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Services In 2001, WestEd developed the Secondary Literacy Support Network (SLSN), a technical assistance model for middle schools, high schools, and alternative education programs who were ready and committed to implementing a comprehensive literacy approach in their school. The design of SLSN was built on the belief that most secondary schools have "pieces and parts" of a reading/literacy program, but few have a comprehensive approach to meeting the reading and content literacy needs of all students. SLSN is a step-by-step, research-based, systems approach to professional development with reading and literacy at the core. SLSN provides a clear framework that guides schools through a process of readiness, diagnosis, intervention, data analysis, coaching, and implementation support in order to address students who can’t, don’t or won’t read. Our WestEd team, along with a cadre of respected experts in the field of literacy, all contribute as trainers during the 8-day SLSN professional development series. Our trainers work as a team and as individuals to present the SLSN training modules and provide technical assistance and coaching on site to middle and high schools. SLSN staff and consultants have worked with schools throughout California and the United States to improve literacy instruction for middle schools, high schools, English learners and other diverse student populations. Phase 1: Preparation Literacy Leadership in Middle and High School (1 Day) Participants will understand the compelling reasons for a systems approach, review literacy research and definitions of literacy, examine strategies for effective literacy leadership. Data Made Easy (1 Day) School and district teams will learn about the different types of data and how these data are triangulated in order to better understand and make decisions for academic improvement for the district, school, classroom, or for the individual student. They will be introduced to and will practice using a collaborative team meeting protocol to analyze data in order to inform needed modifications to classroom instruction. Participants will understand the theory and practice of the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading (DAR). Phase 2: Expert Series Participants will meet with experts in both intensive and strategic interventions, who will showcase specific, research-based intervention strategies. Intensive Interventions (1 Day) For secondary students who are learning to read, experts will provide a review of research-based intervention models, a systematic approach to designing and implementing intensive interventions throughout the school and real examples from real schools. Strategic Interventions (Content Literacy) (1 Day) For secondary students who are struggling to access content across the curriculum, experts will provide strategies to promote academic reading, writing, and vocabulary development, strategies for using assessment to determine student needs, plus tools to design a strategic intervention program. English Language Learner Interventions and Standard English Learner Interventions (1 Day) For English Language Learners, experts will provide strategies for translating needs into classroom practice, practical approaches to re-thinking English language instruction for English learners, methods for addressing the complexities of language lesson design. For Standard English Learners, experts will provide a linguistic overview of standard versus non-standard English, linguistically responsive instructional strategies, and demonstration lessons. Phase 3: Implementation Series Challenging the System (1 Day) Participants will identify and address existing barriers to a comprehensive literacy approach, learn how real schools and districts challenged the system, learn how to design the master schedule to meet the needs of the program, review effective implementation tools to monitor and evaluate a comprehensive literacy approach. Aligning and Monitoring the Plan (1 Day) Participants will be introduced to a reading/literacy walk-through protocol and process in order to design a plan to monitor and support implementation progress throughout the school. The SLSN walkthrough protocol process will show participants how to gather whole school quantifiable data quickly in order to identify strengths in implementation, and areas of needed support that require additional professional development. Writing the Literacy Plan (1 Day) Participants will review examples of effective literacy plans, identify needed components of an effective literacy plan, write new or edit existing literacy plans that include accountability for implementation. We believe that the 8-day series is the most comprehensive approach but school teams can choose to select and group modules based on need. For example: Literacy Leadership, Content Literacy and Writing a Literacy Plan grouped together. Years 2 and 3 Technical assistance is available and encouraged for supporting staff with these practices. During Years 2 and 3, SLSN experts and practitioners provide ongoing support during literacy plan implementation through contact meetings, site visitations, and implementation evaluations. Additional training is available for administrators and teacher leaders who are responsible for supporting, monitoring, and evaluating school literacy action plans. This training is custom designed to meet individual districts’ needs as schools and districts begin to implement comprehensive literacy plans. |
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