Louise Dechovitz

“You mean to tell me I’m not stupid?” That’s what a little boy said after years of believing he was. Super parent @voiceadvocacy trained in OG. Taught him to read. Changed everything. Dyslexia doesn’t mean stupid. It means teachers needed to find the right way to teach him. Clarice has been changing lives ever since! 🎙️ Hear her full story on the latest Literacy Now Together podcast: youtu.be/cUB17SvjBYA?si… @FulcrumLiteracy @KJWinEducation

Dr. Benjamin Zulauf named named next Director of Teaching and Learning for Cicero District 99 D99 administrator no stranger to advocacy for cutting-edge academic best practices @D99Cicero is pleased to announce Dr. Benjamin Zulauf (@benzulauf2) as the new incoming director of teaching and learning (grades K-5) for the District, effective July 1. For the past few years, Zulauf has proudly served as a District leader in curriculum — most recently, in his current role as director of reading and language arts. An avid supporter of literacy in youth academia, Zulauf is a frequent and trusted educational contributor on social media platforms, including X and Substack, where he shares messaging on the newest studies relating to children's literacy, research into best practices in the classroom and personal insight into what he has found has worked best when implemented in schools across District 99. As passionate as he is for staying on top of the latest "EDU-world" news, Zulauf has been a valued member of the District 99 team, and is eager to bring his plethora of experiences — both as a classroom teacher and researcher — into his new role at the District level. Zulauf's credentials include a bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a master's degree in literacy from Judson University, a master's degree in educational leadership from National Louis University, and a doctoral degree in literacy from Judson University.

Really enjoyed speaking w/ @GTavernetti I’m always in awe of the teachers on his podcast! Grateful for the opportunity to chat about intervention work!

Need a quick response to having a high number of kids in the at-risk range on reading screeners? Join us for this webinar about classwide reading interventions. @ILAToday @nasponline @TheNCII @NCILiteracy @reading_league @FloridaLiteracy @DyslexiaIDA shop-readingwithtlc.com/collections/tr…

Education research is weak and sloppy. Why? We all quickly condemned Units of Study, and Fountas and Pinnell, but what is happening in math is even worse. open.substack.com/pub/theargumen…

Thank you to all of our advocates who took action and signed our petition! 🙌 Your voices are helping us push to add college and career-readiness indicators for high school graduates. Are you interested in joining as an advocate? Sign up here➡️tinyurl.com/StandILEmail

Wow! Jefferson Co. Public Schools in KY finally admits things I've been writing about for years. JCPS academic chief calls status quo 'immoral,' says most students not on grade level | Education | wdrb.com Below is one example from NAEP data for this large school district.

Do you think your child may have a learning disability? Our free “Advocating for Your Student” eLearning module provides introductory resources and information for supporting your child’s learning. irrc.education.uiowa.edu/caregivers-res…

🚨 Episode now live! Montserrat Gomendio joined me to explore what drives top education systems & why education reform is so difficult even when we know what works. 🇫🇮 We also unpack the truth about Finland: top in reading only once (2000), declining ever since. Links below

Turning reading research into practice - a new event at @PlanetWordDC on Saturday, April 25th. @tiffanyphogan will share what she’s seen in schools and talk about what education can learn from other fields, including medicine, about translational science. planetwordmuseum.org/events/eyes-on…

The recording you’ve been waiting for is here! Our latest Science of Reading Series: Explicit Fundamental Language Instruction to Improve Reading Comprehension webinar is now available. Watch now and deepen your understanding of the Science of Reading: bit.ly/3Oieb5G

It's surprising how many approaches in math ed seem to go out of their way to overcomplicate basic whole number arithmetic. Math relies on precise defintions: it's how we can verify that results are true. But loose interpretations are being presented as definitions and multiple strategies are being framed as "deep understanding." It's quite the opposite. I believe this overcomplication of basic arithmetic is precisely what's leaving so many kids behind. Not only do they not understand the math b/c it's been presented in such a confusing way, they can't perform the procedures. It's why we are in this mess.

"When learners encounter too many unfamiliar elements at once, retention declines. Experts can manage complexity because they have an organized knowledge structure that was built over time. Beginners do not." Math Needs Its 'Science of Reading' Moment edweek.org/teaching-learn…

I’m incredibly proud of my colleague and friend, Aubrey Durkin, for her leadership on the Illinois Dyscalculia Handbook. I’ve learned so much from her! We’ve made meaningful strides in literacy, and it’s exciting to see that same level of attention and care being extended to mathematics. Be sure to check it out! sldsupports.org/dyslexia-guides

i-Ready: 13 Million Students, Zero Meaningful Evidence open.substack.com/pub/thedigital…

I think it is time to focus on the Science of Assessment @reading_league @AEIsagepub @TheNCII @CECMembership @nasponline @ILAToday @NCTM

1/ Here's another look at the Grade 8 NAEP Reading data which includes consideration of the sampling errors in all NAEP scores. There's a lot going on in these tables, which were generated with the NAEP Data Explorer. First, compared to other states, it is clear that claims by naysayers that Mississippi still ranks at the bottom for Grade 8 Reading is simply no longer true.

Worth a read. Critics discount Mississippi and Louisiana's reading gains by pointing to their 8th grade NAEP scores, which didn’t make the same jump. To quote Chad, “that's true…ish.” What they leave out is that most states’ scores have declined. Nationally, scores dropped almost 10 points in 8th grade math since 2013. My home state of Massachusetts was the top-ranked state for 2024, but we still dropped 9 points over that stretch (very concerning). Mississippi and Louisiana are among the only states that held their ground. Bucking a decade of decline warrants our attention.

This is a great resource written by a team of passionate and research informed professionals about math assessment and intervention. Hopefully this will be used as a model for other state agencies!

“Fifteen years. Thirteen million students. Not a single high-quality, independent study showing i-Ready improves learning.” And in Georgia? We kept it on the approved list…because it’s widely used. That’s not evidence-based leadership. That’s lowering the bar for kids. We should demand better. @georgiadeptofed @GwinnettSchools @DDGA13 open.substack.com/pub/thedigital…