Universal screening offers a valuable opportunity for the early identification of student needs—and its power lies not in data collection, but in data use. Because screening assessments that use minimum benchmark goals are predictive of future reading outcomes, briefly checking in on essential early literacy skills three times a year can inform decisions about continuing or changing instruction.

Here we are at the end of a school year unlike any other. And as you probably already know, Congress has allocated an unprecedented amount of federal education funding to help school districts overcome the unique challenges associated with the pandemic.

Spring leads to summer, and summer usually leads to a change of routine that shifts how students interact with words, text, and all forms of literacy. Known as summer reading loss, this phenomenon affects many students—especially those who are already performing below grade-level expectations.

Written words represent speech and language. This fundamental truth explains why reading and spelling skill depend on language abilities; why explicit teaching of sounds, words, and discourse is the most effective way to ensure that all students learn to read and write; and why we have been persistent advocates for teachers’ knowledge of language—which is the focus of Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS®).

Truth be told, I am not a big science fiction fan, although I can appreciate those who enjoy the genre. Give me an autobiography or a research article and I’ll curl up, contented, in my airplane seat as I fly to my next Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS®) presentation—except, of course, that wasn’t possible this past year.

Although much is now known about the reading brain and what can (and should) be done to help all students reach their potential as readers and writers, the chasm between research and practice remains wide.