Helping every child learn to read is one of the biggest challenges facing schools today. In this episode, we sit down with Matt Pasternack, founder and CEO of Once and the first employee at Clever, to discuss a different approach to early literacy.

Matt shares why he believes instructional assistants are one of the most underused resources in education, how schools can provide effective one-on-one reading support without hiring additional teachers, and what school leaders should look for when evaluating new edtech products. We also discuss why so many education tools fail to scale, what meaningful research actually looks like, and how schools can make better decisions when investing in literacy programs.

Whether you're a teacher, principal, district leader, or instructional coach, this conversation offers practical ideas for improving reading outcomes and building stronger literacy systems.

About Matt Pasternack

Matt Pasternack is the founder and CEO of Once, an early literacy company helping schools improve reading outcomes through one-on-one instruction. Before founding Once, Matt was the first employee at Clever, where he helped grow the company into one of the most widely used education technology platforms in the United States. He began his career as a middle school English teacher through Teach For America and has spent his career building tools that help schools better support students and educators.