Alabama Literacy Network's Podcast

The focus on foundational literacy is incredibly important, but it's not enough to create life-long literacy. Learn about Reading Apprenticeship, a research-proven approach to adolescent and adult literacy, focused on disciplinary literacy, metacognition, and student engagement from Director of Literacy at WestEd, Dr. Linda Friedrich. 

How do we train educators, parents, and community members the skills to improve the trajectory of children's lives through language & brain development? Julie Odom & Collie Wells of the Alabama Partnership for Children discuss initiatives and free resources available, including Feed Me Words, an initiative designed to helps parents and caregivers provide language interaction that builds the brains...

Cullman City Primary School was recently awarded the Louisa Moats National Award for Excellence in Implementing the Science of Reading. Learn how this school has changed its reading instruction and how the success that led to this award is changing the lives of students for the better.

In honor of Father's Day, learn how fathers can impact a child's literacy. Listen to an interview with Dr. Khalid White, educator, author, filmmaker, and advocate for fathers, including a discussion regarding the narrative about black fathers. 

Instructional coaches in schools are coaching the most important teams: teachers. Learn how instructional coaching has been an essential part of the improvement in teacher performance & student achievement in Mississippi in this interview with State Literacy Director Kristen Wells-Wynn. 

Learn how and why leadership for literacy requires more than just generic leadership strategies from author & school improvement consultant Pati Montgomery of Schools Cubed, LLC. Her book The Principal's Primer for Raising Reading Achievement is part of LETRS training for Administrators, and her work across the United States has given her expertise in how to improve literacy through systems, struc...

Learn how the science of learning AND the science of reading creates learning environments where students become powerful readers & writers from renowned author Zaretta Hammond.

Learn about the battle over retention in Alabama's Literacy Law, how states are improving outcomes for students through early literacy policies, and how the pandemic is creating challenges and innovation in this interview with Dr. Kymyona Burk of ExcelinEd. 

Learn from one of the country's top experts in educating incarcerated youth how the school-to-prison pipeline can be broken through early literacy. 

Learn how literacy leader Dr. Antonio Fierro has dedicated his life to improving reading for all students. As an English learner, he has a unique perspective on how we help these students. His work training teachers, administrators, and university professors has changed the trajectory of countless students and their reading success.

Learn how the community action and advocacy group The Oakland Reach has mobilized parents to demand the Science of Reading for their children and how they have been very successful teaching children themselves through "The Hub." Lakisha Young is a co-founder and CEO of The Oakland Reach, and their work has been shared across the United States and internationally. 

Interview with Karen Vogelsang: Arise2Read

How do the efforts in K-3 affect workforce development in Alabama? Find out how WestAlabama Works is helping the community through efforts in educating adults and K-12 education in this Interview with Donny Jones.

An Interview with Dr. Susan Hall

Find out how Nashville Propel has trained and motivated powerful parent leaders to advocate for their children's literacy and learning achievement. 

Discussion on ESSER funding

Interview with Vesia Hawkins

Interview with Mr. David Walters, Director of Adult Education for the Alabama Community College System

Interview with Dr. Jared Miracle

This episode is an interview with Dr. Molly Ness, who created the national End Book Deserts campaign and podcast to increase access of books and book culture to underserved populations. 

Interview with Dr. Leigh Hall from the University of Wyoming, talking about adolescent literacy, and why it matters. 

Interview with Dr. Matt Warford & Mrs. Demedia Edwards from Aldine Independent School District discuss the literacy journey of their district and how it led to a conference open to people across the United States. 

In this interview with Dr. Hannah Szatkowski and Dr. Lauren Brannan, professors of reading instruction at the University of South Alabama, they share how the training of pre-service teachers has changed with the Science of Reading and the benefits they are already seeing. 

Interview with Steve Hannum