NELW – Virtual

The Essentials of Effective Writing: Connecting Research, Instruction, and HQIM

 Is your writing instruction working as hard as your HQIM? 

This dynamic webinar focuses on how research-based writing instruction and high-quality instructional materials work together to transform student writing! As districts implement the science of reading and adopt materials, writing instruction deserves the same intentional focus. 

Grounded in the science of writing and The Writing Rope framework, you’ll discover the essential components of effective writing instruction and see them brought to life through examples from RedThread Literacy, a curriculum on Ohio’s approved list of core instructional materials. Presented in partnership between Keys to Literacy and Lavinia Group, this session unpacks the free guide, The Essentials of Effective Writing, and demonstrates how to use it to strengthen writing instruction across grade levels and content areas. You’ll explore practical strategies for explicit instruction in sentence construction, text structure, and the writing process, and learn how strong curriculum materials can support (not replace) skilled teaching. Whether you’re currently searching for HQIM, using RedThread, or implementing another curriculum, this webinar will provide practical takeaways to bring back to your school or district. Every participant walks away with the free guide, along with a bundle of supplemental sentence construction lessons you can implement tomorrow!

Strategy in an Era of Constraint

Declining enrollment. Tighter budgets. Rising costs. Persistent achievement gaps. School systems are being asked to do more while confronting increasingly difficult choices about where to invest and where to pull back.

In this session, explore K12 Coalition’s approach to strategic planning for an era when systems can’t afford to make everything a priority. Learn how leaders can use data, stakeholder voice, and root-cause analysis to confront difficult trade-offs, establish a focused set of priorities, and align limited resources with the outcomes that matter most for students.

Participants will leave with practical approaches for moving beyond an aspirational strategic plan toward a disciplined strategy, one that creates clarity, builds ownership, guides resource decisions, and drives execution when the choices are hardest.

From Myths to Mental Models: An Introduction to Learning Science and Evidence-Informed Practice

Educators encounter a steady stream of claims about how students learn, but familiar or intuitively appealing ideas are not always supported by evidence. How can we distinguish research-informed guidance from persistent misconceptions, and how should evidence inform decisions made in complex educational settings? In this session, participants will examine several common myths and truths about learning and consider how research evidence, professional expertise, and contextual knowledge work together within evidence-informed practice. They will also be introduced to a simple Model of the Mind that illustrates the roles of attention, working memory, long-term memory, encoding, and retrieval in learning. Together, these ideas provide a grounded starting point for examining assumptions about learning and making more intentional educational decisions.

Literacy Leadership Starts at the Top: Preparing Instructional Leaders to Strengthen Schoolwide Literacy Outcomes

As states and districts continue to prioritize evidence-aligned literacy instruction and stronger outcomes for students, educator preparation programs must also examine how future principals and district leaders are being prepared to lead this work. In this session, participants will explore the critical role leadership preparation programs play in developing literacy-informed school leaders who understand effective instruction, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), and the systems necessary to sustain meaningful literacy improvement.

Grounded in the principles outlined in It’s Possible: A Leadership Plan for Implementing Quality Reading Instruction and Ensuring Literacy for All, this session will examine the shifts needed within administrator preparation programs to strengthen literacy leadership competencies, support instructional coherence, and prepare leaders to build systems that improve outcomes for all learners. Participants will engage in reflection and dialogue around the leadership knowledge, structures, and implementation practices needed to support sustainable literacy success across schools and districts.

Beyond the Plan: Leading People, Culture, and Systems Forward

Strong strategic plans shape how people work, how systems function, and how leaders make decisions. But what does it take to make that happen? 

In this candid conversation, two district leaders bringing different perspectives on implementation share how they are using strategy to focus teams, align systems, and connect people to shared priorities. Drawing from the perspectives of a superintendent beginning implementation of a newly developed plan and a veteran district leader with experience across multiple planning cycles, they will explore how authentic leadership, trust, accountability, and intentional systems can build ownership and sustain momentum. Participants will leave with practical insights for aligning people and systems around shared priorities and sustaining the work over time.

Beyond the Robot: Creating Meaningful Computer Science Experiences in
Any Classroom

As AI becomes an increasingly visible part of students’ lives, understanding computer science is more important than ever. Students need opportunities not only to use new technologies, but to understand, question, and create them. In this interactive session, Roversa Robotics co-founder and CEO Kim Wilkens shares lessons learned from working with teachers to integrate CS into elementary and middle school classrooms and the design decisions that led to Roversa. Using examples with and without robotics, participants will explore practical strategies for integrating CS across the curriculum through authentic problem-solving, experimentation, student choice, differentiation, and peer learning. Participants will leave with strategies they can apply to lessons they already teach, regardless of their CS experience or available technology.