Literacy Now Together

PRJ is a literacy 501(c)(3) that instructs & supports grassroots parent groups to hold the education system accountable for evidence-based literacy instruction.

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

One of our favorite parts of the @DyslexiaIDA conference isn't on the agenda. It's getting to sit down with fellow literacy advocates and then watch them present, completely in their element. 🙌🏼

@voiceadvocacy, President of Black Literacy Matters, and Laura Stewart of @95percentgroup, it was a real pleasure spending time with you both. Your passion, clarity, and commitment to getting every child reading are contagious.

This work can feel lonely in a school board meeting or a statehouse hallway. Rooms like this remind me we're not alone.📚

Who did you connect with at #IDA2026? Tag them below 👇
#ScienceOfReading #LiteracyForAll #ReadingJustice #IDAConference

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

📸 Rare sighting alert: a real-life Reading Angel 😇📚

We caught one on camera! Meet Andrea Rowson, our district's literacy expert and an absolute gift to our kids, our teachers, and our families.

Andrea does the steady, often unseen work of making sure every child gets the reading instruction they deserve. We love and adore her! 💛

Thank you, Andrea, for everything you do.
#ReadingAngel #ScienceOfReading #LiteracyMatters #EveryChildCanRead

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

Literacy as EXODUS. 🔥

I'm still thinking about this one. What an extraordinary presentation from an esteemed panel: @voiceadvocacy, @TracyWeeden3, @jwashingtonPhD, and Rosalin Kyere-Nartey.

The message landed hard: reading isn't just a school skill. It's a way out and a way forward. It's freedom. When we fail to teach a child to read, we close a door that should be wide open.

And Clarice's new book? Get it. Read it. Share it. 📖

Thank you all for this powerful, necessary conversation. 🙌
#LiteracyAsExodus #LiteracyIsFreedom #ScienceOfReading #EveryChildCanRead

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

Why do literacy reforms fall apart? 🧩

Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 aren't speaking the same language.

Reid Lyon, @LouisaMoats, @ACEliteracy and Anthony Fitzpatrick of Drexel's ALLIED Hub explain how leaders can fix that and make the science of reading stick.

#ScienceOfReading #MTSS #Literacy

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

We love seeing incredible literacy advocates and researchers come together! 💛

So excited to hear @tiffanyphogan and Norma Hancock at the @DyslexiaIDA conference! These are the voices helping move the conversation forward around literacy, language, and ensuring every child gets what they need to succeed.

And we have a little exciting news to share! 🎉 Dr. Tiffany Hogan will be our next Parent Learning Community (PLC) speaker!

We can’t wait to bring her expertise to our community of parents, educators, and advocates.

📅 Date and details coming soon! Stay tuned!

#ParentsForReadingJustice #IDA2026 #LiteracyForAll #DyslexiaAwareness

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

Look at Direct Instruction from any angle, and the evidence is hard to ignore.

✅ Decades of research supporting its effectiveness
✅ Results that last
✅ Strong support for teachers
✅ Works for kids across socioeconomic backgrounds

So why in the hell are we still debating it?

And to those who say, “But it’s scripted!” So are great performances. Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts all work from scripts. Nobody calls them robots. They bring those scripts to life. Great teachers do the same.

What blows my mind is how often adult preferences take priority over evidence of what works for kids.

Our children cannot afford to wait while adults protect their teaching philosophies.

🎧 Listen to Episode 6 of Sold a Story. It’s time to put kids before ideology.

#SoldAStory #DirectInstruction #LiteracyForAll @ehanford @apmreports

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

The lovely Elsa Cardenas-Hagan, the new Chair of the IDA Board of Directors as of Monday, kicks off the International Dyslexia Association annual conference in Vegas .

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

@KJWinEducation @FulcrumLiteracy @IgniteReading @SCCPSS @HeatherMel32730 Here's why this matters: it works for KIDS. Not for adult egos, not for old habits, not for whoever's selling the next shiny thing. Children are learning to read. That's the whole point. Let's go.

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

Your child's teacher passed a reading licensure test. That might not mean they know how to teach reading. 🚩

@NCTQ reviewed the reading licensure tests that new elementary teachers must pass before they can teach. 33 states use a test that's at least acceptable. 18 (counting DC) do not. In those 18, the test may not show whether a teacher understands how children learn to read.

That's alarming. States are relying on these tests to decide whether teachers are ready for the classroom.

Colleges of education: keep up with the science!  States use effective licensure tests!!!

Our kids can't wait. 📚

🎧 to the podcast: https://t.co/vEz7Jz9TS3

See the study: https://t.co/stxBhrWO7N

#ScienceOfReading #LiteracyNow #TeacherPrep #ReadingJustice @KJWinEducation @FulcrumLiteracy

[Emily Hanford @ehanford]

Critics have long argued against using Direct Instruction.
But an APM Reports review of available survey data shows that teachers who use it tend to like it. https://t.co/dUm5s4t2U4

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

@KJWinEducation @HeatherMel32730 Lots of people have ideas about what works for kids. Kareem and I went to Georgia to see what actually works. Telling the truth doesn't always make friends, but our children need us to be honest, brave, and willing to fight. Every child deserves to read. Period.

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

I'd forgotten how transformative our trip to Georgia was, especially Cuthbert.
With Emily Hanford's Season 2 focused on direct instruction, people need to hear this. This elementary school used a scripted program, the kind critics keep saying teachers can't stand. And yet the school was firing on all cylinders. Rural, low-income kids were learning to read.
Here's a clip from our full episode, out tomorrow on Literacy Now Together. 🎧
Our kids can't wait!

[Kareem J. Weaver @KJWinEducation]

"Don't tell me you're gonna build a relationship with the child, but you won't build one with the parents. Stop playin"

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

Literacy conferences are incredible. The newest research, the top experts, all in one room.

They're also expensive. 💸

Registration. Flights. Hotel. Meals. Easily thousands of dollars.

Most parents, and plenty of teachers, will never get in that room.

So we're bringing the room to you. FREE.

The Parents for Reading Justice Professional Learning Community brings the world's top literacy experts to you every quarter, sharing the latest research at no cost. Ever.

✅ Parents
✅ Teachers
✅ School board members
✅ Legislators
✅ Anyone who cares about kids learning to read

We kicked off in October with Harvard's Dr. Nadine Gaab, and our next world-class guest will be announced soon. 👀

Follow us so you don't miss it. You'll want to be in the room for this one.

Knowledge shouldn't come with a price tag. Our kids can't wait.

#ScienceOfReading #Literacy #Dyslexia #ParentPower @NationalParents @reading_league @DyslexiaIDA

[Kareem J. Weaver @KJWinEducation]

Video: "Why do people who didn't grow up in poverty always talk about what kids in poverty can't do?"

Cafe Guy: Man, send me that!
Me: That's from the leftovers. I'll send the real episode when it's ready.
Guy: No, I want THAT. My daughter's a teacher.

1 of 3
full video below↓

[Emily Hanford @ehanford]

Read about the evidence for Direct Instruction. There's a lot more to look at since Project Follow Through. https://t.co/t76DNPOOk2

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

🚨 Parents, this one matters.
What if there were a way of teaching that worked for dyslexic kids, kids in poverty, and really ALL kids, and almost no schools used it?

That's the story @ehanford is telling in Season 2 of Sold a Story. Episode 5 continues the Direct Instruction "miracle," and it's a must-listen. You'll hear from Doug Carnine, one of the pioneers of Direct Instruction, and from @C_Hendrick, who explains the science of how kids actually learn.

The evidence keeps pointing the same way: clear, explicit, teacher-led instruction works. And it doesn't fade. Follow-up research found kids taught this way were more likely to graduate from high school and be accepted to college. 🎓

So why aren't all our schools using it? 🤔
Listen. Share it. Then bring that question to your principal, your school board, and your superintendent.

Our kids can't wait. 📚
🎧 Sold a Story, Season 2, Episode 5: https://t.co/CiJ5Plve2y

#SoldAStory #DirectInstruction #ScienceOfReading #Dyslexia #LiteracyNow #ParentsForReadingJustice

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

What does an @NCTQ "A" or "A+" in reading actually mean? 📚

I asked NCTQ President @HeatherPeske directly.

Her answer: to earn an A or A+, a college of education has to adequately cover all five pillars of reading identified by the National Reading Panel:
✅ Phonemic awareness
✅ Phonics
✅ Fluency
✅ Vocabulary
✅ Comprehension

In other words, it has to be meaningfully aligned with scientifically based reading instruction.

Anything less isn't good enough.

Heather and I agree on one more thing: our work isn't done until every child in this country is a proficient reader.
Every. Single. Child.

Parents, look up how your local college of education scored in NCTQ's Teacher Prep Review at https://t.co/liThMCLYrl. 👇
#ScienceOfReading #Literacy #ReadingJustice #NCTQ #TeacherPrep #EveryChildAReader
@KJWinEducation @FulcrumLiteracy

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

📢 PARENTS: THIS IS THE ONE WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. 📢

We strongly support the READ Act (S.4689), the biggest federal reading reform in years. It's long past due.

Here's what it does. It doesn't create a new program or new bureaucracy. It fixes the one we already have, the $194 million Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant:
✅ Early literacy screening, so struggling readers are caught early, not years too late
✅ Instruction aligned with the science of reading
✅ More funding for the states with the lowest reading scores
🚫 It says plainly that "three-cueing" is NOT consistent with the science of reading

The bill passed the Senate HELP Committee with bipartisan support and is waiting for a vote on the Senate floor. If it doesn't pass before this Congress ends in January, it dies and we start over.

📞 CALL YOUR TWO U.S. SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY. The Capitol switchboard is [phone]. Tell them: "Pass the READ Act this year. Our kids can't wait."
Thank you, @SenBillCassidy, for leading on this, and @radiokeri and @NationalParents for fighting for families. 💪
Share this post. Every call counts.

#READAct #ScienceOfReading #LiteracyNow #EveryChildCanRead

[Literacy Now Together @LiteracyNowTG]

Good news, and a warning. 📚
@NCTQ’s Ron Noble reports that teacher prep programs have IMPROVED their alignment to all five core components of scientifically based reading instruction.

And the gains show up across all four instructional approaches:
1️⃣ Instructional hours
2️⃣ Objective measures of knowledge, embedded and aligned
3️⃣ Course-embedded practice opportunities
4️⃣ Quality of instructional materials

That matters. Parents, advocates, and legislators pushed for this, and it's working.

But "improved" is not "finished." 👇

Too many new teachers still walk into classrooms without the training to teach a child to read. Every year we wait is another class of kids who pay the price.

We celebrate the progress. Then we get back to work.

And to Ron: we're sorry to see you leave NCTQ, but we wish you the very best at the Massachusetts Department of Education. Massachusetts kids are lucky to have you! 👏

Is your state's teacher prep program making the grade? Look it up and share what you find.

#ScienceOfReading #TeacherPrep #LiteracyForAll #ReadingJustice

@KJWinEducation @FulcrumLiteracy