Comprehension Without Compromise: High Expectations for Every Reader

Rigorous reading comprehension instruction isn’t a privilege for some learners. It’s a right for all. Explore how to design access without reducing expectations, complexity, or the joy of genuine understanding. 

Students with reading disabilities deserve full access to rigorous, meaningful content and the instructional design to make that access real.

This 30-minute Leading Together webinar examines how educators can use evidence-based accommodations and tiered instructional approaches to maintain curriculum depth while removing barriers to engagement.  

Drawing on structured literacy research and the science of reading, participants will explore how to scaffold complex texts, build oral language pathways to meaning, and leverage assistive technology, all within a framework of high expectations. The goal is equity through access, not equity through reduction. 

Who Should Attend

• District and site leaders 
• Instructional coaches and literacy specialists 
• K–5 classroom teachers 

Webinar Moderators

• Reframing the Goal: Access, Not Alteration 
• Scaffolding Complex Texts Without Simplifying Them 
• Oral Language as a Comprehension Pathway 
• Assistive Technology as Instructional Equity 
• Tiered Instruction That Keeps the Rigor Intact 

Featured Speakers

Elizabeth Zagata is dedicated to enhancing educational outcomes for students with disabilities. Her research centers on literacy, assessment, and special education policy and law. Currently, Zagata leads the Effective Instruction priority area for the National Center for Systemic Improvement. She holds certifications in special education, elementary education, and gifted education, and she is also a certified dyslexia practitioner. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member, teaching diagnostic assessment and special education law. 

Menya Cole is a Program Associate in Literacy at WestEd working with the Reading Apprenticeship and Writing Apprenticeship teams. She brings more than 15 years of experience as a teacher and literacy coach, with a focus on curriculum design, disciplinary literacy, and structured literacy. Cole supports teachers and leaders in implementing evidence-based literacy practices across content areas and has coached educators at both the elementary and secondary school levels to strengthen instructional outcomes.