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Teaching Reading to English Learners: Research and Practical Recommendations

The Summer 2026 edition of American Educator included an article by Linda Cavazos and Claude Goldenberg titled “The Road to Reading for English Learners.” The authors begin by posing an important question: Do findings from reading research, often referred to as the science of reading, apply to students known as English Learners (ELs), emergent bilinguals, or multilingual learners? Their answer is yes. Research has demonstrated “that what we know about how children acquire literacy when they know the language they are learning to read in is just as relevant for students who are learning the language as they are learning to read and write it” (p. 1). However, the authors emphasize that reading instruction for ELs must also include instruction that supports English language development. Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to update information about effective reading instruction for ELs in two of my books and related courses: Keys to Beginning Reading (2nd ed, 2025) for grades K-5 and The Essentials of Adolescent Literacy (2026) for grades 5-12. This post shares instructional suggestions from these resources that align with those offered by Cavazos and Goldenberg.

Joan Sedita | November 3, 2026 | 0 Comments

The MTSS Framework and Literacy Planning at the Secondary Level

The components of a comprehensive literacy plan for organizing, implementing, and sustaining literacy improvement align closely with the elements of an MTSS framework. Schools that are successfully implementing MTSS can build on their existing systems and structures when developing a literacy plan. Likewise, developing a comprehensive literacy plan can strengthen a school’s use of MTSS to support literacy achievement. In this way, literacy planning and MTSS are mutually reinforcing efforts. Both MTSS and comprehensive literacy planning extend beyond identifying and supporting students who struggle with reading and writing. Their systems-based approaches encourage schools to strengthen the instructional, organizational, and implementation conditions needed to improve literacy achievement for all students.

Joan Sedita | October 5, 2026 | 0 Comments

Keys to Literacy Leadership: A Conversation with Pati Montgomery

Keys to Literacy has spent years helping teachers strengthen reading and writing instruction in their classrooms. This month, we're turning our attention to the person standing just outside that classroom door: the building leader. Keys to Literacy Leadership is a new professional learning course designed for elementary principals and instructional leaders who want to lead literacy improvement with more clarity and confidence — and it was built around the expertise of Pati Montgomery, KTL Senior Education Officer, whose work with school leaders across the country has shaped how we think about literacy leadership at Keys to Literacy. We sat down with Pati to talk about why this course exists, who it's for, and what she expects leaders to walk away with.

Wendy Amato | September 12, 2026 | 0 Comments

Higher Education: Preparing Educators to Teach Literacy

Few topics in literacy education are receiving more attention today than how colleges and universities prepare future teachers to teach reading and writing. As the Science of Reading continues to influence state legislation, teacher licensure requirements, and school district expectations, Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) are facing increasing pressure to ensure that teacher candidates graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective, evidence-based literacy instruction. This post summarizes several of the key ideas from my presentation at the Keys to Literacy Higher Education Summit, organized around three questions: Why are EPPs changing? What literacy knowledge should future teachers acquire? And How should teachers teach literacy effectively?

Joan Sedita | August 7, 2026 | 0 Comments

Using Mentor Texts to Improve Students’ Writing

Most people learn new skills by emulating others—for example, learning to cook a great meal, play basketball, or play the guitar. Writing is no different. Teachers can use writing models, often called mentor texts, to show students what effective writing looks like and help them imitate its style, language, structure and techniques in their own work. Mentor texts also demonstrate how authors use elements of writing craft, often referred to as writers’ moves. This instructional approach is sometimes described as teaching students to read like writers.

Joan Sedita | July 2, 2026 | 1 Comment

The Simple View of Reading and Four Types of Readers

The first chapter of the recently published second edition of Keys to Beginning Reading (Sedita, 2025), along with the accompanying Keys to Beginning Reading professional learning course, provides an overview of the science of reading (SOR). This overview includes several seminal models that help explain the competencies and skills students must develop to become proficient readers. One of these models is the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986). This post focuses on that model, as well as a related framework that identifies four types of readers within a four-quadrant structure.

Joan Sedita | June 3, 2026 | 1 Comment

The Writing Rope: A Diagnostic Framework for Formative Writing Assessment

Assessment of student writing is an essential component of developing students’ writing abilities. Although writing assessment can serve a variety of purposes, an important primary goal should be to inform instruction and improve students’ writing skills. This post focuses on formative writing assessment and offers suggestions for how the Writing Rope framework (Sedita, 2019, 2023) can support it.

Joan Sedita | May 5, 2026 | 0 Comments

New Adolescent Literacy Guide

Many students leave elementary grades without grade-level reading and writing skills. Literacy difficulties that emerge in the elementary years may persist into later grades or, in some cases, first appear during adolescence. Students who lack-grade-level reading and writing skills are at a disadvantage for academic achievement. However, over the past fifteen years, literacy initiatives in many school districts and states have focused primarily on beginning reading instruction in grades K–5—and in some cases, only K–3. The good news is that a shift is beginning to occur. State policymakers, school and district administrators, and even the general news media are increasingly recognizing the needs of adolescent learners.

Joan Sedita | April 8, 2026 | 0 Comments

Leadership Spotlight: Dr. Karen Langlands

Jill Hafey | March 16, 2026 | 2 Comments

Do Adolescent Learners Need Fluency Instruction?

Fluency is often described as the bridge between word recognition and comprehension. It is best observed during oral reading. For older students, fluency also plays a key role in maintaining motivation to read. This raises an important question: Do adolescents require explicit instruction in fluency, or is fluency instruction necessary only in the elementary grades?

Joan Sedita | March 5, 2026 | 1 Comment

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