Literacy Talks

Show Notes

In this follow-up to Episode 127, Donell Pons and Lindsay Kemeny reconnect with Kristie Nelson to hear how her son Braxton is progressing after being identified with dyslexia. While targeted reading intervention has led to encouraging gains, the transition to middle school has brought new challenges. The conversation explores why continued foundational reading instruction matters, how accommodations and self-advocacy support student success, and what educators and families can do to protect the confidence of students who struggle with reading.

Resources Mentioned and Related Links

Episode 127: When Early Reading Struggles Follow Students to Middle School | The Braxton Story, Part 1

Hear how Kristie first recognized Braxton's reading difficulties, pursued an evaluation, and worked with his school to get him the support he needed.

Learn About and Listen to Episode 127

Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and Accommodations

Lindsay and Donell discuss the importance of documenting accommodations such as extended time, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and reduced assignment length when appropriate.

International Dyslexia Association — Dyslexia Fact Sheets

Reading Intervention for Older Students

The hosts emphasize that students who make progress with targeted phonics instruction may still need that instruction as they move into middle school.

Reading Rockets — When Older Students Can't Read

Supporting Student Confidence and Self-Advocacy

Lindsay shares strategies for helping children with reading difficulties recognize their strengths, overcome negative self-talk, and feel more confident as learners.

Understood.org — Confidence and Self-Esteem

Supporting Continued Reading Progress

As Braxton's story illustrates, students who struggle with foundational reading skills may need continued, targeted instruction even after making significant progress.

Reading Horizons Ascend Focus is designed to support targeted literacy intervention, helping educators address foundational skill gaps and build on students' progress.

Learn more about Ascend Focus →

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

Fresh from The Reading League's 10th Annual Conference in Chicago, Lindsay, Donell, and Stacy share the research, ideas, and classroom strategies that caught their attention. From the growing influence of AI to the importance of oral language, reading comprehension, and explicit instruction, the trio explores what excited them, what surprised them, and what left them with more questions. Whether you attended the conference or couldn't make it, this Conference Rewind brings valuable insights and practical takeaways straight to you.

Show Notes
The Reading League celebrated its 10th annual conference by bringing together researchers, educators, and literacy advocates to explore the science of reading and its implications for classroom instruction.

In this episode, Lindsay, Donell, and Stacy revisit standout presentations, share instructional strategies they plan to use, and reflect on questions that deserve continued discussion.

AI, Technology, and the Human Side of Learning
Opening keynote speaker Adam Kronk challenged educators to consider not simply what AI can do, but what it should do. His presentation explored the relationship between technology, human dignity, agency, and the cognitive work essential to learning.

The hosts discuss the risks of outsourcing too much thinking to technology and the importance of preserving attention, deep reading, and meaningful human interaction.

Strengthening Oral Language and Vocabulary
Oral language emerged as one of the conference's strongest themes.

Drawing on presentations from Sonya Cabell, Charles Hulme, and members of The Reading League team, the hosts explore how purposeful conversations, sophisticated teacher language, interactive read-alouds, and explicit language instruction support vocabulary development and reading comprehension.

Stacy also shares research presented by Charles Hulme connecting language intervention with improvements in measures of classroom behavior and self-regulation.

Practical Lessons in Explicit Instruction
Anita Archer's presentations prompted the hosts to revisit some foundational principles of effective teaching, including clear objectives, purposeful modeling, and active student engagement.

Donell emphasizes three essential stages of learning: accuracy, automaticity, and transfer. Students need sufficient mastery before they're expected to apply newly learned skills independently.

What Really Supports Reading Comprehension?
Lindsay highlights Amy Elleman's presentation on evidence-based comprehension strategies and the relationship between background knowledge, vocabulary, and strategic reading.

The hosts also consider why instructional approaches may have different effects for students with and without reading disabilities—and why continuing to examine the research matters.

Questions Worth Exploring
Not every conference takeaway offered a simple answer. The hosts discuss differing perspectives on productive struggle, misconceptions about the science of reading, culturally responsive instruction, and emerging questions about digital versus print reading.

They also reflect on the importance of making high-quality professional learning accessible to more teachers.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode
These links provide additional information about the conference, presenters, research, and instructional approaches discussed.

• The Reading League Conference | Conference information, featured presenters, and future events
• 10th Annual Conference Overview | Background on the 2026 Chicago conference and its major themes
• Adam Kronk — The Dignity of Learning in the Era of AI | Preview of his keynote and the DELTA framework for human-centered AI
• Strive-for-Five Conversations — Tricia Zucker and Sonia Cabell | Practical framework for building language comprehension through extended conversations
• Using Strive-for-Five Conversations to Strengthen Language Comprehension | Research article with classroom examples, available as a PDF
• The Science of Reading: Defining Guide | The Reading League's resource for understanding the science of reading as a body of research, rather than a single instructional approach

Additional presenters and works discussed include Anita Archer's explicit instruction research, Charles Hulme's language intervention research, Amy Elleman's comprehension research, Maryanne Wolf's work on deep reading, and Stanislas Dehaene's Reading in the Brain.

Additional useful links:

• Anita Archer and Charles Hughes — Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching
• Maryanne Wolf — Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World
• Stanislas Dehaene — Reading in the Brain

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

This episode was inspired by the 30th annual What’s Hot in Literacy survey, which asks literacy leaders to consider both the topics receiving attention in the field and those that deserve more. Lindsay, Donell, and Stacy use the findings as a jumping-off point to examine where literacy conversations are focused—and what may be getting overlooked.

Resources Mentioned

What’s Hot in Literacy at 30: Trends, Tensions, and Trajectories in a Changing Field
Stephanie Grote-Garcia, Evan Ortlieb, and Jonathan Marine
The 2026 report at the center of this episode explores which literacy topics experts see as “hot” and which they believe should receive greater attention.
Read the article

The Reading League

The hosts discuss The Reading League and its work to advance knowledge and use of evidence-aligned reading instruction through resources, professional learning, conferences, and state chapters.
Explore The Reading League

Decoding Dyslexia

Donell points to the parent-led Decoding Dyslexia movement as an example of how advocacy can raise awareness and help drive changes in literacy policy and practice.
Learn more about Decoding Dyslexia

Emily Hanford

Lindsay discusses journalist Emily Hanford’s reporting and its role in bringing reading instruction and the science of reading to a much broader public audience.
Explore Emily Hanford’s work

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience — Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Donell references Csikszentmihalyi’s work during the conversation about the cognitive demands of reading, thinking, and writing.
Learn more about Flow

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

Show Notes
AI can make a task easier without necessarily making learning stronger. The distinction may come down to who is doing the cognitive work.

When AI provides an answer or produces the work for a student, it can reduce the attention, engagement, reasoning, and productive struggle involved in learning. When thoughtfully designed and intentionally used to provide hints, scaffolding, practice, or feedback, however, AI may help students remain actively involved in that process.

For educators, the goal isn't simply deciding whether to use AI. It's considering how the tool is being used and whether students are still doing the thinking that builds knowledge.

Books & Resources Mentioned in this Episode

Stanford SCALE — AI Hub in Education
The hosts reference research and resources from Stanford University examining the emerging evidence around artificial intelligence in K–12 education. The review discussed in the episode highlights how limited the current evidence base remains and why educators should be cautious about making broad conclusions from early research.

Tim Odegard and Megan Gierka — Using AI to Support Structured Literacy –Aligning Tools with How Students Learn

Stacy references an article by Tim Odegard and Megan Gierka that considers AI through the lens of the instructional hierarchy and explores ways technology might provide students with additional opportunities to respond, practice, and receive feedback.

Big Sky Literacy Summit
Several ideas discussed in the episode connect back to presentations and resources shared at the Big Sky Literacy Summit, including conversations about AI, learning, and the distinction between having access to information and developing knowledge.

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

Classroom management can test even the most experienced teacher—especially when the strategies that usually work suddenly don’t seem to be enough. In this episode, Lindsay, Donell, and Stacy have an open conversation about challenging classroom behavior, maintaining high expectations, setting boundaries, and the very real toll it can take on teachers. They share strategies, resources, and reminders for navigating the hard days while finding ways to support students and teachers.

When classroom behavior begins consuming more time and energy than instruction, what can teachers do?

In this episode, the Literacy Talks trio explores the realities of classroom management—from explicitly teaching and practicing expectations to using positive reinforcement, individual supports, and consistent consequences. They also discuss something that often receives less attention: the emotional load teachers carry when managing challenging behavior day after day.

The conversation includes ideas for setting boundaries, seeking support from colleagues and administrators, partnering with families, and recognizing when teachers themselves may need additional support.

• Ross Greene — Lost at School, 2014 Lost and Found, 2016 The central idea behind Greene's Collaborative & Proactive Solutions approach is that challenging behavior may reflect lagging skills rather than simply willful defiance. That's a very useful lens for teachers. https://drrossgreene.com/lost-at-school.htm
• The IRIS Center at Vanderbilt University — Behavior & Classroom Management
  Free, evidence-based resources for educators, including modules, case studies, skill sheets, and practical guidance on classroom behavior management, behavior-specific praise, active supervision, choice making, and more.
  https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/iris-resource-locator/?term=behavior-classroom-management
• The IRIS Center — Fundamental Skill Sheets
  Quick, practical resources covering strategies such as behavior-specific praise, proximity control, active supervision, choice making, and wait time.
  https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/fundamental-skill-sheets/
• Dr. Anita Archer — “Pressing the Reset Button on Classroom Management”
  A practical presentation on research-based classroom management practices and creating an environment where students can learn and teachers can teach.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLG65NH6YMQ
• Love and Logic for Educators
  Stacy discusses using principles from Love and Logic to put responsibility for choices back on students while responding with empathy and consistency. Free educator articles and resources are available here:
  https://www.loveandlogic.com/pages/articles-and-advice-for-educators
• NeuroLaunch https://neurolaunch.com/mhi-mental-health/

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

Dyslexia awareness has grown dramatically—but has that awareness translated into meaningful change for students? Stacy, Donell, and Lindsay explore what’s happening in schools, what may still be missing, and what it will take to turn greater awareness into better support for struggling readers.

Dyslexia is now part of the conversation in schools across the country. Nearly every state has adopted some form of dyslexia legislation, screening has become increasingly common, and educators have greater access to information about reading difficulties than ever before.

But identifying a student who may be at risk is only the beginning.

In this episode, Donell Pons, Stacy Hurst, and Lindsay Kemeny discuss research examining what has—and hasn't—changed since states began adopting dyslexia laws. Their conversation moves beyond legislation to the larger systems surrounding students: screening and assessment, teacher knowledge, intervention, curriculum, professional development, diagnosis, accommodations, and the resources available to schools and families.

They also explore an important question for educators: Once the data tells us a student is struggling, what happens next?

The conversation highlights the need to move beyond awareness alone toward systems that help educators respond effectively—with strong Tier 1 instruction, appropriate intervention, knowledgeable teachers and specialists, useful assessment data, evidence-aligned instructional tools, and ongoing professional learning and coaching.

The hosts also acknowledge encouraging examples of schools and districts investing in teacher knowledge and sustained support, offering a reminder that meaningful change is possible when the pieces work together.

Resources Mentioned
Nearly Every State in the U.S. Has Dyslexia Laws, But Our Research Shows Limited Change for Struggling Readers

The Conversation

This February 2026 article provides the research that prompted the episode's discussion. The researchers examined fourth-grade reading data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress across 47 states, comparing trends before and after the adoption of dyslexia legislation.

The Nation's Report Card — National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

The federal assessment program whose reading data was examined in the research discussed during the episode.

International Dyslexia Association (IDA)

A resource for evidence-based information about dyslexia, professional learning, research, and support for educators and families.

Tests of Dyslexia (TOD™)

An assessment referenced by Donell during the discussion, developed by Nancy Mather and colleagues to help identify individuals who may have dyslexia and provide information useful for intervention planning.

Decoding Dyslexia

A grassroots network of state-based parent advocacy organizations working to increase dyslexia awareness and improve access to identification and appropriate educational support.

LETRS® Professional Learning

Lindsay references LETRS while discussing examples of districts investing in teacher knowledge and professional learning grounded in the science of reading.

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

Fresh from the Big Sky Literacy Summit, Stacy Hurst and Donell Pons bring Lindsay Kemeny—and listeners—inside the conversations that had them thinking, questioning, and taking notes. Hear which ideas rose to the top and why they could matter for the way educators approach literacy instruction.

The best conferences don't just leave you with pages of notes—they leave you thinking differently about what happens when you return to the classroom.

In this Conference Rewind episode, Stacy Hurst and Donell Pons recap the Big Sky Literacy Summit for Lindsay Kemeny, sharing ideas and conversations that stood out across several packed days of learning.

Their discussion explores the connection between research and practice, including what teachers need to know about language and literacy, the role of teacher knowledge and preparation, and why practical experience matters. They also reflect on emerging questions around AI in education, the importance of syntax and language comprehension, assessment, self-regulation, and what it really means to move beyond simply finding or comprehending information to actually learning it.

Throughout the conversation, one theme keeps resurfacing: strong research matters most when educators can translate it into stronger teaching and better learning for students.

Resources Mentioned

• Big Sky Literacy Summit
• Bridges in Higher Education
• 10 Maxims: What We’ve Learned So Far About How Children Learn to Read (2026) — Reading Universe
• AI Hub for Education — Stanford University

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

Are we reading less—or is the way we read changing? Inspired by a provocative recent article in The Atlantic, Stacy, Donell, and Lindsay take on some big questions about reading, attention, and what it means to be a reader today. Their conversation explores what may be changing, what may be at stake, and what educators can do about it.

Show Notes
A recent Atlantic article makes a provocative claim: America may not be becoming illiterate, but post-literate—a society in which people can read but increasingly choose other ways to learn, think, communicate, and entertain themselves.

In this episode, Stacy Hurst, Donell Pons, and Lindsay Kemeny unpack that idea and consider what declining reading habits, shorter attention spans, digital distractions, and changes in classroom reading experiences could mean for students and adults alike.

Their conversation explores the difference between knowing how to read and actually being a reader, including:

• The distinction between reading ability, reading behavior, reading stamina, and reading culture
• How smartphones, social media, short-form content, digital devices, and AI compete for attention
• Why sustained reading asks something different of the brain than more passive forms of media
• Whether schools have unintentionally contributed to the problem by relying more heavily on excerpts and short passages instead of whole books
• Why explicit reading instruction and opportunities for deep, meaningful reading shouldn't be treated as competing priorities
• The importance of read-alouds and shared reading experiences at home and in the classroom
• What teachers can—and can't—control when it comes to helping students become lifelong readers
• Some encouraging signs that reading may not be disappearing after all

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• The Atlantic: “The End of Reading Is Here” by Rose Horowitch
  • The August 2026 article that sparked this episode's conversation.
  • Read the article in The Atlantic
• Maryanne Wolf: “Elbow Room: How the Reading Brain Informs the Teaching of Reading”
  • Wolf explores the relationship between foundational reading skills and the development of deep reading and comprehension.
  • Read Elbow Room at the Shanker Institute
• Daniel Willingham: Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents and Teachers Can Do
  • Mentioned by Donell in the discussion of the many factors that contribute to developing an enjoyment of reading.
  • Learn more about Daniel Willingham and the book at Reading Rockets
• Dallas ISD: Cellphone Restrictions and Library Checkouts
  • Stacy and Lindsay reference reports of increased library use after cellphone restrictions. Dallas ISD reported more than 200,000 additional library checkouts through March 31, 2026—a 24.35% increase over the same period the previous school year.
  • Read the CBS Texas report

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

Third-grade retention laws are gaining momentum—but does repeating a grade actually help struggling readers? Stacy, Donell, and Lindsay explore what the research suggests and why earlier, evidence-based intervention may be the better answer.

Show Notes
More states are turning to third-grade retention policies as a way to improve reading outcomes. But as Stacy, Donell, and Lindsay discuss, the research raises an important question: Is retention itself making the difference, or are the interventions that come with it responsible for improved outcomes?

In this episode, the hosts examine the complicated realities behind third-grade retention, including the social-emotional impact on students, the challenges faced by children with reading difficulties, and the role attendance can play in early literacy development.

The conversation ultimately moves upstream. Rather than waiting until third grade to respond, what would happen if schools placed greater emphasis on early identification, strong Tier 1 instruction, evidence-based intervention, and educator knowledge beginning in preschool and the primary grades?

In this episode:

• Why third grade became a major literacy benchmark
• What research suggests about retention versus intervention
• The potential social-emotional impact of repeating a grade
• Why attendance in kindergarten and the early grades matters
• The importance of identifying reading difficulties early
• How retention policies can change adult behavior and increase support
• Why effective MTSS and strong Tier 1 instruction matter
• Where schools and districts might reconsider how literacy resources are allocated

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...

Braxton was in kindergarten when the pandemic interrupted his first year of formal reading instruction. But his mother, Kristie, soon realized there was more to his struggles. Donell Pons talks with Kristie about the years Braxton spent “hanging on,” his eventual dyslexia identification, and what changed when he finally received targeted support—just as he prepares to enter middle school.

Today’s middle schoolers were just beginning their education when the pandemic disrupted classrooms across the country. For some students, that interruption came at a critical point in learning to read—and years later, foundational reading needs may still be following them into the secondary grades.

Braxton was one of those beginning readers.

He started kindergarten in fall 2019. When COVID closed his school the following spring, he spent the final two and a half months of kindergarten at home. That was when his mother, Kristie Nelson, a former kindergarten teacher, began noticing that something wasn’t right. Braxton struggled to identify letter names and sounds, and Kristie ultimately decided to have him repeat kindergarten.

But the pandemic wasn’t the whole story. Kristie remembered concerns dating back to preschool, and as Braxton moved through elementary school, he continued to struggle with reading even as he found ways to compensate. He made progress. He worked hard. He was “hanging on.” And because he was never dramatically behind, the underlying problem remained difficult to see. But by fifth grade, the work had become harder and those compensatory strategies were no longer enough.

In this episode of Literacy Talks, Donell Pons talks with Kristie about the journey that ultimately led to Braxton being identified with dyslexia. Kristie shares the signs she learned to recognize, how his school responded, and what began to change once instruction could target his specific needs.

The results have been encouraging. With focused work on phonics and other foundational skills, Kristie reports substantial improvement in Braxton’s reading accuracy. Perhaps even more telling, a child who had found reading difficult and exhausting began asking to read aloud.

Now another transition is coming: middle school.

Instead of spending most of his day with one teacher who understands how he learns, Braxton will move among multiple teachers and face increasingly complex reading and writing demands. An IEP, targeted intervention, and continued support will be critical as he enters sixth grade.

Braxton’s story is his own. But it also raises a much larger question: How many students are entering middle school with unfinished foundational reading needs—and what will it take to ensure those needs don’t follow them any further?

This conversation is Part 1 of The Braxton Story, a Literacy Talks series following Braxton and his family through the transition to middle school. We’ll check back during his sixth-grade year to hear about his progress, the challenges that emerge, and what his experience can teach us about supporting older struggling readers.

In this episode:

• How the pandemic interrupted the end of Braxton’s first kindergarten year
• The early reading difficulties Kristie noticed before and after that disruption
• How Braxton compensated for reading difficulties through the elementary grades
• Why increasing academic demands made his struggles harder to overlook
• How learning about dyslexia helped Kristie recognize what she was seeing
• What happened when his school identified his needs and targeted instruction accordingly
• Why putting an IEP in place mattered before the transition to middle school
• What Braxton’s experience can teach us about the unfinished reading needs students may carry into the secondary grades

For many adolescent readers, comprehension challenges may be a symptom of something deeper. National research shows that many older students are still missing foundational reading skills. We're sponsoring a series of in-person events spanning multiple cities and states across the country, bringing together district, community, and literacy leaders to address the needs of adolescent readers.

Find and register for an event in your area today!

💬 Want more insights like this?
Subscribe to the Literacy Talks Podcast Digest for episode recaps, resources, and teaching takeaways delivered straight to your inbox!

Core Instruction and Reading Intervention. One System. One Path Forward.

From Pre-K readiness to advanced fluency, Ascend®️ gives educators a consistent, needs-based approach to literacy—helping every teacher deliver the right instruction and every student build lasting mastery, one skill at a time. Coherent literacy for lasting impact.

See how Ascend works.

Do you teach Structured Literacy in a K–3 setting?
Sign up for a free license of Reading Horizons Discovery® LIVE and start t...