Disciplinary Literacy Task Force

Supporting Disciplinary Literacy at the District Level

Lindsay Brindley - Secondary Literacy and Systems Improvement

Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District

Meeting District Needs

About a year ago, I took a variety of steps to understand what my region needed when it came to disciplinary literacy (DL) support. Afterwards, one thing became clear: Every district’s needs were unique. As the only secondary literacy consultant at the Eastern Upper Peninsula ISD, I knew I had to be intentional about next steps. I designed three flexible ways for my districts to get involved:

• Quarterly Face-to-Face Sessions: Full day sessions at the ISD; cross content teams, like-content teams, and individuals welcome
• Monthly Virtual Check-ins: Content driven by attendees; implementation questions, answers, strategies shared; all participants welcome
• In-District Support: Classroom-level coaching, PLC facilitation, DPPD upon request

Aligning Implementation and Improvement

The key to keeping it all organized and moving forward is making sure DL isn’t a stand-alone initiative; it is meaningfully woven into each district’s ongoing district improvement efforts. Every district beginning their DL work was already participating in a structured improvement process, during which they regularly examine their systems and set big-picture priorities. This methodology supports analysis of everything from available data systems to research-based curricular choices to how well instruction is aligned across grade levels.

By integrating DL with these systems-level priorities, I can ensure that the support I provide around DL makes sense to a variety of stakeholders. Depending on where a district is in its journey, different aspects of DL rise to the surface and receive additional attention. Whether it’s strengthening teacher collaboration, improving how data is used, or making the most of existing curricular materials, participating teachers learn about what matters and communicate directly with district-level improvement teams to track progress.

Checking in Through Thirty-Day Cycles

Speaking of tracking progress, one strategy that helps keep things on track is what we call "thirty-day cycles." Every month, district leaders meet with me to reflect on their systems-level progress and fine-tune their focus areas. We use a notes tracker that keeps leadership teams organized and outlines their next steps. Since DL is already integrated into their existing priorities, it naturally becomes part of these check-ins. View this downloadable version of the notes tracker for details.

A quick and consistent feedback loop allows us to make small but meaningful adjustments. For example, if a district expects its PLCs to be making progress with DL but isn’t seeing much evidence in classrooms, the leadership team can step in and make data collection a focus; this increased energy encourages the PLCs to adjust their implementation approach, which can then generate additional evidence of improvement.

Meeting Districts Where They Are

For our region, weaving DL into the broader district improvement process has increased the probability of success. Even if a district doesn’t have a formal improvement framework, the key is understanding their specific context. Knowing how things are working at the district and school levels allows me to differentiate support to help teams advance in ways that make sense for them.

Having a system in place to track DL implementation progress keeps everything moving. It means that instead of DL being just another initiative, it becomes part of a larger plan for improvement. And that’s what makes the work stick—because when teams know their next steps are part of a bigger picture, lasting changes follow.