I stepped into the classroom for the first time at the Lab School on the campus of the University of California in Los Angeles more than a decade ago and did what I do best: I told stories.

Learning to read is one of the most complex and important skills we will create in our lives. Human brains were never wired to read.

School leaders hold the keys to unlocking literacy for young learners. However, like other educators, many school principals don't have deep knowledge of how the brain learns to read, effective instructional practices in the essential early literacy skills, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), and identifying and serving students with reading disabilities.

The science of reading is by no means limited to phonics. However, phonics instruction is an essential component in a Structured Literacy classroom.

The “science of reading” refers to a vast body of multidisciplinary research providing a rationale for what must be taught to ensure almost all students can learn to read.

As educators, we all share a special love for students and readers who struggle, so we will be emphasizing the strategies that have proven most effective for our multilingual learners, students with IEPs, and those with specific reading difficulties like dyslexia.