MOESC’s Striving Readers Team Adaptations
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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone, and Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center (MOESC) is adapting to make sure that students continue to be served. This month, MOESC’s press releases will be focusing on showing the public what steps are being taken by each department or team. This third release will focus on the Striving Readers Team.
Mid-Ohio ESC was awarded a $1.2 million Striving Readers Grant (SRG), which is now in its third and final year of implementation. The three-year focus has been on serving the greatest numbers of students living in poverty, students with disabilities, English learners and students identified as having a reading disability.
The focus and goals of the final year are in supporting the Educational Cascade of Literacy and developing a framework for addressing evidence-based practice and support for the district leadership through professional development. Creating a strong building and district culture is conducive to student engagement. This is energized by the opportunities we afford our educators for professional development, coaching and intensive support to improve their daily practices within their schools.
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The Striving Readers Grant Team developed an online SRG Literacy Lab using Google Classroom, which houses book studies and their companion resources (podcasts, videos, webinars, articles etc.). This virtual format allows our SRG work to further impact our districts’ literacy initiatives.
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District Leadership teams will be able to further plan for instructional shifts by accessing the online book studies and personalized training. The SRG virtual learning lab allows districts to collaborate within their district or with another consortium member district by use of a reflective blog and Q/A option. Districts/members can also use the professional development held within our classroom to launch virtual building leadership or staff meetings using a platform of their choice.
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The Striving Readers Coaches will monitor the classroom, support those attending, and provide explicit instruction in best practice using the resources authored by nationally recognized literacy experts.
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The Striving Readers Literacy Lab will be accessible after the completion of the grant to sustain the important work moving forward in our districts.
Lisa Cook, Elementary Literacy Coach, is in charge of the Striving Readers Grant at MOESC. She said the team misses the opportunities afforded by direct contact, communications, conversations, observations and collaboration. “It is challenging to express passion, love for the work, and highlight how the resources we provide can best be used in the classrooms or at home to support student learning,” she explained. “However, we chose to do voiceovers on some of our PowerPoint presentations to make them more personal.”
Cook continued, saying she has been proud of the Striving Readers Team for their innovative thinking, creative problem solving, and responsiveness to adjusting their professional development and literacy coaching support to meet the demands of virtual learners. “I am also proud that in tandem with providing professional support for the teachers, the coaches care about providing emotional support as well. We are cheering them on and providing virtual ‘pat on the backs’ for the hard work they are doing every day to support their students!” she said.