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VLA Walkthrough Look-Fors: There’s an HLP for That!
Beyond utilization of high-quality instructional materials, effective teaching strategies are essential for fostering student success. The purpose of the Virginia Literacy Act’s Literacy Walkthrough Tool is to support administrators, teachers, and reading specialists in the implementation of evidence-based literacy instruction to improve student learning. When aligned with Ceedar Center’s High Leverage Practices (HLPs), it is… Read More VLA Walkthrough Look-Fors: There’s an HLP for That!
All Means ALL: The Virginia Literacy Act and Teaching Students with Complex Needs
Embracing a Holistic Approach The Virginia Literacy Act ensures every student in kindergarten to grade five will receive core literacy instruction based in scientifically based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction and, every teacher will use evidence-based literacy curriculum, use student-level data to inform instruction and intervention, and participate in training on evidence-based literacy instruction…. Read More All Means ALL: The Virginia Literacy Act and Teaching Students with Complex Needs
Personalize Your Literacy Learning
Are you wondering how you can get a running start this summer on your personal professional learning as we are all gearing up for the official launch of the Virginia Literacy Act? Even though we know professional development is already built into division plans in relation to evidence-based literacy instruction and utilizing high quality instructional… Read More Personalize Your Literacy Learning
What Does Your VLA Readiness Look Like?
Whether you are a literacy leader in your school division, or an educator who works directly with students, have you had a chance to pause and really reflect upon on how the Virginia Literacy Act is meant to impact not only students to become more proficient readers, but also how the initiative can support you?… Read More What Does Your VLA Readiness Look Like?
Testing vs. Teaching Questions
Reading a book with your class should be an engaging and immersive experience. One storybook strategy we often draw attention to is questioning, since it is something that should occur before, during and after reading activities. Traditional questions are often aimed at retrieval of information from a text, whereas the focus of querying is to… Read More Testing vs. Teaching Questions
Online Learning
Online Learning
Assessing, Preventing, and Overcoming Reading Difficulties Book Study Modules
Introduction to Online and Blended Teaching Free Self-Paced Course
Resources
Resources
The VDOE Reading Network provides K-12 teachers with effective strategies to increase the reading achievement of students with disabilities. Following are useful resources.
Dyslexia Awareness
- The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity and Strategies to Support Struggling Readers (Kids Can’t Wait)
- Dyslexia Awareness Module
- Dyslexia Frequently Asked Questions
Virginia Department of Education Resources
- 2017 VDOE English Standards
- VDOE English/Reading/Writing Resources
- VDOE Comprehensive Literacy Webinar Series
T-TAC Online Reading Resources
Reading Sites of Interest
National Center on Improving Literacy
A source for improving outcomes for students with literacy related disabilities including dyslexia.
The Literacy Bill of Rights from the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies at UNC
Students with disabilities have the right to an opportunity to read. Here is an excerpt from the Literacy Bill of Rights (Yoder, Erickson & Koppenhaver, 1997).
The IRIS Center at Vanderbilt University is a national center dedicated to improving education outcomes for all children, especially those with disabilities birth through age twenty-one. Find a list of reading related resources in this document: The IRIS Center’s Resources for Teaching Reading
The Florida Center for Reading Research
Vaughn Gross Center for Reading
- Online professional development dedicated to improving instruction for all students, especially struggling readers, English language learners, and special education students.
PALS Virginia Activities and Resources
- Providing educators and students access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction.
The Lexile Framework for Reading
- Lexile measures are reported with the scores of students taking SOL reading tests in grades 3-8. Instructional resources can be found at the Lexile.com website. One helpful resource is the Find the Book feature. Enter either a student Lexile score (from a recent SOL test), or the student’s current grade level. Next, choose subject(s) of interest, and a tailor-made, leveled book list will be created for the student.
