Thanks to the generosity of a Durham family invested in supporting Durham Public Schools (DPS), Hill Learning Center is excited to announce a fully funded professional development (PD) partnership with DPS aimed at deepening understanding of reading instruction. This pilot program is providing 38 middle and high school teachers with three custom in-person workshops and robust online resources focused on the Science of Reading. Unlike their elementary colleagues, secondary teachers are not participating in LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training, but they are eager to learn about effective, research-backed literacy practices. This PD series builds off Hill’s highly successful online Science of Reading Short course that has enrolled more than 9,000 educators worldwide. The custom design explicitly connects the science and research with practical strategies for the secondary classroom, empowering middle and high school teachers to meet the literacy needs of their students.
Why the Science of Reading?
The Science of Reading is a body of research accumulated over decades explaining how people learn to read. It emphasizes the importance of explicit, systematic instruction in the essential components of reading, including phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Understanding these components—and how they work together—empowers educators to support all students, including secondary students, to become proficient readers who read words efficiently and make meaning from text. Most training and PD for elementary teachers now incorporates the Science of Reading, but secondary teachers do not have as many options to learn this essential content and apply it to their practice despite having many students in their classrooms who are struggling due to gaps in foundational reading skills.
What Will Educators Gain?
Through the workshop series, educators will develop a comprehensive understanding of how reading works and how to teach it effectively to older students. The key outcomes of the PD series include:
- Understanding Brain Research and Learning Processes: Educators will gain insights into how the brain processes written and spoken language, including how all humans learn to read.
- Comprehending Reading as a Cognitive Process: Participants will learn how reading comprehension is the product of various cognitive skills, including word recognition and language comprehension as well as background knowledge and vocabulary, and how to foster these skills and build this knowledge in their students.
- Evaluating Instructional Practices: Teachers will learn how to assess their teaching practices using frameworks such as the Simple View of Reading, Scarborough’s Reading Rope, and key principles of Structured Literacy.
The workshops include instruction and facilitation provided by Hill Literacy experts, guided exploration of Hill’s online Science of Reading Short Course, collaborative activities, and independent reflection. The online course provides rich content, resources, videos, and activities, while the facilitation and collaboration bring it to life, allowing educators to dive deeper into the material, ask questions and reflect on their learning.
Transformative Learning Experience
Durham Public Schools secondary educators are gaining the tools they need to align their instructional practices with the Science of Reading, improving student outcomes in literacy across the district. This PD series is an excellent way to expand expertise in literacy instruction at all grade levels while contributing to the ongoing success of DPS students.