“Reading failure can be prevented in all but a tiny percentage of children who have serious learning disorders,” says Kate Walsh, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). “The number of kids’ lives that can be improved by better instruction in schools is heartening and also devastating because we haven’t been doing it.”

In a webinar moderated by Learning Ally’s Dr. Terrie Noland, Kate discusses how teacher preparation programs, school administrators, and classroom teachers can make changes to increase students’ reading proficiency. By the fourth grade, 65% of students are not proficient readers. Kate says that number can be reduced to about 5% by implementing curriculum that follows reading science. Based on several decades of scientific evidence, the reading science shows how children learn to read.

“There is definitely a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to learn how to read,” Kate says. “It is not something that comes to us naturally. It’s a skill we have to learn.” She emphasizes that early reading curriculum should focus not only on decoding but also on vocabulary and background knowledge to increase reading comprehension, beginning in Kindergarten.

In this webinar, Kate details how to determine if a curriculum is truly science-based, how to supplement a curriculum that is not science-based, and how to ensure that elementary school teachers are equipped to perform their most important job – teaching children how to read.

Learn more by listening to a recording of the complete webinar.

Learning Ally works with leading experts in early childhood and whole child literacy, dyslexia, social and emotional learning, and evidence-based reading instruction to unlock the learning potential for all students. Our “Perspectives on Whole Child Literacy” blog features exclusive content from literacy thought leaders who believe…“With the right mindset, leadership, structured literacy, and social-emotional modeling, all children can become successful readers and achievers.