Literacy Lookout

My goal with Literacy Lookout is simple: one place to find the literacy information worth knowing without adding one more thing to your plate.

Each issue will include a look at our data, a little PD info, important Ohio updates, and something practical you can take right into your classroom.

📖 Science of Reading Refresher Courses

Teachers and administrators employed before July 1, 2025, must complete the refresher by June 30, 2030, and every five years thereafter. Different timelines apply to newer hires, school psychologists, and speech-language pathologists.

💻 New Ohio Learn System

Ohio's new Learning Management System opened in May. Educators access the state's Science of Reading courses using their OH|ID.

📚 Updated Ohio ELA Standards

Ohio released updated K–8 English Language Arts standards for 2026, with revisions that strengthen alignment with the Science of Reading. Key changes include extending Reading Foundations through grade 8 and adding new Writing Foundations standards. The 2026–27 school year is a transition year, with full implementation beginning in 2027–28.

👍RIMPS

New this year, Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plans will extend through 7th grade. In addition to the elementary, I will be working closely with the middle school staff to write, update, and implement these RIMPS throughout the year. Get ready 8th grade, you're next!

I'll keep watching Ohio literacy updates so you don't have to.

This summer, I officially became a Certified Dyslexia Interventionist! I’m excited to bring this additional expertise in dyslexia, structured literacy, and reading intervention to my work across the district and to keep learning alongside all of you.

Learning is gradual, not binary.

Sometimes we accidentally think about skills like this:

“The student couldn’t do it.” → instruction → “Now the student can do it.”

But most skills actually develop more like this:

Acquisition → Fluency→ Generalization→ Adaptation

• Acquisition = “I’m learning it.”
  I’m figuring out how to do this new skill. I need someone to teach me, show me examples, and help me practice.
• Fluency = “I can do it smoothly.”
  I know how to do it, and with practice I’m getting faster, more accurate, and more confident.
• Generalization = “I can use it in different places.”
  I can use this skill in a new book, a different class, or a different kind of problem—not just when I practiced it.
• Adaptation = “I can make it work when things change.”
  I understand the skill well enough to adjust it, choose when to use it, and figure out what to do when the situation is different or harder.

Even simpler:

Learn it → Get good at it → Use it anywhere → Make it work for you

A student can understand a skill before they can use it independently and consistently.

For example, a student learning to identify the main idea might:

• identify it when the teacher models the thinking,
• then identify it with prompting,
• then do it independently with an easier text,
• then struggle again when the text becomes more complex,
• eventually apply the skill across different texts without prompting.

That struggle in the middle doesn't necessarily mean the instruction didn't work. It may mean the student is still developing the skill.

A teacher-friendly way to explain it:

Think about learning to drive. You don't go from “I don't know how to drive” to “I can drive anywhere under any conditions” after someone teaches you what the pedals and mirrors do.

At first, you need someone beside you. Then you can drive around a parking lot. Then familiar roads. Eventually you can handle highways, rain, construction, unfamiliar cities, and distractions.

Reading skills develop the same way.

Knowing what to do isn't the same as being able to do it independently, accurately, consistently, and under increasing complexity.

So when we're looking at student data, the question shouldn't always be:

“Did they master it...yes or no?”

A better question is:

“Where is this student on the path toward mastery, and what support will move them to the next level?”

That's also why one assessment can sometimes make student growth look flatter than it really is. A child may have moved from unable → able with support → independently successful with simpler material, even though they haven't yet reached the assessment's definition of mastery.

The big idea:
Skills don't develop with the flip of a switch. They develop along a continuum—and our instruction, feedback, practice, and assessment should recognize movement along that continuum.

Instead of having students hold up response cards, whiteboards, or high-fives where the whole room can see, try chest-level signals.

Have students hold their answers—whether it's a number, a finger count (1–5), or a thumb rating—flat against their chest.

Why make the switch?

• Zero Peer Pressure: Strips away the anxiety of showing a "wrong" answer in front of friends.

• No Copying: Prevents kids from glancing around to mimic their neighbors.

• Honest Data: You get a fast, accurate snapshot of who actually understands—without public embarrassment.

It takes two seconds to explain to students and instantly create a safer space for quiet checks!

• A student breakthrough?
• A strategy that's working?
• A colleague doing something worth stealing?

Send it my way!

I'd love to feature classrooms, teachers, and student learning in an upcoming Literacy Lookout.