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.

Phonemic awareness is an essential foundational skill for unlocking the alphabetic principle to read words. It follows that weak phonemic awareness negatively impacts a student’s ability to readily blend words, leading to weak comprehension; we cannot understand what we cannot read.

Each summer, Drs. Louisa Moats and Carol Tolman invite distinguished national and international speakers to address current topics in the field of education, with a twofold goal: improve educators’ expertise and bridge the gap in research to practice. Here are the 2019 highlights.

By developing teacher expertise through high-quality literacy professional development, teachers enhance their ability to reach all students.