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Course Overview
Free! Vermont Literacy Leadership Live Webinar Series
Vermont Literacy Leadership: Voices from the Field
A Free Three-Part Webinar Series from The Reading League Vermont
Who is this course for?
This series is for superintendents, curriculum directors, special education directors, principals, and literacy coaches.
Course description
Advances in reading research have shown that 95% percent of students can learn to read with highly-effective, evidence-based instruction, bringing educational equity within reach in every school. Understanding how to successfully lead reading success in your district is essential for achieving this goal. In this free virtual series, longtime Vermont educational leaders Katherine Barwin, Michaela Martin, and Sheila Soule share their perspectives in leading and managing evidence-based literacy practices in their school districts. They offer a wealth of knowledge and experience to fellow educational leaders as we move forward implementing our new reading legislation, S.204: An Act Relating to Supporting Vermont’s Young Readers through Evidence-based Literacy Instruction.
Join us live for any or all of these free webinars to ask questions and get the practical guidance needed to set schools up for a successful year. Register to receive recordings of each speaker’s presentation and their slide deck for future reference.
Session 1:
It’s All About the Data: Using Reading Data to Lead Instructional Improvement
Tuesday, August 6th, 10:00 – 11:00 am EDT
Guest Speaker: Katherine Barwin
District and building leaders have specific roles and responsibilities for regularly examining literacy data and ensure that all struggling readers receive the services needed and make critical gains. This includes communicating clear expectations around instructional best practices, monitoring student achievement using a range of assessments, facilitating conversations about student growth, and deploying immediate and targeted professional learning and support where needed.
Session 2:
Building the Roadmap to ensure Reading Success for ALL
Wednesday, August 7th, 10:00 – 11:00 am EDT
Guest Speaker: Michaela Martin
In order to build a comprehensive MTSS academic system that supports the reading needs for all learners, leaders and other decision-makers must understand the conceptual underpinnings of these systems so they can design plans that are realistic, sustainable, and transferable to their organization. Using a school and supervisory union as a model, Michaela shares the necessary components of an effective reading system focused on high-quality instruction and intervention; effective collaboration; and professional learning. Michaela will also share specific decisions and plans, as well as strategies and actions, that bring each system component to life.
Session 3:
Making it Work: A Superintendent’s Perspective
Wednesday, August 14th, 10:00 – 11:00 am EDT
Guest Speaker: Sheila Soule
As superintendent of a district with a strong literacy improvement plan well underway, Sheila will speak to the opportunities leaders have to foster and sustain each component of system-wide reading improvement. Describing initiatives in place in the Addison Northwest School District and how her team worked together to focus on student reading amid leadership transitions and other changes, the presentation will provide a real-world view of what it takes to keep reading equity and student success in our sights.
Dates
Location and Format
Cost
FREE
Grade Level
Audience
Katherine Barwin
Guest Speaker
Michaela Martin
Guest Speaker
Sheila Soule
Guest Speaker
What Teachers Have to Say
Meet the Instructor(s)
Katherine Barwin
Guest Speaker
Katherine Barwin has been in education for over forty years. She served as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, literacy coach, curriculum director, principal, and leadership consultant. She retired in June as a K-2 reading specialist for grades at Allen Brook School.
Michaela Martin
Guest Speaker
Michaela Martin spent four years as a building principal before moving to the Central Vermont Supervisory Union, where she spent thirteen years as the Co-Director of School Transformation. She has spent the past two years as the Intensive Programming and System Support Coordinator at the White River Valley Supervisory Union.
Sheila Soule
Guest Speaker
Sheila Soule was appointed the Superintendent at Addison Northwest School District in July of 2018. She is a native of Randolph, Vermont and is a thirty-year career educator. She was the Director of Curriculum in the Harwood Unified Union School District prior to coming to ANWSD. A graduate of Johnson State College, she received her […]
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