The 2020 Aspiring Teacher Scholarship was sponsored by LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling), Voyager Sopris Learning’s landmark professional learning series on the science of reading. Alabama uses LETRS as a key part of its statewide literacy initiative to teach educators the science of reading and give them the skills to teach language and literacy to every student, even those with reading challenges like dyslexia.

Much has been published about bringing students and teachers back to school this fall. Educators must consider the health and safety of students and school personnel as well as academics, including gathering information about student learning to inform classroom instruction and curriculum programs. Our senior assessment staff has surveyed various sources for information to help guide school and district decision-making.

Our LETRS Literacy Champion contest asks: “What makes a literacy champion and who is your literacy champion?” The contest also shares the insights of some true literacy champions, like Dr. Louisa Moats, educator Dr. Ebony Lee, Dr. Carol Tolman, Dr. Lucy Hart Paulson, and others. We’re looking for your nominations to add to our hall of fame.

The downside of asking students to solve challenging math problems is that if the teacher doesn’t do a good job introducing the problem and then scaffolding when appropriate, students can end up more discouraged about their learning than empowered as problem solvers. Failure only reinforces what students already think about themselves and the subject matter.

The advent of technology-enhanced item types has allowed science assessment to move beyond the rote to focus on scientific thinking and analysis. ClearSight Checkpoint science assessments use multiple item types, including simulations, to give students an opportunity to interact with science content. Using ClearSight throughout the year can help ensure that students are building key scientific thinking skills and understanding of science concepts across the years.

Assessment can sometimes feel like that pile of puzzle pieces—which ones fit together? How do data fit together to create a comprehensive picture of a school, classroom, or individual student? Much is now known regarding which skills are highly predictive of later reading outcomes, and several excellent tools are available for this purpose. In kindergarten and first grade, timed tasks including letter naming, basic phonemic awareness, and rapid automatized naming (RAN) provide insight into who is at risk and to a certain extent; why.