We are excited to announce that our signature professional development model, Literacy Masterminds, has been selected to be featured in Transcend Education’s Innovative Models Exchange. Despite innovation across nearly every sector of society, a one-size-fits all approach has governed mainstream schooling in America for more than a century. The Innovative Models Exchange is designed for communities inspired to innovate but who don’t want to reinvent the wheel—it helps them learn about innovations in professional development, curriculum, school models, and more.
The inclusion of Literacy Masterminds on the Innovative Models Exchange draws attention to our focus on a different type of professional development. Instead of one-stop PD or only seeing teachers on district-wide PD days, we believe that PD needs to focus on supporting participants with the application and implementation of evidence-based practices and have regular touchpoints that are filled with time for connection and collaboration amongst peers. Our Literacy Masterminds do just that. The flipped nature of our PD has participants receiving the “direct instruction” through asynchronous videos and readings, with synchronous time reserved to share successes, collaborate, problem-solve, and lesson plan.
We look forward to collaborating with other educators and organizations to improve literacy instruction so that all students receive the instruction they need to become strong readers and writers.