The Science of Reading, the What and How - Held Virtually

The Science of Reading, the What and How - Held Virtually

Sunday, October 6

7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

A 30 minute lunch break

$30 Support Staff (non-licensed)

$50 NASA Members

$75 Non-NASA Members

Dr. Dana Godek

Educational policy and

social and wellness expert

Dana has served as a teacher, public school administrator, national researcher, and federal/state policy leader. As the CEO of Edu.Solve she leverages her experiences to solve complex educational challenges in partnership with communities.

Dana serves as a policy advisor to the Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning and Data Currency Advisor to Credential Engine. She has served on the board of the National Association for Federal and State Program Administrators and is a frequent keynote speaker on federal investment in public education. Her recent publications include ESSER Spending Considerations for  Superintendents and ARP Resource Optimization for Student Services. Dana led the Statewide Service Learning initiative for the Virginia Department of Education, managing multiple LEA allocations and performance goals. She was instrumental in the development of the Florida Continuous Management System platform and serves in an ongoing advisory capacity.

As a policy leader and CASEL advisor, she produces thought provoking publications to push thinking and stimulate conversations around equitable student outcomes. Select publications include: The State Theory of Action: Systemic Social and Emotional Learning for States, a national review of state pandemic response and the impact benefits of integrating social emotional learning and workforce preparation.

Daisies Pushing Up (Indigo River Publishing) is her work of fiction that is largely based on her personal experiences growing up in the foster care system during the 1980s. Dana earned her doctorate in organizational leadership, with a specialization in public policy, and holds the certified fundraising executive credential.

Dana’s Recent Publication Citations:

Godek, D., Miller, A., Tucker, A., Steele, L. (2023). State Bright Spots: SEL and the American Rescue Plan. Chicago: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.

Workshop Description:

The science of reading encompasses a comprehensive body of research highlighting the critical elements and effective strategies in literacy teaching. For all educators to effectively interpret and apply research findings, it's important to identify the consensus that emerges from multiple, rigorously conducted studies. This consensus, or convergence of evidence, is what guides us toward practices that have been proven to be effective.

This workshop unpacks those theoretical models that explain the processes and rationale behind them. Participants will engage in the how of high-quality literacy instruction for all content areas, specifically phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, fluency, vocabulary and oral language comprehension, and text comprehension.

Desired Outcomes:

By the end of this workshop, participants will gain a deepened knowledge of the Science of Reading and learn to:

• Teach students to recognize and manipulate the sounds within words. Move from syllables to the individual sounds, or phonemes.
• Explicitly connect phonemes to letters to more effectively support word decoding.
• Teach letter sounds and sound-spelling patterns explicitly and systematically.
• Include frequent chances for students to read and re-read orally from connected text—sentences, paragraphs, and passages.
• Focus on the development of both automatic word recognition and fluent expression, keeping understanding of the text as the central goal.
• Explicitly build students’ recognition of shared morphemes (e.g., root words, affixes) across words, both in oral and written language.
• Teach students to use metacognitive strategies like setting a purpose, monitoring for meaning, and building inferences while reading.
• Discuss texts, including focusing on their organizational structures.

Direct Relationship to Student Achievement and Outcomes:

This workshop directly aligns with Nevada Academic Content Standards for CCR Anchor Standards for Reading.

• Providing all PreK-12 educators with the knowledge and tools to instruct, supervise, and maintain high quality literacy practices for all grade levels and content areas.
• Focusing on key instructional milestone each year to help ensure that students gain adequate exposure to a range of texts and tasks.
• Strategies to support students advancing through PreK-12 and the expectations to meet each year’s grade-specific standards and retain or further develop skills and understandings mastered in preceding grades.

Target Audience:

Designed for all PreK-12 participants seeking to advance their professional skills, this workshop is applicable to every grade level setting and content area, including teachers, curriculum developers, and coaches who are incorporating the Science of Reading into their professional practice.  As all educators are literacy teachers, participants will complete this workshop with stronger foundational knowledge and immediately applicable strategies to support all levels of reading skills and address the substantive performance differences we encounter at every level of education.

ALL are welcome, including anyone in a non-administrative position!

NASA IS NOT A UNION. NASA is Nevada's PreK-12 Professional Development Organization for ALL Nevada Educators!

Participants will earn .5 credit (7.5 hours) toward license renewal!

This workshop ALSO counts for step advancement in Clark and most Nevada School Districts!

&

In CCSD, those in non-administrative licensed positions may count this workshop for license renewal AND ALSO 2.5 CUs - THOSE IN NON-ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS EARN BOTH!

In CCSD, administrators and professional-technical administrators may count this workshop for license renewal OR 2.5 hours toward step-advancement - not both for administrators.

Washoe County participants will be required to also register for this course in "MyPGS" in order to receive in-service credit toward salary advancement.

Washoe County School District (WCSD) participants are required to submit a 300-word essay on how they will implement this professional learning to increase student achievement before a certificate is issued.