AIM Institute

Couldn’t make it to this year’s Research to Practice Symposium? You can still learn from the leading voices in literacy and the science of reading. 🎥 Symposium recordings are now available on Nexus, giving you access to powerful sessions from researchers and educators working to transform literacy instruction. With a free basic Nexus membership, you can explore the full Symposium video library and learn at your own pace. Start watching: bit.ly/4uyOKx8 *If you attended the Symposium in person or online, keep an eye on your email for details about accessing the recordings.

What does it take to ensure access to reading for all students, especially in secondary classrooms? At the Dyslexia Alliance for Black Children 2026 Virtual Conference, Dr. Carolyn Durante will present “Access for All: Embedding Foundational Reading Skills in Secondary Content Classrooms.” This session will explore how educators can integrate foundational literacy into content-area instruction to better support adolescent learners. 📅 Saturday 🕒 1:30 PM ET 💻 Virtual Learn more + register: bit.ly/4us8q51

🤔What if a 3-minute task could flag students with DLD? Ward et al.'s (2024) meta-analysis of 46 studies established that children with DLD score 2 standard deviations below typically developing peers on sentence repetition. Ou new study extended that work. We found that fourth graders with dyslexia who qualified for speech-language services scored significantly lower on sentence repetition than dyslexia-only peers (Hedges' g = −1.61), suggesting the task may help identify broader language vulnerability within dyslexia-identified populations. 🔗Read it here: rdcu.be/ffZQd

🆕 Ask AIM article: Reading Digital Texts "I’ve been talking a lot with my teacher friends about how reading digital texts impacts students. I thought we had a pretty good understanding that comprehension was negatively affected by reading digitally, yet we’re using computer- and tablet-based programs more and more. What gives?" Read AIM's answer: bit.ly/3QtJZFx

Celebrated the 20th anniversary of @AIMtoLearn alongside the @BCMSBengals community. Congrats to Pat & Nancy on all the lives you have touched while on a mission to ensure children everywhere can achieve a strong foundation in literacy and unlock their full potential. @D23Rising

Proud to honor to @KirklandKhalek as one of our difference makers!

Mississippi Dept of Ed: Top Ten Things that Every Literacy Leader (Admin) Needs to Know. I was doing 1 at a time; enough of that. Here's all 10 tinyurl.com/MDE10toKnow

When you are lucky enough to meet the national teacher of the year @teachpluspa event What an inspiration! ⁦@patroberts6⁩ #leadership

Science of Reading doesnt become real because you buy materials, host training, or say the right things. It becomes real when leaders build systems that make evidence-based instruction clear, supported, practiced, inspected, protected, and sustained. Clarity. Consistency. Culture

🆕 Ask AIM article: Kindergarten Expectations Do you have any insights or research on what a developmentally appropriate expectation would be for kindergarteners to correctly read both irregular and decodable words? Read AIM's answer: bit.ly/4crxyRW

We’re always excited to see Symposium conversations continue beyond the event. After presenting at AIM’s 2026 Research to Practice Symposium, @markseidenberg shared a new piece exploring how early language development shapes reading outcomes. It’s a timely reminder: how children learn to read is deeply connected to how they develop language. Take a look: bit.ly/4ttd6Y7

How can we better prepare educators to support students with dyslexia? At the @ALTAcertified National Conference this year, Dr. Mitzi Berryhill will share insights from her recent research in “Reimagining Teacher Prep: Lessons from Launching a University Dyslexia Course.” The session explores how teacher preparation programs can better align with the science of reading to equip educators with the knowledge and skills they need from the start. 📅 Saturday, April 18 🕒 2:00 PM CT 📍 New Orleans, LA

AIM Institute has been selected by @ABQschools as an approved professional development provider. From structured literacy learning pathways to instructional coaching and leadership development, we’re excited to support educators with research-driven literacy solutions that drive real classroom impact. Looking forward to partnering with APS.

🆕 Ask AIM article: Pronouncing 'tr' and 'dr' "Greetings! What sound would you make when sounding out the 't' and 'd' in 'tr' and 'dr' words? Thank you!" Read AIM's answer: bit.ly/4c7jy0K

Every student deserves access to high-quality, evidence-based literacy instruction. We’re excited to partner with @ouboces in New York following a competitive RFP selection, expanding access to professional learning and coaching grounded in the science of reading. Together, we’re supporting educators across districts with the tools and knowledge to transform literacy outcomes. This work is how change happens: research to practice, at scale.

We often hear about the “Mississippi Miracle” in reading, but Dr. @kymyona_burk reminds us it’s not a miracle at all. Mississippi’s gains didn’t happen overnight, and they didn’t come from a single program or policy. They are the result of years of intentional, aligned work and years of strong As Dr. Burk puts it, this wasn’t a miracle, it was and is a marathon. And perhaps most importantly, the work isn’t finished. Real literacy improvement is never a one-time success, it’s sustained, disciplined effort over time. There’s no shortcut. But there is a roadmap. Pennsylvania let’s learn and ACT upon the model Mississippi offers us and other states like Louisiana have done to advance literacy for all! nytimes.com/2026/04/10/pod…

🆕 Deep Dive article: Print-to-Speech or Speech-to-Print? Explicit, systematic phonics instruction isn’t a single, uniform approach. From print-to-speech to speech-to-print methods, key differences in how skills are taught may influence outcomes. Are popular approaches like Orton-Gillingham truly the gold standard? Or does the research tell a different story? Dive in here: bit.ly/4m6yL5w

Congrats to AIM’s @Literacy_Wynns on being named to this important and inspiring cohort! #PartnerforImpact #AIMtoLead

🆕 Ask AIM article: He Didn’t Qualify for an IEP "I teach 4th grade and recently recommended one of my students for testing because he really struggles with reading comprehension, but the school psychologist just said he was fine! Why would this happen? He’s really struggling in class." Read AIM's answer: bit.ly/48kavag

Miracle stories in schools are easy to find. Sustained success is harder to spot. Robert Pondiscio on how to tell if a school’s gains will actually last: fordhaminstitute.org/national/comme…

ALDS schools don’t just support their own students—they help advance the LD field. @AIMtoLearn, for example, is collecting national literacy data, training educators, and engaging in advocacy and outreach. Read more: ldschools.org/news/blog-aim-… #alds #ScienceOfReading