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

⁠Neuhaus Education Center⁠

⁠Emily Hanford podcasts⁠

⁠Book- Stone Soup⁠

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