard, and motivated to read and learn. Participants will leave the webinar with ideas and techniques to implement immediately in their classrooms.

Date: October 15th, 2024

Time: 12:00 – 12:30 pm PST

Audience: Administrators, Principals, Teachers, Coaches

Learn more and register here

College Educators – Energize your Teaching with RA101 Now!

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RA 101 for College Instructors starts Sept. 9 online

There is nothing better than a supportive community of educators when you are launching another school year with your college students. Reading Apprenticeship 101, a 32-hour asynchronous online course for teachers of every subject, gives you that community, plus an expert facilitator, new knowledge, and teaching routines.

Join us online and learn new ways to deepen dialogue with – and among – your students in order to accelerate their subject-area learning and literacy, simultaneously.

Registration ends September 3. Visit the RA 101 page to learn more or contact Diane Lee at [email protected] .

To learn more about how to integrate stronger reading, writing, and critical thinking supports into your subject area teaching, read this recent publication.

New College Publication and Online Conversation

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Join college faculty, leaders, and Reading Apprenticeship facilitators in an online conversation hosted by the editors of the recent special issue of the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching.

Nika Hogan and co-authors Magruder and McCormick authored an article that is part of the issue conversation, and for a limited time you can read it here: Texts, Tasks, and Talk: A Social Learning Pathway to STEM Literacy, Engagement and Belonging (Dec. 2023). Their article presents a community of practice and designed to support California State University and Community College STEM faculty implement active, equity-centered pedagogical changes. Preliminary findings from their work suggests that participants experienced meaningful value, suggesting potential for overcoming the entrenched culture of lecture-driven instruction and inspiring culture change in STEM instruction.

To join the free live, online event register here.

We hope to see you there!

To learn more about how to get involved in the kind of work this article features contact us or read about the professional learning opportunities on our services page.

Grant for Academic Literacy curriculum and Professional Development

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Reading Apprenticeship is proud to announce that we won a federal 2024-2028 grant to update and evaluate our Academic Literacy (“RAAL”) course. This curriculum and its related professional learning enable teachers to support middle and high school students to read deeply in history, English, and science, while also building their foundational literacy skills, stamina, and peer-collaboration.
With this grant support, the Reading Apprenticeship team will be working closely with active teachers and researchers in several states to ensure that the RAAL curriculum and learning experiences are relevant, rigorous, and effective. The teachers will reach over 6,000 students during the grant period, and far more in the years to come.
RAAL has had strong evidence of effectiveness and a long history of success in schools across the country. More background is available in our resources and impact pages.
RAAL is most effective when implemented in schools in which teachers have engaged in Reading Apprenticeship’s core professional learning, “Essentials.” So get your colleagues engaged now with a book study or PD. Register now for the January online course or find out more by contacting Stephanie Patterson.
The competitive grant award is part of the Education Innovation and Research “EIR” program in the U.S. Department of Education.