W&M launches new literacy fellowship
Program created amid push for ‘science of reading’
A new fellowship by William & Mary will allow teachers across the state to create resources to help implement new instructional methods mandated by the Virginia Literacy Act.
The university has selected eight fellows, including reading specialists in Virginia Beach, York County and Williamsburg-James City County. The inaugural cohort for the fellowship — Translating Research Into Practice or TRIP — held its first meeting last month. The fellows will learn to analyze research and translate their findings into one-page, easily digestible guides. The fellows, selected through an application process, have been awarded $1,500 for their one-year commitment.
Kristin Conradi
Smith, an associate professor at William & Mary and co-director of the university’s literacy lab, said she thinks of the program as “by teachers, for teachers.” She said the guides will be used to create a library of resources on W&M’s School of Education website.
The fellowships were created in response to the 2022 Virginia Literacy Act and the national push for the “science of reading.” The law mandates that schools use evidence-based approaches to teach and requires them to provide intervention to struggling readers. Schools must have significant curriculum and assessment changes in place by this fall.
The “science of reading” approach incorporates education, psychology, linguistics and neuroscience research. Part of the approach is using phonics, or letter sounds, rather than what had become the widespread use of a “whole language” approach that emphasizes guessing and using picture cues. More than 35 states have passed legislation to align literacy instruction with the research. Schools across the state have started the shift, including training educators.
Conradi Smith, a former teacher, said the fellowship brings in teachers’ expertise.
“The ‘science of reading’ movement, at large, does not do justice to the fact that teachers are curious, smart people,” she said.
Much of the conversation has focused on what teachers don’t know or what they need to fix. She said there is also a kind of “gatekeeping” around research, with many studies behind paywalls. The fellowship, Conradi Smith said, gives teachers the research to create resources not tied to a curriculum company.
Each fellow will focus on a topic they’re interested in, such as early literacy, adolescent literacy or literacy for English language learners.
“Teachers learn well from other teachers and teachers have trust in other teachers,” said Stephanie Pressley, a fellow from York County’s Grafton Middle School. She also said studying the research will illuminate the “why” behind the state’s mandate.
“You’re getting information from people literally on the front lines with you, handling the same day-today tasks that you are.”