This Dyslexia Awareness Month, we bring you a powerful conversation with two nationally recognized literacy advocates: Ameer Baraka has been a leading voice in national criminal justice reform; similarly, former Detroit Lion Deon Butler became a champion for Michigan’s literacy legislation. Both men were failed by schools that never taught them to read. In adulthood, they reclaimed their stories — Ameer in Undiagnosed: The Ugly Side of Dyslexia, and Deon in The Gift & Curse: One Man’s Journey with Dyslexia. Their voices matter not because they’re rare, but because most like them never get the chance to speak, let alone lead.Parents for Reading Justice has teamed up with FULCRUM’s Kareem Weaver to bring you “Literacy Now, Together,” a podcast mini-series that takes a closer look at the reading crisis and explores real solutions with literacy leaders and families across the country. In this powerful episode, Kareem Weaver (FULCRUM) and Brett Tingley (Parents for Reading Justice) sit down with Ameer Baraka, actor, author and dyslexia advocate, and Deon Butler, former NFL player and author of The Gift & The Curse, for a deeply honest and moving conversation about overcoming illiteracy, breaking the pipeline of poor schooling to incarceration, and reclaiming ownership of their futures through learning to read. Ameer shares how he turned his experience with undiagnosed dyslexia and time in prison into a mission to teach literacy and pro-social values to incarcerated men, while Deon recounts his journey with hidden dyslexia through college and the NFL, and finally learning to read through Orton-Gillingham instruction. Together with their hosts, they spotlight how children in marginalized communities are especially vulnerable to low academic outcomes when early reading difficulties go unnoticed or unaddressed at school, emphasizing the urgent need for trained teachers, early intervention, informed families, and equitable access to evidence-based instruction. Resources:The Life I Chose: The Streets Lied to Me, by Ameer Barakahttps://www.amazon.com/Life-Chose-Streets-Lied-Me/dp/0578155710Undiagnosed: The Ugly Side of Dyslexia, by Ameer Barakahttps://www.amazon.com/Undiagnosed-Ugly-Dyslexia-Ameer-Baraka/dp/1970146184The Gift & The Curse: One Man's Journey with Dyslexia, by Deon Butlerhttps://www.amazon.com/Gift-Curse-Mans-Journey-Dyslexia-ebook/dp/B0F4Q1VNV2Socials:Ameer BarakaInstagram / @ameerbarakaLinkedIn / @ameer-baraka-968183149X / @AMEERBARAKAFacebook / @ameer.baraka/Deon Butler:Instagram / @thedyslexic_kingFacebook / @deon.l.butler____________________________________________________________Parents for Reading Justice has teamed up with FULCRUM’s Kareem Weaver to bring you "Literacy Now, Together" — a podcast mini-series that takes a closer look at the reading crisis and explores real solutions with literacy leaders and families across the country. About Brett Tingley: https://parentsforreadingjustice.org/brett-tingley-bioAbout Kareem Weaver: https://tinyurl.com/KareemWeaverBioAbout Parents for Reading Justice: https://linktr.ee/parentsforreadingjusticeAbout FULCRUM:https://linktr.ee/fulcrumliteracy Join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward, and DONATE!DISCLAIMER: All information in this video is presented as our shared experience only, to help others understand our efforts and experience. Nothing presented herein should be construed as offering legal advice. We encourage everyone to seek professional legal advice for their circumstances. We welcome you to share your experiences with us on all matters relating to dyslexia as we are continuously learning new information to help push our cause to help as many people with dyslexia as possible. Thank you for your continued support!#literacynow #readinginstruction #education #awareness #teacher #teaching #fyp #change
Parents for Reading Justice has teamed up with FULCRUM’s Kareem Weaver to bring you “Literacy Now, Together,” a podcast mini-series that takes a closer look at the reading crisis and explores real solutions with literacy leaders and families across the country. In this enlightening episode, Kareem Weaver (FULCRUM) and Brett Tingley (Parents for Reading Justice) talk with three leaders from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) about the steady, years-long work behind the state’s dramatic reading gains. Far from a "Mississippi miracle," they describe a "Mississippi marathon" driven by clear policies, science of reading training for every educator, a robust statewide coaching model, high-quality instructional materials, universal screening, and ongoing assessment. The discussion shows how Mississippi built a sustainable system of support for teachers and students, with a relentless focus on prevention and continuous improvement. MDE’s story offers powerful lessons and a roadmap for any state committed to ensuring every child learns to read.GUESTSKelli Crain, Assistant State Literacy DirectorJill Hoda, Assistant State Literacy DirectorKatie Williamson, Regional Literacy Coordinator RESOURCESMDE Coaching GuidelinesMDE List of 10 Things All Literacy Leaders Need to Know MDE Blueprint for Improving Literacy OutcomesMDE Literacy Professional Development and ResourcesLiteracy Based Promotion Act (2013)Mississippi Literacy-Based Promotion Act Implementation Guide (2016) AIM Institute: Pathways for MississippiHigh Quality Instruction Materials (HQIM)Guidance on Selection and Implementation of HQIMUniversal Screener Companion Guide Evidence Advocacy Center: States with Strong Literacy PoliciesNational Council on Teacher Quality: Reading Foundations GradesMDE Backstory and Key TakeawaysSOCIALSMDE’s Website: https://mdek12.orgMDE’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mdek12MDE’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mississippi-department-of-education/ MDE’s Facebook: @MissDeptEdMDE’s X: @MissDeptEd_____________________________________Parents for Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so all children learn to read.About Brett Tingley: https://parentsforreadingjustice.org/brett-tingley-bioAbout Kareem Weaver: https://www.fulcrumliteracy.org/kareem-weaverAbout Parents for Reading Justice: https://linktr.ee/parentsforreadingjusticeAbout FULCRUM:https://linktr.ee/fulcrumliteracy Join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward, and DONATE!DISCLAIMER: All information in this video is presented as our shared experience only, with the intention of helping others to understand our efforts and experience. Nothing presented herein should be construed as offering legal advice. We encourage everyone to seek professional legal advice pertaining to their individual circumstances. Thank you for your continued support!
In this moving episode of “Literacy Now, Together,” co-hosts Kareem Weaver of FULCRUM and Brett Tingley of Parents for Reading Justice sit down with Oliver James, a man who taught himself to read at 32 following a lifetime of hiding his illiteracy. During the COVID lockdown, Oliver set himself a personal challenge: learn to read. What began as a private goal became a transformative journey he now shares with hundreds of thousands online, rebuilding his confidence, deepening his relationships, and changing the course of his life. He speaks candidly about the decades he spent concealing his struggle—through incarceration, school expulsions, and personal hardship—before discovering that literacy can unlock freedom, choice, and self-respect. From embracing text-to-voice technology to working one-on-one with a reading specialist, Oliver’s story shows how literacy can open doors to opportunity and restore self-worth. His honesty inspires others to remove their own masks and seize the life-changing gift of reading.
Resources:
Oliver’s TikTok: @oliverspeaks1
Oliver’s Instagram: @oliverspeaks1
Oliver’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@oliverspeaks1
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Parents for Reading Justice has teamed up with FULCRUM’s Kareem Weaver to bring you "Literacy Now, Together" — a podcast mini-series that takes a closer look at the reading crisis and explores real solutions with literacy leaders and families across the country. Parents for Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so that 95% of students read proficiently.
About Brett Tingley: https://parentsforreadingjustice.org/brett-tingley-bio
About Kareem Weaver: https://tinyurl.com/KareemWeaverBio
About Parents for Reading Justice: https://linktr.ee/parentsforreadingjustice
About FULCRUM:https://linktr.ee/fulcrumliteracy
Join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward, and DONATE!
DISCLAIMER: All information in this video is presented as our shared experience only, to help others understand our efforts and experience. Nothing presented herein should be construed as offering legal advice. We encourage everyone to seek professional legal advice for their circumstances. We welcome you to share your experiences with us on all matters relating to dyslexia as we are continuously learning new information to help push our cause to help as many people with dyslexia as possible. Thank you for your continued support!
#literacynow #readinginstruction #education #awareness #teacher #teaching #fyp #change
Why Basic Needs, like Literacy, Must Come Before Resilience Training — and What Schools Get Wrong
Psychologist, educator, and Raising Moxie® founder Dr. Karin Hodges joins FULCRUM’s Kareem Weaver and Parents for Reading Justice’s Brett Tingley in a thought-provoking episode, uncovering how failure to meet children's literacy needs is driving stress and anxiety. Dr. Hodges warns that as schools increasingly invest in social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula, many of these programs miss the mark by focusing on student characteristics rather than addressing systemic issues like illiteracy. She offers a stark critique of a system that too often shifts the burden to parents while absolving schools of their core obligation to teach literacy and calls for equipping adults with relational tools that foster resilience and confidence—what Dr. Hodges calls “skilling-up” the grown-ups. This episode tackles the harmful belief that some children are “hard to teach” based on their home life or community background and unpacks the dangers of coddling, the ethics of emotional regulation practices, and how “calm-down” strategies can backfire when they dismiss a child’s lived emotional experience.
Resources:
Raising Moxie Website:
Dr. Hodge’s Resources List:
https://www.raisingmoxie.com/references
Dr. Hodge’s Facebook:
@Raising Moxie
Dr. Hodge’s X:
@RaisingMoxie
Dr. Hodge’s Instagram:
@raising_moxie
Dr. Hodge’s YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGQrrt1ffZ0i0zdZDVo2Pw
Dr. Hodge’s LinkedIn:
@Karin Maria Hodges
____________________
Parents for Reading Justice has teamed up with FULCRUM’s Kareem Weaver to bring you "Literacy Now, Together" — a podcast mini-series that takes a closer look at the reading crisis and explores real solutions with literacy leaders and families across the country.
Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading.
About Brett Tingley:
https://parentsforreadingjustice.org/brett-tingley-bio
About Kareem Weaver:
https://tinyurl.com/KareemWeaverBio
About Parents for Reading Justice:
https://linktr.ee/parentsforreadingjustice
About FULCRUM:
https://linktr.ee/fulcrumliteracy
Join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward, and DONATE!
DISCLAIMER: All information in this video is presented as our shared experience only, with the intention of helping others to understand our efforts and experience. Nothing presented herein should be construed as offering legal advice. We encourage everyone to seek professional legal advice pertaining to their individual circumstances. We welcome you to share your experiences with us on all matters relating to dyslexia as we are continuously learning new information to help push our cause to help as many people with dyslexia as possible. Thank you for your continued support!
We are so excited to bring you this powerful episode with Sonya Thomas, the passionate founder and Executive Director of Nashville P.R.O.P.E.L. Sonya shares her deeply personal journey into advocacy, beginning as a mother of four who was determined to secure a better future for her children. When she saw that her younger son was struggling to learn to read in his earliest years of school, advocating for him became a full-time job. But by 7th grade despite years of meetings and interventions with his school, he was reading only at the 2nd grade level. She knew something had to change — not just for her family, but for every family in her community.
Sonya’s story illustrates how poor instruction creates struggling readers, and how one mother’s anger can transform into a movement empowering thousands of parents to demand the education their children deserve. She reveals how she draws on her background as a nurse, researcher, and community leader to inform parents and train them to question the system, organize campaigns, and push for real policy change. Through Nashville P.R.O.P.E.L., Sonya has organized over 8,000 parents and has led successful campaigns for legislation requiring personalized learning plans and data transparency in every school in Tennessee. Her message is clear: parents deserve the truth about how their children are doing in school — and they have the power to hold the system accountable. Tune in to hear how Sonya inspires parents to lead fearlessly, build lasting community strength, and fight for every child’s right to learn to read.
RESOURCESNashville P.R.O.P.E.L. ROAR @HomeBETAWhat the Words Say, by Emily HanfordSold a Story Podcast The Truth about ReadingDisrupt and Dismantle, by Soledad O'Brien
SOCIALSFacebook - @NashvillePROPELX - @NashvillePropelInstagram - @nashvillepropel‐-------------------------------------------------------------------Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so that 95% of students read proficiently.Host Brett Tingley is the president of OH-KID, a grassroots parent group dedicated to ensuring all children in Ohio learn to read. She is also an advisory board member of the International Dyslexia Association Central Ohio. She is the founder and president of Parents for Reading Justice.Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward, and DONATE on our website!FOLLOW US:Check out our LinkTree to find us on all social media platforms: https://linktr.ee/parentsforreadingjusticeDISCLAIMER: All information in this video is presented as our shared experience only, with the intention of helping others to understand our efforts and experience. Nothing presented herein should be construed as offering legal advice. We encourage everyone to seek professional legal advice pertaining to their individual circumstances. We welcome you to share your experiences with us on all matters relating to dyslexia as we are continuously learning new information to help push our cause to help as many people with dyslexia as possible. Thank you for your continued support!#education #reading #dyslexia #behavior #motivation #awareness #change #podcast #school #readingskills #schoollife #scienceofreading #readmorebooks #dyslexiaawareness #dyslexiasupport #readingcommunity #fypyoutube
We are thrilled to bring you this interview with Dr. Heather Peske. Heather is the President of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) and a former elementary school teacher. She shares how her early experiences teaching reading, combined with her experience as a parent of a struggling reader, fuel her commitment to improve teacher preparation nationwide. In addition, her work as a state policymaker transformed her understanding of effective literacy instruction.
In our conversation, Brett and Heather discuss how parents and school districts can leverage NCTQ’s research to influence market forces and push Colleges of Education toward evidence-based practices. Heather explains how NCTQ evaluates teacher preparation programs, revealing that most fall short in training future educators in evidence-based reading instruction—particularly for English Learners and students with learning differences such as dyslexia. She also highlights the role of state-level policy reforms and how parent advocacy is driving meaningful improvements. Heather offers valuable insights on addressing teacher shortages, the power of parent-led efforts, and leaves listeners with a powerful message: stay optimistic, stay engaged, and know that change is possible—together.
NCTQ Teacher Prep Review- Reading Foundations
NCTQ Teacher Prep Review State Data Profiles
NCTQ Five Policy Actions to Srengthen Implementation of the Science of Reading
NCTQ False Assurances report
Socials
Facebook: @NationalCouncilOnTeacherQuality
LinkedIn: @NationalCouncilOnTeacherQuality
X: @NCTQ
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Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so that 95% of students read proficiently.Host Brett Tingley is the president of OH-KID, a grassroots parent group dedicated to ensuring all children in Ohio learn to read. She is also an advisory board member of the International Dyslexia Association Central Ohio. She is the founder and president of Parents for Reading Justice.
Join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward, and DONATE on our website!
FOLLOW US:
Check out our LinkTree to find us on all social media platforms:
https://linktr.ee/parentsforreadingjustice
DISCLAIMER: All information in this video is presented as our shared experience only, with the intention of helping others to understand our efforts and experience. Nothing presented herein should be construed as offering legal advice. We encourage everyone to seek professional legal advice pertaining to their individual circumstances. We welcome you to share your experiences with us on all matters relating to dyslexia as we are continuously learning new information to help push our cause to help as many people with dyslexia as possible. Thank you for your continued support!
#education #reading #dyslexia #behavior #motivation #awareness #change #podcast #school #readingskills #schoollife #scienceofreading #readmorebooks #dyslexiaawareness #dyslexiasupport #readingcommunity #fypyoutube
We are thrilled to bring you this conversation with Missy Purcell, a former teacher and Mom of a son with dyslexia. Missy is also the co-Founder of the Facebook page, The Science of Reading for Advocates and Gwinnette County Advocates for Dyslexia. Missy's initial professional training and practice was steeped in a 'balanced literacy' approach, and in particular, the Reading and Writing Workshop model developed by Lucy Calkins. Her 5th grade classroom was even the observational classroom for her school, and she led Workshop training for other schools in the county and beyond. But there were frustrations along the way as well as significant questioning of K-5 reading instruction, as too many students were arriving in her classroom with poor word reading and comprehension skills, and moving on to the next grade with little to no improvement. It wasn't until Missy started to explore why her youngest child was struggling so much with learning to read, including struggling in the Reading Recovery intervention program, and developing anxiety and behavior issues, that it all started to make sense. What was missing in the instruction in the earliest years set them up poorly for reading and comprehension in the later years. She describes it as a "colliding of my two worlds- the teacher Missy and the Mama Missy". Knowing that she couldn't change the past, she decided to focus on the future and work to change the system that is continuing to fail children. This is her WHY. Don't miss this amazing journey from Mom and teacher to powerhouse advocate!
SOCIALS
Facebook /
@MissPurcell
@Missy Palmer Purcell
@The Science of Reading for Advocates
X/Twitter /
@MissyPurcell
Instagram /
@misspurcelladvocates
@missy_purcell
Bluesky /
@missypurcell.bsky.social
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
Masterclass
Parent Group Directory
ParentsForReadingJustice.org
Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so that 95% of students read proficiently.Host Brett Tingley is the President of OH-KID, a grassroots parent group dedicated to ensuring all children in Ohio learn to read. She is also an advisory board member of the International Dyslexia Association Central Ohio. She is the founder and President of Parents for Reading Justice. Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
#education #reading #dyslexia #behavior #motivation #awareness #change #podcast #school #readingskills #schoollife #scienceofreading #readmorebooks #dyslexiaawareness #dyslexiasupport #readingcommunity #fypyoutube
We are excited to bring you a new mini-series called "Literacy Now, Together." We've teamed up with FULCRUM’s Kareem Weaver to interview parents, literacy experts, and thought leaders to examine the literacy crisis and highlight the steps people are taking to improve literacy rates across the county. In this episode, we meet Jackie and Lawrence from Niagara Falls, New York, who have two children with IEPs. Although their eight-year-old daughter, who has dyslexia and dysgraphia, showed signs of reading difficulties in kindergarten, these were initially misinterpreted as behavioral issues. The school offered intervention in first grade through the Reading Recovery program, a program broadly criticized for using debunked instructional methods and having poor reading outcomes. The approach proved detrimental, leading to heightened anxiety and emotional distress for their daughter. Despite the parents' requests to stop the program, the school insisted on continuing, which left their daughter in a challenging emotional and psychological state. Jackie and Lawrence describe how their advocacy journey began with their daughter’s struggles but expanded into broader community action. They formed a PTA and built connections with other parents facing similar challenges, creating a support network to push for better literacy instruction. They share their frustration with a school system that blames children and parents for poor performance, despite the district being the lowest-performing in the county. When asked why it is essential for their daughter to learn to read, Jackie and Lawrence give a heart-wrenching answer about the incredibly difficult choices they have to make to support their children's educational needs, forcing them to figure out themselves what the school should have done but failed to do. The couple underscores the far-reaching consequences of inadequate reading instruction, linking it to poverty, limited job opportunities, crime, teen pregnancy, and systemic inequities. Their advice to other parents is practical and empowering: trust your instincts, educate yourself on learning disabilities and dyslexia, and connect with organizations and resources in your community. Their story is a call to action, demonstrating the importance of persistence, self-education, and community advocacy in navigating a flawed educational system.
Resources:
Child Find MandateCox Campus courses
Cox Campus- Dyslexia Quick Facts
William A vs Clarksville-Montgomery County School System
Endrew F case (Understood.org)Reading Rockets, A Guide for Parents
Dyslexia Alliance for Black Children
Right to Read filmOur Dyslexic ChildrenWNY Literacy Initiative
Niagara Community Information Group
_____________________
Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading.
About Brett Tingley: https://parentsforreadingjustice.org/brett-tingley-bio
About Kareem Weaver: https://tinyurl.com/KareemWeaverBio
About Parents for Reading Justice: https://linktr.ee/parentsforreadingjustice
About FULCRUM:https://linktr.ee/fulcrumliteracy
Join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward, and DONATE!
DISCLAIMER: All information in this video is presented as our shared experience only, with the intention of helping others to understand our efforts and experience. Nothing presented herein should be construed as offering legal advice. We encourage everyone to seek professional legal advice pertaining to their individual circumstances. We welcome you to share your experiences with us on all matters relating to dyslexia as we are continuously learning new information to help push our cause to help as many people with dyslexia as possible. Thank you for your continued support!
For our 18th episode, and 2nd international episode!, we are excited to bring you Kim Lockhart. Kim is a French bilingual immersion teacher and special education teacher in Canada. Despite attending a top-tier undergraduate teaching program and earning a master's degree, Kim didn't learn anything about how to teach children to read. That didn't come until she went through an Orton-Gillingham training program. Join us for this insightful and engaging conversation where Kim talks frankly about how preservice teacher preparation programs are not setting up teachers for success in the classroom, how the lack of knowledge in evidence-based instruction leaves teachers floundering and too many students failing, and how this model is deeply inequitable.
In the last part of our conversation, Kim talks about teaching multilingual learners including the importance of building their language skills along with their decoding skills, and how structured literacy is essential in the bilingual classroom. We hope you will come away from this conversation inspired to encourage your school district leadership to talk with the teacher preparation programs they hire from about ending the teaching of disproven methods of reading instruction, and ensuring their graduates learn about literacy science and evidence-based instructional practices. These programs are at the root of the literacy crisis and they need to know that their customers, local school districts, are dissatisfied at having to provide training that should have been provided in college! And if you are a teacher, you can give your feedback directly to your degree program!
Social Media Handles:
X: @MmeLockhartLDSB
Instagram: @mmelockhartlds
LinkedIn: @Kim Lockhart
Resources:
Our Dyslexic Children Documentary
The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading, by Christopher Such
Ontario Human Rights Commission Right to Read Report
The Reading League Science of Reading: Defining Guide
Literacy How Reading Wheel, Margie Gillis
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
Parent Group Directory
ParentsForReadingJustice.org
Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so that 95% of students read proficiently.Host Brett Tingley is the President of OH-KID, a grassroots parent group dedicated to ensuring all children in Ohio learn to read. She is also an advisory board member of the International Dyslexia Association Central Ohio. She is the founder and President of Parents for Reading Justice. Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Summary:
In this episode of Literacy Now, we talk with Rebecca Tolson. Rebecca is the Director of the Center for Structured Literacy at the University of Akron. Previously, she was the Vice President of Literacy Initiatives at Neuhaus Education Center and an adjunct professor in the master's of dyslexia therapy program at Walsh University. Rebecca started her career as a 5th grade general education teacher, trained in the 'whole language' approach to reading instruction. She saw many students who reached 5th grade unable to read. Much as she loved teaching reading, she quickly found that she didn't have the tools in her toolbox to help her struggling students. It wasn't until a mentor at her school, Lori Josephson, encouraged her to take coursework in the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction, where she learned terminology and instructional approaches that had been absent in her undergraduate degree program, that Rebecca developed the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively teach all children to read.Join us as we hear about working with teachers who have had little to no exposure to reading science, considerations in shifting from a balanced literacy approach to a structured literacy approach, what to look for in a strong MTSS system, and thoughts on what can be done to encourage colleges of education to better prepare our future teachers in reading science and evidence-based instructional practices. Enjoy our conversation- you're in for a treat!
Resources:
The Center for Effective Reading Instruction
International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC)
Colorado DoE: Advisory List of Instructional Programming
International Dyslexia Association: Accredited University Programs
International Dyslexia Association: Fact Sheets
NCTQ: 2020 Teacher Prep Review
Mount St. Joseph University, Reading Science programs
Book:
Annual Growth for All Students, Catch Up Growth for Those Who Are Behind
Facebook Socials:
Rebecca Tolson
@RebeccaTolson
Kareem Weaver
@KareemJabbarWeaver
NCTQ
@National CouncilonTeacherQuality
University of Akron
@TheUniversityofAkron
Mount St. Joseph University
@MountStJosephUniversity
Governor Mike DeWine
@MikeDeWine
X:
@RebeccaTolson1
@KJWinEducation
@NCTQ@GovMikeDeWine
______________________________
Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
Parent Group Directory
ParentsForReadingJustice.org
Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so that 95% of students read proficiently.Host Brett Tingley is the President of OH-KID, a grassroots parent group dedicated to ensuring all children in Ohio learn to read. She is also an advisory board member of the International Dyslexia Association Central Ohio. She is the founder and President of Parents for Reading Justice.Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
'A worried mother does better research than the FBI!'
We are so excited to bring you this inspiring conversation with Robin Zikmund! Robin is the founder of Decoding Dyslexia Idaho, a dyslexia advocate for the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education, and the parent of a child with dyslexia. Robin shares with us the history of missed opportunities and delays by many experts including the educational system to identify her son's struggles at school. It wasn't until she did her own research and put the puzzle together by herself, that she was able to become an effective advocate for her son. But it was a long, uphill battle with the school district. Eventually, Robin became an advocate at the state-level, using the legislative process and connecting with national experts to help bring in policy changes to support effective literacy instruction in Idaho. Listen in and get inspired!
Resources:
Decoding Dyslexia Idaho Dyslexia
Idaho Comprehensive Literacy Plan
Institute for Multisensory Education (IMSE)
Center for Effective Reading Instruction
Knowledge and Practice Examination for Effective Reading Instruction (KPEERI exam)
Social Media:
Facebook -
@Decoding Dyslexia - ID Discussion Board
@Orton-Gillingham
@Robin Zikmund
X -
@DDIDchange
@IMSEOG
@RobinZikmund
Instagram -
@ddidaho
@imse_og
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
Parent Group Directory
ParentsForReadingJustice.org
Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so that 95% of students read proficiently.Host Brett Tingley is the President of OH-KID, a grassroots parent group dedicated to ensuring all children in Ohio learn to read. She is also an advisory board member of the International Dyslexia Association Central Ohio. She is the founder and President of Parents for Reading Justice.Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
In this episode of Literacy Now, we talk with Todd Collins, a school board member in Palo Alto, California and founder of the California Reading Coalition. Todd is a self-described "accidental education advocate". Upon joining his school board, Todd assumed that the district knew how to teach reading pretty well. Overall state test scores were high. But he started to wonder if this was due to instruction or to something about the families. So he asked a simple yet profound question, "how do we know we are a great school district?". His quest to answer this question took him on a journey which opened his eyes to the reality of classroom reading instruction which was doing a very poor job of serving the most vulnerable students, ultimately turning this businessman into a state-level education advocate. Resources: California Reading Coalition https://www.careads.org California Reading Report Card https://www.careads.org/reportcard California Reading Coalition Annual Summit 2022- recorded presentations and related documents https://www.careads.org/summit-recap-22 ______________________________ Parents For Reading Justice is a nonprofit grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring every child learns to read by engaging parents and educators in adopting the science of teaching reading. Our mission is to activate, train, and guide parent groups to flip their school districts to evidence-based reading instruction. Our vision is to speed the nationwide shift to evidence-based literacy instruction so that 95% of students read proficiently. Host Brett Tingley is the President of OH-KID, a grassroots parent group dedicated to ensuring all children in Ohio learn to read. She is also an advisory board member of the International Dyslexia Association Central Ohio. She is the founder and President of Parents for Reading Justice. Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website! FOLLOW US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ7xa6meD2Q&t=31s Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/parentsforreadingjustice Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/parentsforreadingjustice/ Twitter - https://x.com/Parents4RJ Masterclass - https://parentsforreadingjustice.org Parent Group Directory - https://parentsforreadingjustice.org/parent-group-registry Donate - https://parentsforreadingjustice.org/donate DISCLAIMER: All information in this video is presented as our shared experience only, with the intention of helping others to understand our efforts and experience. Nothing presented herein should be construed as offering legal advice. We encourage everyone to seek professional legal advice pertaining to their individual circumstances. We welcome you to share your experiences with us on all matters relating to dyslexia as we are continuously learning new information to help push our cause to help as many people with dyslexia as possible. Thank you for your continued support!
Summary
We are so excited to welcome Dr. Tracy White Weeden to our podcast! Tracy is the President and CEO of Neuhaus Education Center, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote reading success by providing evidence-based professional development to educators, information and resources to families, and direct services to adult learners. Tracy begins with her family history and professional journey. That journey included being 'sold a story' before finding the science of reading. She explains that we are now in a defining moment for a literacy crusade, that we can and should be the lighthouse for change because literacy is the currency of the 21st century and a human right. To parents, Tracy advises everyone to find those in your realm of influence, prep the system for change and lead from the middle. We all need to "dare greatly, lead valiantly, influence bravely and be the butterfly effect... for our children".
Find a favorite spot to sit back and enjoy this wonderful and inspiring conversation!
Resources
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
Summary
We are so excited to welcome Dr. Tracy White Weeden to our podcast! Tracy is the President and CEO of Neuhaus Education Center, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote reading success by providing evidence-based professional development to educators, information and resources to families, and direct services to adult learners. Tracy begins with her family history and professional journey. That journey included being 'sold a story' before finding the science of reading. She explains that we are now in a defining moment for a literacy crusade, that we can and should be the lighthouse for change because literacy is the currency of the 21st century and a human right. To parents, Tracy advises everyone to find those in your realm of influence, prep the system for change and lead from the middle. We all need to "dare greatly, lead valiantly, influence bravely and be the butterfly effect... for our children".
Find a favorite spot to sit back and enjoy this wonderful and inspiring conversation!
Resources
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
Summary
We are excited to bring you this fascinating conversation with Kait Feriante. Kait is the co-founder of Redwood Schools (Chicago), which include two full-day K-8 schools for students with dyslexia, and a program for young adults who are court-involved who struggle with reading and writing. Kait is also a former Chicago Public Schools teacher and parent of a child with dyslexia. Kait shares with us her perspective gained through all of these roles. Listen in as we delve into topics including the lack of preparation for reading instruction by colleges of education, collaborating with your child's school team and advocating for their educational needs, data collection, and assistive technology. Kait also talks about the work of the Redwood Schools and the success of their programs, as well as the success of the Lawndale program despite incredible odds. Don't miss this important conversation!
Resources
Instagram Pages:
@redwoodliteracy @redwoodschools
Twitter Page:
Facebook Page:
LinkedIn Page:
@Redwood Literacy @Redwood Schools
TikTok Page:
YouTube Page:
Donate To Redwood Here:
https://redwoodlclc.funraise.org
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
Summary
In this episode of Literacy Now, we meet an amazing parent advocate, Jenine Hanson. Jenine is from Naperville, Illinois, a city which is consistently listed in the top 10 U.S. cities in which to raise a family, particularly because of its excellent schools. So when her oldest child was having difficulty with learning to read as early as 1st grade, Jenine started asking a lot of questions. She takes us through her family's long and arduous journey to identify the source of her child's challenges. Only after receiving a dyslexia diagnosis in 5th grade by a private neuropsychologist did the school district agree to do an educational evaluation. By then, Jenine was connecting with a lot of other parents with similar stories, all asking, how does a world class school district miss the most common learning disability? What started as a parent support group shifted to advocacy and the formation of the Dyslexia Action Group of Naperville. Jenine led the effort to engage with the District and the school board of education to change how reading was being taught. Listen and learn how these efforts ultimately led to the district adopting a reading program with a structured literacy approach (with parent input in the process), a dyslexia screener, and professional learning for teachers in evidence-based reading instruction. Prepare to be inspired!
Resources
Dyslexia Action Group of Naperville (DAGN)
Barton Reading & Spelling System
IEP/s504 Accommodations Matrix and related conversation about it on Twitter
Naperville professional learning day
Everyone Reading Illinois (ERI)
International Dyslexia Association
Illinois State Board of Education - The Dyslexia Guide
Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE)
Book- Shifting the Balance, by Jan Burkins and Kari Yates
Sold a Story podcast, by Emily Hanford
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
"You just gave me the code to the English language. I can read!"
We are thrilled to bring you this inspiring conversation with David Chalk. David is a Canadian technology entrepreneur, cybersecurity specialist, and a media personality. Until very recently, he couldn't read. David has learning disabilities including acute dyslexia. He shares the physical, mental and emotional toll it has taken on him throughout his life. He knew early on that working for someone else was not going to be a successful path, and as a result he was driven into starting his own businesses. He had many career successes, but when COVID hit, he lost his business at that time. By sheer chance, he was introduced to Nora Chahbazi, founder of EBLI - Evidence Based Literacy Instruction, and leaped at the chance to learn to read. After just six days of instruction, David went from an elementary level of reading comprehension to a post-university comprehension level because he was no longer struggling to read every word. He said to Nora, "This is like a secret code. I can do math, I understand physics... You just gave me the code to the English language. I can read!"
David goes on to explain this transformation with these words: "No one had ever told me. It wasn't about reading, it was about understanding that words are the positioning of language onto paper for extraction later. So if you know how to encode it onto paper, you can pull it off and read it. But when you are only taught that this is what's on the paper and try and understand it- no, I need to know how it got on the page, what was the coding that got it down there. Know that, you can read!
RESOURCES:
All Website Links:
EBLI - Evidence Based Literacy Instruction
Documentary: The Truth About Reading
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Twitter Pages: @AskDavidChalk, @truthabout2023
Facebook Page: @DavidChalk
LinkedIn Page: @DrDavidChalk
Instagram Page: @thetruthaboutreading
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
Our Dyslexic Children - Documentary
We are so excited to welcome Donna Hejtmanek to our podcast! Donna is the founder of the Facebook page, Science of Reading- What I Should Have Learned in College.
She is also a retired special education teacher and reading specialist. In our conversation, Donna talks about what led her to form the Facebook group, how it supports teachers and parents, and how it developed into the incredible resource it is today with over 230,000 members! She also shares with us her efforts to disseminate what has been learned from scientific research on how children learn to read and write so that it is accessible to our childrens' teachers, her advocacy locally and at the state level for students with dyslexia, and her thoughts on shifting practices in colleges of education. Our conversation ends with Donna's advice to parents on being your child's advocate. Listen in now to this inspiring conversation!
Resources:
Facebook- Science of Reading What I Should Have Learned in College
SoR What I Should Have Learned In College New Member Welcome Letter and List of Resources
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
SUMMARY:
"Parents are the Key!"
In this episode, we are thrilled to introduce you to Nora Chabazi. Nora is the founder of EBLI (Evidence Based Literacy Instruction), whose mission is to teach the world to read. Having left her career as a neonatal intensive care nurse to raise her three children, Nora soon found that she needed to quickly learn about reading instruction. Her daughter, who was gifted in math, was a year below grade level in early elementary school. Drawing on her scientific background and knowledge of the brain's plasticity for learning at any age, Nora educated herself on current research in the field of literacy, trained in the Phono-Graphix method, then opened a reading center, created the speech-to-print program EBLI, and has been teaching reading and training teachers ever since. Listen in as we hear about her amazing journey from parent advocate to literacy expert, as well as her involvement as the literacy consultant for the documentary The Truth About Reading. Our conversation concludes with Nora's advice to parents on the importance of educating yourself and forming a community of parents for support and advocacy, because "parents are the key!".
Resources:
Website: EBLI: Evidence Based Reading Instruction
Documentary: The Truth About Reading
Book: Why Our Children Can't Read, by Diane McGuinness, PhD
Book: Why Johnny Can't Read: And What You Can Do About It, by Rudolf Flesch
Audio documentaries & Podcast: by Emily Hanford for APM Reports
Facebook Group: Science of Reading-What I Should Have Learned in College
Facebook Group: S2P / SLL / Linguistic Phonics Exploration
SOCIALS:
Instagram Pages:
@eblireads
Facebook Pages:
EBLI Evidence-Based Reading Instruction
LinkedIn Page:
EBLI Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!
SUMMARY:
In this episode, we talk with Margie Gillis, founder of the nonprofit Literacy How. Margie is a nationally recognized literacy expert whose career has been steeped in the science of reading from the very beginning. Margie has been teaching children to read for over 40 years, and she founded Literacy How in 2009 to provide professional development and coaching to teachers and school districts so they learn how best to implement evidence-based literacy practices. Join us as we dive right into a discussion on reading science being more than just phonics instruction, the components of a strong reading program, supporting teachers and administrators in translating research to practice, and ideas for systemic change starting with the colleges of education who prepare our future teachers. Enjoy this informative episode!
Resources
National Reading Panel Report (full text, overview, findings)
Literacy How and the The Reading Wheel
The Reading League Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines
Florida Center for Reading Research
National Center for Improving Literacy (NCIL)
International Dyslexia Association (IDA)
The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, Dr. Sharon Vaughn, Executive Director
Reading Courses / Professional Development:
AIM Institute for Learning & Research
Reading Rockets Reading 101 Course
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Please join us on our socials, watch our documentary, take our Masterclass, register your parent group, pay it forward and DONATE on our website!