The New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) is expanding its efforts to close literacy gaps with the launch of the 2025 CLSD Upper Elementary and Secondary Interventions Mini Grant
Dr. Maria Murray of The Reading League: Supporting Reading Difficulties for All Students
Released: Thursday, July 24, 2025
New
In this insightful episode, we sit down with Dr. Maria Murray, CEO of The Reading League, to explore the transformative impact of evidence-aligned literacy instruction. Passionate about ensuring all students have access to effective reading education, Dr. Murray shares her journey, discusses the science of reading, and highlights why early intervention is key—especially for students struggling with dyslexia or learning English.
Join us as we uncover:
- ✔ The importance of early intervention and how it shapes literacy success
- ✔ How The Reading League is helping educators shift to evidence-aligned instruction
- ✔ Strategies to support struggling readers, including those with dyslexia
- ✔ Practical guidelines and tools for educators looking to improve reading outcomes
This is a must-listen for educators, school leaders, and literacy advocates dedicated to making reading instruction accessible, equitable, and impactful.
Listen now and be part of the conversation on literacy transformation
Accelerate K–12 Reading and Math Learning This Summer
As educators plan for summer learning sessions, addressing students who need support requires quality, research-based reading and math solutions. Voyager Sopris Learning® offers proven programs that accelerate students’ foundational skill growth in reading and math for those struggling to reach grade-level goals. Keep students curious and attending class with high-interest topics and engaging activities found in these solutions.
Summer Learning Supports Long-Term Outcomes
By implementing effective learning solutions, educators can help mitigate learning achievement gaps, maximize knowledge retention, and support vulnerable students. Consistent learning helps students build on their knowledge year after year, leading to better long-term academic and social outcomes.
- Prevent learning loss: Engage students in academic activities, ensuring they retain and build upon knowledge gained during the regular school year
- Variety of activities: Keep students motivated and interested by providing a balanced mix of interactive, creative, and hands-on activities
- Targeted support: Address individual student needs and help them overcome academic challenges
- Structured programs: Offer a consistent and organized learning environment, helping students stay focused, and teachers make the most of their time
Keys to a Successful Summer Learning Session
| Use research-based, explicit instruction. This type of instruction helps students build skills in a clear, structured way that supports long-term understanding. It gives teachers a dependable framework for addressing learning needs during the shorter summer window. |
| Select students through assessment data. Using data ensures the students who need the most support are identified quickly and accurately. It also helps teachers tailor instruction to specific skill gaps from the very start of the program. |
| Establish and maintain good communication with families. Keeping families informed builds trust and encourages consistent participation throughout the summer. When families understand student goals and progress, they can reinforce learning at home too. |
| Provide adequate time for instruction and practice. Students need repeated opportunities to apply new skills to grow. Allocating enough time for both teaching and meaningful practice helps them make real progress in just a few weeks. |
Related Resources
Brochure: Extended Learning, Tutoring, and Summer School Solutions
Flexible learning solutions are essential for students during out-of-session periods. Summer school, extended learning programs, and tutoring offer tailored approaches to address individual academic needs, providing opportunities for remediation, enrichment, and personalized support beyond the traditional classroom setting.
VSL Blog post: It’s Time! Start Your Summer School Preparation Now
It’s hard to believe it’s already time for educators and district leaders to begin planning for the summer months ahead. For some teachers, the summer time means a few well-deserved weeks off to relax and regroup. For others, it means tackling student learning outcomes head on as we help some of our most vulnerable students during summer sessions.
VSL Blog post: Short-Term Tutoring Supports Learning Gains
Knowledge loss during the summer between school years is well documented. A research study in 2020 revealed the average student loses 17 percent to 34 percent of their learning during a summer break. Reading gaps based on income also increased during the summer, as middle-class students showed improved reading skills while lower-income students experienced loss.
Summer Learning Solutions
Sound Partners
Grades (K–3)
Sound Partners is a research-based, supplementary tutoring program that provides individual instruction in phonics-based early reading skills. Through explicit instruction, engaging 30-minute lesson activities, and storybook reading practice, students work to improve alphabetic, phonemic awareness, decoding, word identification, and spelling skills.
LINKS to Literacy
Grades (K–5)
LINKS to Literacy™ is a reading intervention program for developing readers in grades K–5. Based on the science of reading, it delivers systematic, explicit instruction in the five essential components of reading. LINKS to Literacy is designed for small-group intervention, includes flexible implementation models, and follows a consistent routine with engaging themes about art, science, technology, travel, personal reflection, courage, and resilience. This solution gives students more opportunities for practice and immediate corrective feedback.
Vmath Summer Adventure
Grades (K–8)
Vmath® Summer Adventure is a research-based intervention that provides targeted instruction and practice for essential concepts and skills students may have missed in math. The modular structure allows for either 30 or 60 hours of instruction, and is flexible to meet your program's needs. The explicit, systematic approach of Vmath Summer Adventure ensures students learn essential skills and strategies to build a strong foundation in mathematics.
REWARDS
Grades (4–12)
The REWARDS® suite is a powerful, research-validated program for adolescent students who struggle reading long, multisyllabic words and comprehending content-area text. With explicit, teacher-led instruction, REWARDS gives students the tools to improve fluency and comprehension to become successful readers.
The Importance of Tutoring
Tutoring plays an important, supplementary role in supporting students at all grade levels through their academic journey, and helps them overcome challenges, achieve academic milestones, and become lifelong learners.
Tutoring solutions provide students with individualized attention and tailored support. In a one-on-one or small-group setting, tutoring can address the specific needs of each student, clarify complex concepts, and adapt teaching strategies to match individual learning styles. With a personalized approach, students’ understanding can be enhanced, as well as their confidence and motivation to learn.
Tutoring Support for Students
Tutoring can be a powerful tool to enhance learning, boost confidence, and achieve academic goals. Whether it’s reinforcing existing knowledge, addressing challenges, or exploring new horizons, tutoring provides valuable support for students. Tutoring can support students in several key ways:
Reinforcement
Helps strengthen a student's understanding of previously taught material through additional practice and review.
Remediation
Focuses on addressing specific learning gaps or difficulties through targeted support in the areas where a student is struggling.
Enrichment
Advances a student beyond the curriculum to deepen their understanding, encourage critical thinking, and foster curiosity.
Individualized Attention
Creates a personalized learning experience for students to meet their unique learning needs.
LINKS to Literacy
Grades (K–5)
LINKS to Literacy™ is a reading intervention program for developing readers in grades K–5. Based on the science of reading, it delivers systematic, explicit instruction in the five essential components of reading. LINKS to Literacy is designed for small-group intervention, includes flexible implementation models, and follows a consistent routine with engaging themes about art, science, technology, travel, personal reflection, courage, and resilience. This solution gives students more opportunities for practice and immediate corrective feedback.
Sound Partners
Grades (K–3)
Sound Partners is a research-based, supplementary tutoring program that provides individual instruction in phonics-based early reading skills. Through explicit instruction, engaging 30-minute lesson activities, and storybook reading practice, students work to improve alphabetic, phonemic awareness, decoding, word identification, and spelling skills.
Vmath Summer Adventure
Grades (K–8)
Vmath® Summer Adventure is a research-based intervention that provides targeted instruction and practice for essential concepts and skills students may have missed in math. The modular structure allows for either 30 or 60 hours of instruction, and is flexible to meet your program's needs. The explicit, systematic approach of Vmath Summer Adventure ensures students learn essential skills and strategies to build a strong foundation in mathematics.
Power Readers
Grades (K–4)
The Power Readers series is comprised of 28 decodable stories with pre- and post-reading skill-building activities. As stories progress, students work on the systematic building of phonological awareness, decoding and irregular word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, morphology, and comprehension.
Supercharged Readers
Grades (1–4)
Supercharged Readers is a series of 37 decodable and controlled text chapter books. Building on the alphabetic code learned in Power Readers, it follows an intentional sequence that builds on syllabic and morphemic principles to help students access increasingly challenging text. It includes pre- and post-reading activity pages that give teachers the strategies to supercharge their readers.
What are the 6 Key Concepts of the
Science of Reading?
Phonemic Awareness
The ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken language, which is foundational for reading.
Phonics
The systematic instruction of letter-sound correspondences, enabling readers to decode and encode words.
Fluency
The ability to read with accuracy, speed, and prosody, allowing readers to comprehend text effortlessly.
Vocabulary
The understanding of word meanings and the ability to effectively use a range of words to express ideas.
Comprehension
The active process of understanding and making meaning from text, involving background knowledge, inferencing, and critical-thinking skills.
Language Development
The importance of oral language skills in supporting reading acquisition, including vocabulary, syntax, and grammar.
Phonemic Awareness:
Phonemic awareness is a crucial skill that forms the basis for developing strong reading and spelling abilities. It is essential for understanding the alphabetic principle and facilitating effective phonics instruction.
Phonics:
Phonics is the systematic and evidence-based reading instruction of letter-sound correspondences, enabling readers to decode and encode words. Understanding the relationship between letters and sounds ultimately allows learners to develop into proficient readers.
Fluency:
Fluency is a skill that involves reading words accurately and quickly as well as incorporating expression and intonation to convey meaning. Fluent readers smoothly navigate written material because of their ability to accurately comprehend and engage with it.
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary is defined as the comprehension of word meanings and the skill to proficiently use a variety of words to articulate thoughts. It is also fundamental to effective communication. Developing a robust vocabulary enhances expressive abilities and contributes significantly to reading comprehension and overall cognitive growth.
Comprehension:
Comprehension is the dynamic process of actively understanding and deriving meaning from text. Effective comprehension instruction plays a crucial role in this process by guiding students to become independent, strategic, and metacognitive readers.
Language Development:
Language development is the development of strong oral language skills. It is a significant support to reading acquisition which includes vocabulary, syntax, and grammar.
How Do I Begin Implementing the Science of Reading in
My Classroom?
At Voyager Sopris Learning®, we provide resources and guidance about implementing the science of reading in educational settings. Our expert team and authors have curated a range of tools, strategies, and instructional materials that align with evidence-based practices, empowering educators in their professional development so they can deliver high-quality reading instruction through all grade levels.
Get Started on Your Science of Reading Journey
Dr. Mary Dahlgren
Sound Walls in Your Classroom: The Pathway to Reading Fluency
Literacy and sound wall expert Dr. Mary Dahlgren will help you build a thorough understanding of how to use a sound wall, implementation tips, and more—everything you need to know and why.
Dr. Pam Kastner
Phonemic Awareness and Letter/Sound Associations: Practices for Teachers
Join Dr. Pam Kastner for this instructional presentation exploring the research supporting phonological and phonemic awareness and the theoretical frameworks that underpin it.
Hannah Irion-Frake
Building a Reading-Writing Connection in the Classroom
Teacher and science of reading advocate Hannah Irion-Frake explores the reading-writing connection and shares ways you can appropriately increase the amount of writing students do in your classroom.
Dr. Anita Archer
Dr. Louisa Moats
Why the ‘Science of Reading’ Needs the ‘The Science of Teaching’—A Conversation Between 2 Literacy Leaders
The science of reading refers to a vast body of multidisciplinary research providing a rationale for what must be taught to ensure almost all students can learn to read. But is this movement enough to develop more effective literacy instruction? Join us as our guests discuss why it may not be, unless teaching practices themselves receive more attention.
Laura Stewart
How Handwriting Supports the Science of Reading
After taking a backseat in the education world for many years, handwriting is back. While assistive technology can help students with writing problems, it does not remove the importance of teaching explicit handwriting.
Dr. Maria Murray
The Science of Reading: A Defining Movement
Join Dr. Maria Murray as she explains why the science of reading is now regarded as a defining movement and addresses the need to protect the integrity of its findings so the promise of successful reading outcomes for our students can be realized.
We offer opportunities for educators seeking to deepen their understanding of the science of reading with free webinars, blog posts, podcasts, and other content that include practical insight and strategies for effectively teaching reading skills based on the latest research.
Become a part of our EDVIEW360 community, where educators, researchers, and authors come together to share insight, best practices, and success stories. You will learn why the science behind learning to read is important for student success and how you can implement it in your school or district.
Connect with us through our blog and social media channels to stay updated on the latest advancements in the field and engage in meaningful discussions.
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Ready to dive into the science of reading with aligned intervention solutions?
Backed by decades of literary research, our intervention and assessment products are all built and based on the science of reading. Explore our evidence-based solutions to intervene and provide essential diagnostic instruction for K–12 students who struggle with reading and literacy.
Unlock the Power of Literacy With the Science of Reading
At Voyager Sopris Learning, we believe every learner deserves the opportunity to become a confident and proficient reader. By embracing the science of reading, we can transform the way we teach and learn, equipping striving readers with essential literacy skills that empower them for a lifetime.
