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Standardized Test

Rethinking Reading Proficiency

May 28, 2025 Wendy Vaulton, Associate Director for Reading Recovery & Early Interventions

As educators, our understanding of proficiency shapes the way we teach, assess, and support learners. If we define proficiency narrowly, we risk overlooking not only important aspects of literacy, but the larger purpose of education itself. We seek not only to prepare students to perform well on tests, but to help them build the skills to engage critically with the world around them.

Navigating Standardized Assessment: Approaching Testing as a Genre

November 14, 2024 Linda Murphy, Associate Director of Literacy Programs

Standardized testing is a reality in our students’ lives. Are you wondering how you can support your students in demonstrating all they know on the test but not stop the rich, ongoing literacy instruction months before the test?

Tags: Teaching

Upcoming Professional Development

July 13 – September 6, 2026 (Summer Term II)

Effective Reading Instruction: Community & Practice, K-8

In this 8-week online course for grades 3-8 teachers, learn the purpose, organization, and structure of a readers’ workshop.

$2,730 ($875/credit + $35/credit comprehensive fee) + required texts
July 13-16, 2026

Building Deep Thinkers Through Reading: Engaging Students in Robust Comprehension

Let’s teach readers to think deeply. Join us to explore robust comprehension as an active, layered, and dynamic process to synthesize ideas, make inferences, and critique texts – not just recall facts.

$895 (includes professional text)
July 1-2, 2026

Wondrous Words: Igniting Children’s Passion, Purpose, and Skills for Writing

Join us for this two-day, hands-on workshop where you’ll strengthen your ability to read like a writer and learn how to use mentor texts to help students expand their repertoire of craft moves, grow their identities as writers, and deepen their understanding of writing as a meaningful act.

$595 (Text Included)

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