Bridging the Research to Practice Gap for Adolescent Literacy

Reading Ways is a leading Tier I Adolescent Literacy professional development provider. Our goal is to enable middle and high schools to build locally-led, sustainable professional development programs and provide the tools necessary to implement them effectively.

What Our Clients Say About Us

"Reading Ways' SCALE model simultaneously builds local instructional leadership capacity and scales research-based literacy practices in each content area classroom. We are working to extend this model beyond our high school to other schools in the district."

Dr. Lynn Rudd, New Employee Specialist, Department of Human Resources/Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Canton City Schools, Canton, Ohio

"When we were first introduced to Reading Ways, we were looking for a way to improve our secondary literacy outcomes and build internal instructional leadership capacity. The SCALE model helped us create a culture where teachers feel valued as they learn and are empowered by our amazing local site leader to try new approaches to literacy."

Dr. Scott Mann, Superintendent
Riverside School District, Riverside Ohio

"As a new literacy coach, the Reading Ways team provided me with valuable resources and training that helped me to develop the knowledge and skills I needed to be effective. They also connected me with a community of coaches and literacy leaders who continue to refresh my learning and inspire my work."

Stephany Anderson, Secondary Literacy Coach
Park6 Schools, Wyoming

Professional Development for Adolescent Literacy

Through a multi-year tapered support model and research-based customizable courses and resources, our focus is building organizational alignment, adapting leading evidence-based strategies to meet local learning needs, and executing peer-to-peer collaborative learning cycles with our propriety learning platform.

We believe teacher engagement is critical for successful school-wide adoption and application of evidence-based practices.  Our hybrid data collection and analysis of both online and offline engagement informs our adaptive learning model’s course content, tracks learner progress, and helps identify new/evolving needs.

The Reading Ways Difference

Based on leading Adult Learning practices, our approach is specifically designed for educators to successfully adopt new practices through internally led peer-to-peer collaborative learning. To accomplish this, Reading Ways:

  1. Provides curated, adaptable content for professional development and classroom resources.
  2. Builds school learning capacity for sustainable, organization-wide professional growth and development.
  3. Provides a technology platform for program execution with data-driven insights into teacher engagement.

Adaptable Content

We work with schools to build and implement custom courses and adaptive resources from our curated evidence-based strategies developed in partnership with leading adolescent literacy researchers.

Our Adult Learning Model

SCALE (Sustainable Coaching and Adaptive Learning for Education)

Our Sustainable Coaching and Adaptive Learning for Education (SCALE) model aligns with research-based adult learning methods by merging online adaptive modalities, including e-learning and online support, with traditional in-person coaching tactics. Tailored for long-term success, SCALE employs research-proven methodologies to empower sustainable teacher development, ensuring a strong alignment with the school's goals, data-driven feedback, and guided peer-to-peer support.

Collaborative Learning

Emphasizing collaborative learning, SCALE provides an online platform for peer-to-peer interactions, enabling participants to share and discuss their experiences, experiment with diverse teaching strategies, and reflect on their practices. This is complemented by in-person discussions and follow-up debrief sessions facilitated within the same group of peers, all led at the local level.

Triple Loop Feedback

As collaborative learning unfolds, it feeds into a triple-loop system for feedback and school alignment. This system continuously raises these vital questions to the internal team regarding ongoing adaptive and sustainable learning:

  1. Is this the right problem to solve?
  2. Is this the right way to solve the problem?
  3. Are we implementing this approach correctly?

How do we do it?

Shared Vision & Goals

  • The SCALE model begins with our Leadership course focused on establishing a clear rationale, objectives, measurable criteria, and safeguards for sustained long-term success.
  • Following the launch, the team's time commitment lessens, but involvement continues through progress reports, key metrics tracking, and ongoing outcome analysis.
Data driven chart

Lead Learner

  • SCALE is overseen by an assigned internal team member who assumes the role of the "Lead Learner."
  • Collaborative learning optimizes teacher peer-to-peer interactions with the guided support of the Lead Learner, who closely works with our Reading Ways Consultants to develop skills needed for successful program execution focusing on aligning objectives with school goals, selecting relevant content, and facilitating teacher discussions using protocols.
stock photo of people in an office

Discussion Based Learning Platform

  • SCALE’s Discussion Based Learning Platform (DBLP) is a forum-based technology enables course execution, resource library, teacher feedback, and structured collaboration
  • It also allows for hybrid online & and offline data collection and analysis.

Tapered Support

Our SCALE model involves a tapered support approach that progresses toward self-sustainability.

  • In year 1, we build organizational alignment and strategy as part of the leadership course.
  • In years 1 and 2, we focus on Lead Learner facilitation development with support from Reading Ways consultants.
  • The DBLP technology is used as the foundational tool for effectively implementing literacy professional development courses and access to adaptive resources.

Teacher Buy-In

We recognize that teacher buy-in is critical for successfully implementing professional development practices. The local facilitation of the program helps create a collegial atmosphere to nurture open collaboration for an inquiry-based approach of posing questions and seeking answers to harness their innate curiosity.

Content engagement duration is customized by the local Lead Leader, typically spanning 10 to 15 hours per course. The cadence of professional discourse adapts to individual needs and preferences, providing personalized professional learning that aligns with teachers' schedules, ensuring a balanced learning experience.

Engagement Data

At Reading Ways, we intertwine the principles of design learning and cutting-edge learning science to foster deep engagement.

Lead Learners and teachers are encouraged to ask questions and find answers actively, harnessing their natural curiosity. This approach involves collaborative problem-solving, where collective solutions ensure a comprehensive grasp of the material.

Central to this approach is our Learner Dashboard, a user-friendly platform providing insights into teachers' activity, how they engage, and their engagement patterns across online and in-person formats. This differentiated data enables Lead Learners and Leadership to tailor activities to each teacher's needs and provides valuable insights into the work's progression.

Course Catalog

Our catalog of expertly designed courses provides a variety of strategies and resources to guide professional development. Our course customization process allows Lead Learners to adapt courses with support from our expert team to meet the specific needs of local learners.  In addition to online course modules, we provide tools and templates for offline discussion protocols, debrief protocols for various classroom implementation, and adaptive cross-discipline examples and templates.

Foundations & Challenges of Adolescent Literacy

Merges the study of adolescent literacy challenges with the principles of literacy instruction, grounded in the science of reading.

Academic Language & Vocabulary

Delves into the significance of general academic skills in fostering student success.

Discussion & Debate

Underscores the significance of debates and discussions in enhancing students' capabilities in perspective-taking, complex reasoning, and mastering academic language.

Building Multiple Text Sets to Support Inquiry Learning

Empowers secondary teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to create engaging and dynamic learning experiences through the use of multiple text sets.

Conceptual Vocabulary Development

Explores how disciplinary words are related to each other and can be taught in ways that support the underlying conceptual relationships between words.

Disciplinary Writing

Explores the challenges adolescents face in writing across disciplines and academic content classes.

Curated Resources

Our platform also provides a resource library that aligns with teachers' content and curriculum needs. You can explore Cornerstone Pages closely linked to course content, gain inspiration through discipline examples, and easily adapt them for effective classroom implementation. Our comprehensive library offers a variety of resources, including webinars and research reviews, to further support growth and development.

Long-term Value

Reading Ways is a high value solution providing the efficacy of a long-term coaching without the absorbent high price tag.

Flexible Pricing

As a mission-driven organization, we strive to make effective literacy practices accessible to learners everywhere. Our flexible packages range between $10k - $50k per school annually, depending on size and organizational needs.  Please contact us to discuss how we can make Reading Ways work for you!

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Tapered Cost

Alongside our tapered support model, the average cost of Reading Ways for schools decreases as the efficacy increases, while traditional solutions like dedicated expert coaches or guest speakers do not.

Graphic showing how the cost decreases as the efficacy increases over time.

Marlborough Public Schools

Marlborough, Massachusetts
Key focus: Alignment with district initiatives to support English Learners. 

Implemented the SCALE model at Marlborough High School and 1LT Charles W. Whitcomb School. Current goals: Develop district instructional leadership. Support literacy in every content area classroom.

Park County School District 6

Cody, Wyoming
Key focus: Building coherent instructional leadership district-wide.

Started a three-year project to support tier 1 literacy at Cody Middle School and Cody High School. The Wyoming Comprehensive Literacy Development Grant provides funding. Current goals: Enriching conceptual discipline-specific vocabulary instruction and building structures for teacher collaboration.

Institute of Educational Sciences

Grant amount: Small Business Innovation and Research Award ($250,000)

Reading Ways received the SBIR award to enhance the technology infrastructure we use to support the SCALE model. Funding allows us to extend and test our collaboration tools and study how coaches use data from our coaching analytics dashboards to drive decision-making.

Canton City School District

Canton, Ohio
Key focus: Supporting teacher autonomy and professionalism as they adapt strategies to support learning across departments.

In the 2021 - 2022 school year, Canton High School implemented the SCALE model with all departmental heads. This year, a second cohort of HS teachers has begun to implement the SCALE model, and the district is training instructional leaders district-wide to support disciplinary literacy.

Let's Work Together

We are excited to tell you more about Reading Ways and to learn more about you. Follow the link below to book a meeting and take your learning imitative to the next level.

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