BONUS Episode: HB1193 - Unified Literacy Plans: District Training and Support by GOEWS & GaDOE

A new literacy law can feel like a fire hose, especially when the deadlines are real and the details are easy to misunderstand. We sit down with Georgia literacy leaders, including Dr. Fran Dundore and Stacey Lutz, to translate House Bill 1193 into plain, usable guidance for district teams who have to approve and implement a Unified Literacy Plan without turning it into “one more thing.”

We walk through what’s truly required versus what’s flexible, then zoom in on the coaching system that anchors the whole approach: school-based literacy coaches, regional literacy coaches, and regional literacy leadership coaches. We talk about why protecting the coach role matters, what the 70% direct instructional support expectation looks like on the ground, and how a tiered support plan and district self-audit will shape the kind of help each district receives. If you’ve been wondering how part-time coaches, split funding, or hiring timelines affect support, we address those questions head-on.

Then we get practical with the new Unified Literacy Plan template: short narrative fields, required components, and how districts can connect literacy goals, universal screening, dyslexia-related supports, science of reading aligned instructional materials, and readiness and retention policies into one coherent system. We also explore what “birth to five engagement” can look like in different communities, from partnerships with Head Start and daycare providers to libraries, health systems, and educator prep programs.

If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a district teammate, and leave a review so more literacy leaders can find it. What part of Unified Literacy Plan work do you want clearer examples of next?

Transcript

Welcome And Session Roadmap

SPEAKER_14 0:00

Able to digest. So this is your time. We have three hours. That is a lot of us talking. And we are not going to talk for three hours. So as you have questions, we want to talk with you and be able to give you time for discussions to do the work that we're going to have to do going forward. And again, some of what we'll talk to you about up front is contextualization for the actual work of the Unified Literacy Plan that we're going to get to deeper into the conversation today. Okay. All right. Here is a bit of a schedule. Oh, I'm pointing in the wrong way. A bit of a schedule for today. These are again very loose times. We're going to give you again context and background in the first hour. Welcome in stakes setting. Stakes in that there are a lot of stakes and things at stake as we talk about the work of legislation this year. House Bill 1193 is complex, and the pieces of it, if they don't fit together, are going to be less meaningful than they could be if they are aligned with current practice. And if we embed a lot of those things in the practices that we already have and do. So thinking about the contextualization makes that more possible, more practical as we go into this new work. And then we'll actually have some time for you to look at the template for the unified literacy plans, and we'll have a little workshop. And then we'll have time to debrief, ask questions, but we're also going to take some time intermittently as we go through the session this morning to give you time to talk at your tables, generate some questions, and think about the things that you would like to know more about and/or clarifications that you need kind of in the moment too. All right. Are we good with that? All right. Dr. Fran Dundor, the executive director of GOES, is now going to come and talk to you about those legislative pieces and about Ghost GOES role in those. I keep saying GOSA 16 times a day.

SPEAKER_05 2:05

I'm going to say GOSA for a long time. Just like at the end of the year, I would tell my teachers they're still going to be running

Why House Bill 1193 Raises Stakes

SPEAKER_05 2:10

in the classrooms, in the hallways. We're going to say we walk at dog train. We're still going to say it at the end of the year. So we'll still be saying GOSA. We hope, but we'll get used to it. If you have been following along and you've been able to attend any of the public meetings that we've been trying to have as we take our show on the road, um, we've tried to put out the key provisions of this legislation. What it provides you, that's really the way that I see this. This is what our legislators decided was important enough to make law. It became a shall and not a should. And that's how we talk about it. And on July the first, and let me echo what um what Phil Hartman said yesterday, he hopes you get out of this. And that is pay attention to timelines and determine what you need when I'm committed to making sure you have all of those answers today. And so we'll hang around until, or we'll let you go as soon as you feel like you have. But that is our job. Um, on July 1st, when the legislation became live law, I got an email from a budget office uh that asked about my quarterly update on July the 1st. So we know the pressure too. And I said, let me update you. It just became law today. And here's what we're going to do between now and October when the quarter is up. Um, so everyone, the eagerness is not lost on us, and we know you're feeling it too, and we know your superintendents are feeling that July 1 deadline. But let me assure you, what we also hope to show you today is how much of this you already have in place. And what we will provide for you is a template and a system that will work for us getting this submitted, uh, approved and submitted by but approved by January 1 doesn't mean submitted by January 1. Okay, so keep that in mind too. Approval has a deadline, submission into our platform has not had a deadline set. So there's plenty of room for negotiation, right? Especially in spring. So literacy coaches in every school, you haven't heard that before, just heard it today for the first time. Your unified district literacy plan that your school boards must finalize by July the 1st, 27. Standards for a coaching endorsement, first grade readiness, not mandatory kindergarten. You're going to get lots of questions about that. Not mandatory kindergarten. And kindergarten is not required. Again, I'm going to say it a different way. Just use Mythesaurus and get a different translation of that. Let me rewrite that sentence for you. Not required. But students are required to be ready for first grade with an assessment that is designed and determined to provide you that information and a collection of other data before they go to first grade. Any questions on any of this? I don't want to read it off to you. The literacy task force, you'll hear more about that, has to have its first meeting by September the 1st. That task force has to be comprised of nine of the, actually 12 of the 11 of the 12 positions must be literacy specialists. Your legislators didn't play around with this. These are not positions that are thank you for your service. These are positions that are thank you for all of your service. Come help us. A different call to action. The literacy coordinating committee, we're going to talk about a little bit more today, they're actually going to be giving you support and feedback and helping you drive your plans forward. And that committee, Stacy and our office are in the in the process of seating that committee. We will seat that committee so that we don't lose transitioning between two legislations, the work that has already been done. We will carry that work forward into seeding this committee. There's been a lot of important work that has been done already. You're doing a lot of important work. Systems are doing a lot of great work. We're learning from you in a lot of ways. This is a very public space we serve. And that that position is going to be one that serves us statewide in that role, and it's very important. And then we'll be doing an emotional promotional campaign. And if they let me be in charge of it, nothing would make me happier. We also have some additional impacts

Deadlines, Timelines, And Common Myths

SPEAKER_05 6:30

that you need to take a look at that you've already heard a little bit about. So let's just take a look at this one. Any questions? Stacey, go ahead and jump in.

SPEAKER_14 6:38

So one of the things as we move toward the discussion around the district unified literacy plans that we need to talk about are some legislatively mandated, but also some support systems that are not necessarily in legislation, but that are supportive structures for the work that you're going to be doing. It's also important as we talk about that to think about the legislative required roles and responsibilities of some of our coaches. You've heard an awful lot about those 1,300 and some odd school-based coaches, which are in legislation. There are two other sets of coaches that are also in legislation. And just as the school-based coaches' duties and responsibilities are clearly outlined legislatively, some other responsibilities for those other two tiers are also legislatively appointed. So I want to talk with you about some of those things. The one that you'll see that's different, or the one thing here that you'll see that's different, is the tiered support plan, which has a star beside it. That tiered support plan is not in legislation, but it's critically important to our discussion today. So I want to spend some time just talking through with you some of these things. So you know that there are state-funded literacy regional literacy coaches, what we're now calling an acronym SUP RLCs. Regional literacy coaches are housed at our RESAS. Their primary role is to serve school-based coaches and support school-based coaches. We also have housed at our RESAS, state-funded regional literacy leadership coaches. House Bill 1193 says that there must be at least one designated regional literacy leadership coach at each RESA. And one of the explicit job duties and responsibilities for a regional literacy leadership coach, RLLC, is to support the development of a district unified literacy plan. It is an explicitly required responsibility of an RLLC to work with a district to support the development of the unified literacy plan. It is the explicit responsibility of a regional literacy coach to support a school-based coach. That distinction is very important to some questions that we've had around the support of school-based coaches who are designated school coaches as defined in legislation, as opposed to a traditionally funded or positioned instructional coach, academic coach, multi-faceted, multi-responsibilited coach. When we talk about a state-funded school-based literacy coach, that next one, that is the position that will be coded on CPI, and as such, will have the expectation of fulfilling the duties and responsibilities outlined in House Bill 1193. Primary to that is that 70% of that coach's time must be spent in direct instructional support to classroom teachers. 70% of their time.

Coaching Roles Across Three Tiers

SPEAKER_14 18:40

So those coaches are going to be deployed in a very systematic and intentional way, again, based on impact and what we know districts need based on the ability that we have to think through the system that we're going to talk about in just a few minutes. So you shouldn't yet know definitively who those coaches are going to be. Now, some of your districts have already worked with some of those coaches in other ways. One of the questions from the chat is will school-based coaches who are currently funded federally, and I'm I'm assuming I make an assumption online, so if this is not clarify online for me, please, a CSI funded coach. Currently funded CSI structured literacy coaches are going to be federally funded again this year. This is the third year of the cycle. This is the final year of that funding cycle. So there would not be funding for those coaches. So yes, as a school-based coach, those coaches will be supported by regional literacy coaches because they are full-time coaches. Literacy coaches who are meeting the standard of 70% of time instructionally focused in classroom support. Okay.

unknown 20:14

There are two options for those schools.

SPEAKER_16 20:34

I'm calling it House Bill 1193 funds. They can hire an additional literacy coach. They'll still get their federally funded CSI coach. Or in looking towards long-term sustainability, some are choosing to have that CSI coach position become their House Bill 1193, CSI coach. I mean House Bill 1193 coach who will still be supported in the same way. And then that person continues beyond this three-year time. And so there are a couple, there are two different options. We actually have an FAQ on that has been in Right Now Resources several times, and we'll share it again that talks about those two options. And CSI school's got that information directly sent to them.

SPEAKER_05 21:24

And if I can jump in for just a second and build on that, we want to I want to acknowledge, as I heard you all talking, we recognize you've all been operating under different levels of service with your Reese's and they're meeting your needs and they're doing a phenomenal job. And that is the service they provide us. And we are working, Stacey is working very closely with them because we also know you're not all hiring coaches this year. And let us also acknowledge where your coaches are likely to come from when you do hire them, your classrooms. We also acknowledge the timing of legislation is not set. By us and no, and hiring in June is not optimal. So all of those elephants on our chests and yours are real, and we acknowledge them. We also acknowledge there is some really tight criteria around this. It's intentionally tight. We want the best in these roles, and we know you do too. But we also acknowledge there is a teacher shortage in our state of talent. And we are sometimes suffering at the hands of those who will do the best for us that they can until we can get someone who can do the best for our kids that we can. Acknowledge all of that. We acknowledge that you're not going to have every candidate come to you with every box checked, and you're going to have to make professional decisions, and we trust you. We acknowledge that.

SPEAKER_14 22:53

So, what are the questions came up? Perfect. So that is a perfect question. The question was in case you couldn't hear it, what if your district has a literacy designee, like a person who is district literacy coordinator or the equivalent of that position? The primary contact for that person is going to be a regional literacy leadership coach. And that that can bring us, I'm going to go ahead and start talking about this tiered support plan because I think this will maybe generate a couple of other questions or maybe kind of spark some things around the questions that you've had. We also acknowledge we have a lot of districts who are in a lot of different places as we talk about this systematic implementation of a coaching system. There are districts from whom we can and are learning much about a literacy coaching structure and system who do not need the same level of support as a district who is for the first time hiring and actually allowing a person to be a literacy coach, i.e. not all also

Protecting Coach Time For Impact

SPEAKER_14 24:20

allowing them the opportunity to do bus duty and lunch duty and administrative tasks. And we just happen to have a teacher out, so they're gonna go sub in a classroom today. Protected time and a protected role. And you're gonna hear me say a protected role several times today, because if we don't protect the integrity of the role as it is defined in legislation, we again dilute its purpose and impact. And that is a critically important thing to think about as we install a statewide system. So consider for a minute your own district. There are some districts in the state who have a structure similar to the structure the state of Georgia seeks to employ. The state of Georgia seeks to employ this. There is a school-based support system in every school who is dedicated to the instructional improvement of every classroom. To support that school-based person, we have a regionalized system. That regionalized system is supported by leadership coaches who are making sure that the conditions exist during which effective instruction can happen in a school. That structure is awesome and is not unique. There are school systems who currently have that same structure in place. They have a school-based coach whose role is protected. That school-based coach is supported in some way regionally. Now that looks different depending on the size of the school. If I'm Gwinnett County, my regional coaches function almost like a microcosm of what we want the state to do, right? Because by scale, they have the same ability, capacity structure-wise to do that. That regional coach, however region is defined, is also supported by a district-identified contact person or contact within the district whose sole role is literacy. We have multiple districts who at scale can can implement that system, right? We have some districts who have a single elementary, middle, and high school. The regionality and systematicity of those districts is vastly different. I am a one-person region if I'm a single elementary school, right? But the structure of support can still be in place in a single school district that is in place systematically at a larger district. So we're

Tiered Support Plan And District Audit

SPEAKER_14 27:10

going to be looking for two things as we roll out what we're going to call a tiered support plan. This is the first responsibility of every regional literacy leadership coach. We have to have an audit, let's say, and a landscape analysis of every district in the state of Georgia to say, do you have these systems and structures in place? If you do have these systems and structures in place, what evidence do you have that supports that you have effectively implemented this system and structure? Because we can do a lot of things, and those things aren't impactful to student achievement or student growth and student development. So the two things that we have to differentiate at that level are these. Do you have systematically the capacity to do the thing that we want mirrored at the state level? If the answer to that question is yes, are those things then having the impact that you desire them to have? And what is your evidence for that? That would be the difference on a scale of a five and a four. A five being we have everything in place, we have the structures, we have the systems of support for those structures, and we are seeing student growth. Here's how. Five, lightest level of support, probably only connection to a literacy leadership coach to help devise the unified literacy plan and support you where you need it to provide resources or thought partnership. Versus a four, which is a little bit heavier touch, but probably not deploying regional literacy coaches into that district, it probably still is consultative to develop the unified literacy plan and help support you in things like do we think that we're doing the right kind of data analysis and intervention structures? How are we diagnosing? Are we looking at tier one instruction? So how are we internally, how are your systems working to ensure student growth as a result of the systems? All the way down to a one that would be I am installing a coach for the first time. We really don't have any idea about how to support that coach, and we need direct instructional support for our coaches that also would get obviously a leadership coach to work with leadership, sustainability, systematic implementation, and those things also would receive support from a regional literacy coach who is going to support the coaching of a new coach and help build. So on both ends, you get in-school support with our regional literacy coach, you get district sustainability support with our regional literacy leadership coach. And so that determination has to be made before we can deploy our 118 funded positions at the RISA to adequately and appropriately support all of our districts. Sit with that for just a minute and let's see if we have questions. Question was is there a rubric or something to guide that at the district level? And the answer is it is in development. We're gonna use that next week with our coaches to get feedback and finalize that rubric, and then it will be shared with districts. Yep. So timeline for that, what's the timeline for that? So the timeline for that is looser than so. Notice that this is the one with the star that is not in legislation. This is the mechanism that we have built in order to fulfill the legislation. So there is not a legislatively mandated timeline because it is not a legislatively mandated piece. What we hope is that as soon as our leaders literacy leadership coaches are trained, I'm gonna be working directly with your RESAs and your RESA directors to ensure and make sure who is assigned to what district, and those coaches will be deployed to the district contact. Again, one of the roles of that district contact, probably not always the superintendent, could be the superintendent, could be the curriculum director, could be that designated literacy person. Dr. Dundor is going to be soliciting that contact for every district as we go through, and she's going to talk about that in just a minute. But as soon as possible when the school year starts. And you don't want them there as you start school for the first two, three weeks. So we're trying to be reasonable in those time frames, but also be reasonable in the support mechanism that we know that you need to start school. So it's kind of a it's a strange balancing act between not being disruptive to your practice, but also gaining the information that we know we need to support your practice.

SPEAKER_05 32:27

We acknowledge that August can be the cruelest month in education. Um, but we also have a question over here about whether or not systems will districts will self-audit.

SPEAKER_14 32:37

They will audit in collaboration with their literacy leadership coach. So I would bring, if it were me and I had access to that information, I would go ahead and start thinking about what evidence might I bring to support that we have those structures and have the data that comes with it.

SPEAKER_05 32:57

As this evolves, because it is evolving, and as we build towards a unified structure we all understand, that we then evaluate in a systematic way. If you think about audits, and I'll talk a little bit more about this when we show you the template in a little in a minute or in a few minutes, um, we will treat this from my office. The responsibility of our office statutorily goes is that we are quality control. We are ensuring these systems are functioning in the way that they are intended to function, to operate, to be implemented, um, such that we are getting the results that we believe are possible with this work for students. Um, those are wins for everybody. And so our job is, and I will show you a slide in a moment, where you see these collaborative partners that have been stuck, we have all been voluntole, we are going to get along. You heard me say that yesterday, and we all really do get along, which is nice because we've all been doing this work together for such a long time. Gail feels like a family reunion every year. So, with the Department of Education, with our Reese's, we are all excited about this work, but you hear us checking ourselves. We love having Matt Cardoza. Who in the state of Georgia doesn't adore Matt Cardoza? No, and we all love him. And if you get to sit at the policy table with us every week where we check ourselves against this legislation, and we check ourselves

School Coaching Plans And Alignment

SPEAKER_05 34:20

against the intention of this legislation, right? The spirit of the law versus what it actually says on paper and how we help you interpret and live that. You will be living this law.

SPEAKER_14 34:33

All right, so so to that end, there are a couple of other things on the screen that we haven't talked about. One is that school-based literacy coaching plan. This is one that is legislatively mandated at the school-based coach level. So one of the duties and responsibilities, and if you haven't read House Bill 1193, in case you haven't noticed, it might be a good idea to actually read the text of the law. There's a lot in it, but it also is it will provide you with very specific guidance on some of these things, and you'll see where the pieces kind of come together. Here's one of those places. It is one of the responsibilities of a school-based coach to work with the administration of that school to devise a school-based coaching plan. There is no formalized thing, template for that to happen. We're going to give our regional literacy coaches who will support those school-based coaches some guidance for how that might happen. But if I'm in a system who, let's say, become is audited as a five, like they have they have it all in place, they have the data to support that what they're doing is working. Those districts are still by law required for their school-based coaches to implement this requirement to have a school-based coaching plan. Now, that might be as simple in a school who's already had who already has these kind of mechanisms established. We sit down, we look at data, we plan instructionally where you need to support where the impact needs to be and what other things might be needed. So that is not necessarily going to change, but this is more of an informational piece. If I'm a district who has never done this, it's going to take a lot of conversation between the regional literacy leadership coach, the regional literacy coach, the school-based coach, and the district and school administration to understand what that means. Right? So coaching for impact might mean that as an administrator, in these classrooms, the conditions are not sufficient and not sufficiently established for coaching literacy to be meaningful. Administrator, I need you coaching on classroom management. I need you helping set the conditions under which my coaching for literacy will be successful. So that is a mediated plan at the school level, but it requires there to be in place a dedicated coach who is working with administration, who is working within the district plan. So all of those pieces have to come

Unified Plan Requirements That Matter

SPEAKER_14 37:40

together for the system of this to work, right? So we talked about partners. Do you want us? Do you want to go ahead and talk about partners here?

SPEAKER_05 37:51

The only thing I really want to implement, we really make sure you see here are two things. These are statutory partners in law. And you will see us all in different spaces taking up the mantle for what we are intended to do to support you in this. You'll see Dr. Barrow with the PSC leading this endorsement, supporting these standards. You're going to see our university teams doing some test kitchen work, honestly, really doing some test kitchen work in classrooms, some real clinical work in districts across the state, getting their pre-service teachers into classrooms and training that intergenerational experience level, really being able to provide some opportunities for growth and across the state, giving some sites where you can, other universities can send folks to to see what best practices look like. So think about that clinical mindset as we develop what this looks like over time. You have local school districts, superintendents, these partners are going to all be coming to you live with different iterations of how the support looks. So today you see the DOE and I, we see Reese's in the room, but you'll see Stacy at our Reese's doing presentations for their boards of control and making our way across the state to try to support this. Um and really understanding the role that she plays. And I wanted to say we brought up the word audit. We will districts will self-audit. We will provide quarterly reports of status. We will provide status updates. We are not the police, we are implementation status reporters, and we're ensuring the work happens. Think about your school improvement plans. You look at them every quarter if we're doing it well. We look at them every quarter and we say what needs support and what's going right, and how do we plan, check, and then and then do something about it. This will work exactly the same way.

SPEAKER_14 39:47

And another just to add on to what Fran was talking about, it's also going to be critically important that as we go down this road for the first time in some cases, that we know who to engage. And I hope that what you're hearing is a reassurance that all of these partners are talking. And all of these partners are going to be supporting you, maybe in a lane, but in a lane that is very integrated with all of our other partnerships. That these conversations are going to give you the same answers to the questions, no matter which one of our partners you're working with. And I think that that should be reassure. I hope that's reassuring. So all those partners are working at a fevered pace to do this work. And so talking now more specifically about the requirements for the unified literacy plan itself, we want to really dig in deep to what is actually required in this new thing that's called a district unified literacy plan. And how might we be supported? And we'll kind of talk through those partnerships as we talk through this slide.

SPEAKER_05 40:54

You want to this is where we really kind of begin the nuts and bolts and what the implications are. And your school boards have seen this if they attended GSBA. I did this presentation for them there. Um, but key requirements, and there are four. There must be present in your unified literacy plans support evidence of support in your birth to five communities. We're going to give you some opportunities today to share at your tables and to share amongst this room what already is happening in your communities that looks like this, and where are opportunities for you to plug in. It requires you to establish measurable literacy growth goals at every tested grade level. Those are setting those literacy goals for all tested grade levels, using our statewide assessment results and our universal screener data, and then using that to monitor your progress. It's a cycle you know. It's a cycle that's embedded in what we know how to do. And so it is formalizing that cycle and systematizing it district wide.

SPEAKER_14 41:51

Let me add right there. And we had this question earlier. So with these goals, the question was Are these goals and this requirement exclusive to our K3 course grades? The answer to that is no. The legislation said all tested subjects that have a literacy metric. Which ones are those? All the way through. Our ELA tests, even into high school, have a literacy metric. So by legislation, all grades that have a test with a literacy metric are subject to the rule for a goal, including our non-standardized tests, our screeners.

SPEAKER_05 42:44

Any questions about this? Just as this slide sits here a second.

unknown 43:26

But then also we don't get a lot of those test scores towards the end until the end of the year, and we know we're not even getting for example this year, ELA until like October, November.

SPEAKER_05 43:35

That's correct.

unknown 43:36

My question is where does that process fit in and how does this come into play?

SPEAKER_05 43:40

Yeah, that's a great question. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_16 43:43

So so when I think about setting those measurable literacy goals in your unified literacy plan for your district, I think of those as these bigger picture goals. And so, for example, you might want to start. With past data so that you can set goals based on those benchmarks. And so, for example, if at the end of last year you had a certain percentage of third graders who, and our state literacy metric, of course, is based on those Lexile scores. And so you look at where they are, and so then you set those benchmarks for the future, you know, realistic, attainable benchmarks for the future. But I also think of this as this is your opportunity to set what's the term, big, fat, hairy, audacious goals. Because that, you know, this is what we want. We want to move children as quickly and effectively and as fit and as efficiently as possible so that we have all students reading on grade level. And so I think that on these goals that we can't get those 15 days within 15 days, those are those laws are about the screening results. And they those 15-day rules relate to K3, universal reading screening, and that. Did that make sense, Stacey? Okay.

SPEAKER_05 45:35

I'd like to acknowledge that as well as SMART goals, we do want you to have big, fat, hairy, audacious goals in your unified literacy plans. I just thought that we have a new acronym in education in the state of Georgia.

Setting Goals With Late Test Data

SPEAKER_14 46:19

It's a great question. It's a different question from my literacy goals for the unified literacy plan. So readiness and promotion is a separate section. And so Amy, do you want to talk about that?

SPEAKER_16 46:32

I talked about it real briefly. So that that's those are two separate processes there.

unknown 46:39

That's why it's confusing the two separate pieces.

SPEAKER_16 46:43

Right. Yes, I hear what you're saying. So in House Bill 1193, when we the main parts that talk about promotion and retention, there's a big new swath that talks about first grade readiness. You've hopefully you've seen the readiness guidance that went out last week about first grade readiness. That is, and Miss Dale Burns talked about it earlier this week here at the conference. That is really about trying to catch those students very early. We don't want to get them to third grade and start retaining in third grade based on our Georgia milestone scores, which has been in law and rule for a very long time. We want to catch those children early. And so there's a big swath related to first grade readiness. There is a swath of information in House Bill 1193 about third grade retention, fifth grade retention, eighth grade retention. Those parts, though, are not very different than what has always been in the law. I will tell you a good place to look if you want to see just the little small nuances. At the June State Board of Education meeting, um, a law, not a law, excuse me, a rule was initiated to change our promotion, placement, and retention state board rule. If you go to assembly and pull that up, you can see the red line version. The red line version is really nice because it shows you what has always been there and the little small nuanced changes that are there too. And so that might be a really good resource for you to take a look at.

SPEAKER_05 48:32

And I think the answer to your question is yes. If the if your systems are in place, I'm behind you, sorry. If you're I'm above, if your systems, a voice is coming out of a sky, if your systems are in place the way that it has been aligned to state board rule, and your systems check with those changes, then you have disregard, you're already doing it. If you do not have a system, check yourself against what the law asks you to do in terms of promotion and retention. Dr. Ald, would you add to that?

unknown 49:01

This is my curriculum ad.

SPEAKER_03 49:03

Check your policies in your local system. Um, I had a couple questions about that. Some of you might have policies, some of you might just have unwritten procedures, some of you may have written procedures. So where however your system operates, you're gonna have to integrate the expectations of 1193. It's got to be systematic, it's got to be consistent, and it is an expectation that you're using those multiple data points. If you look at the first grade readiness, it also suggests the EIP rubric as a place to help you with your students who are meeting the age limit and going to public school for the first time as they go into first grade. For your kids that are enrolled in your school system, you probably already have promotion retention guidelines that you follow. Check them, make sure you're using all the right points and move that system forward. So ground it, check it, validate it, improve it where it needs to be. And if you don't have one, you gotta have one now.

SPEAKER_14 50:05

All right, other questions about the requirements?

unknown 50:09

So the year is one that we gave the dyslexia portion of the screener one time.

SPEAKER_13 50:14

Last year we gave the dyslecting portion of the screener all three times. But this says just mid-year dyslexia screener. So like the screener may be broken up into disregard.

SPEAKER_05 50:29

That's my mistake.

SPEAKER_14 50:57

One of the slides has a question about a single dyslexia screener point that is inaccurate. Dyslexia screening is now rolled into our universal screening process. So, inclusive of the three times a year screener, your dyslexia screener is embedded within our universal screener.

SPEAKER_05 51:17

That question, and we will get that updated in our slide.

SPEAKER_14 51:20

Other questions?

SPEAKER_12 51:24

Sure. Um so April help me. We we've been talking about what is um

First Grade Readiness And Retention Rules

SPEAKER_12 51:30

you can waive in your strategic waiver and what you cannot. You cannot waive any longer the promotion requirements. Am I reading, am I hearing that correct? I know if not for first grade, but what about five, eight?

SPEAKER_05 51:47

I think I would, and please jump in, Amy, too. I would interpret that this way: you cannot waive anything required under 1193.

SPEAKER_16 51:59

You can't waive anything required under any of the literacy legislation, but you have a process in place in your school district where you can look at multiple data points to make those difficult decisions about promotion, placement, and retention. And we always encourage that you don't make big picture educational decisions about children based on a single data point.

SPEAKER_09 52:28

Other questions the promotion retention, I just want to clarify the strategic waivers charter system 358 promotion is a separate thing. Yes, you still have that ability to request those waivers, but 1193, that promotion part separate because that's about first grade readiness.

SPEAKER_05 52:55

And you will have a slide in the deck that addresses that. And state board policy pending approval addresses that as well.

SPEAKER_14 53:08

All right. Any other questions about the requirements of the unified literacy plan and or 1193?

SPEAKER_05 53:29

We are we are studying that to develop um what give you more guidance on that. Um so give us a minute. We are we have some questions still. Um you probably have questions about the placement of that transition plan. Makes more sense to you where pre-K to K made more sense there, perhaps. But I think this has to do with, in terms of intention, readiness. And as you transition, whether you're you know you're transitioning as a child who's come in, taken a readiness test, hasn't been to kindergarten, you've come in with a child who's been to kindergarten, regardless. I think it's about establishing that baseline as they transitioned out of this year. We were we didn't retain them, we moved them forward, we say they are ready. Now here's the plan to third grade. That would be a dip in the water. We will provide additional clarification on that. DOE, any check me on anything I said.

SPEAKER_14 54:19

Yeah, and should be aligned with the promotion requirements and retention policies that we've just been talking about. So again, it as you think about as we kind of move into this next little piece, it truly is about alignment of not duplication, replication, all of those things. It is truly about should and should not my transition plan be associated with my promotion retention plan in order to establish what that transition plan should be and how we intervene or have intervened in order to build that transition plan based on what we know in our promotion retention systems. So again, if if any of this work is done in isolation of other things, it will be duplicative. It will be frustrating, it will seem like another thing to do. But if we can, and this is this is why we want to have this kind of bigger discussion today, if we can help you systematize these things as a single best practice system, the better off our districts will be, better off our schools will be, our coaches, our teachers, our students, all will be because we are not doing multiple times the same thing for a different purpose or for a different checklist or for a different template. It really is intended to bring together pieces that should be happening in a systematic way in order to support this implementation at the school and district level.

Template Reality Check And Exemplars

SPEAKER_14 55:50

And we just might have a visual for that. And here's that visual. So if you think about this slide, what I hope this slide does is kind of simplify all of the pieces that we've been talking about into a single way to think about things that you already are doing, but now what supports you will have for those and how they lead to some other things that you now must do. So on the left-hand side, you see three key inputs to your district unified literacy plan. You will have the support of a regional literacy leadership coach to feed your unified literacy plan. The first step of that is the conversation about readiness and status. Where is your district in terms of having a systematized way to support literacy instruction through school-based coaching, which is required by 1193? 1193 requires schools shall use a school-based coach to support literacy instruction in this way. So it could be that you and your regional literacy leadership coach take a look at the structures and systems that you have, the data that you have, and say, How can I support you with your unified literacy plan? Let me know how I can help you in the future. We will just continue to be partners in the work. You will also be supported in the development of or through the use of explicit community engagement initiatives. Again, one of the requirements. So an input to your unified literacy plan is this explicit connection to partnership with community, birth to five. For those of you who were in our math session earlier this week, we won't do the school math again, but I'll give you this breakdown. If a child enters kindergarten a year behind, for that child to end third grade proficient, you would have to have a kindergarten first, second, and third grade teacher who moves that child a year and three months. Think about that for a second. A child who comes to kindergarten one year behind requires not a proficient teacher consecutively for those four years, an exemplary teacher who is expert in intervention and support for four consecutive years. So, in absence of that, one of the things that we have to consider is if we don't outreach into community in that birth to five space and maximize our ability to intervene before formal kindergarten or before formalized instruction, we cannot overcome for every child what they bring. That doesn't mean we're not going to continue to work and do all the things, and we will do it with a lot of kids. But the reality is we have a better way to intervene if we start to think about family and community literacy, which is the intent of embedding community literacy partnership in the unified literacy plan. So as a district, there is an acknowledgement that you cannot and should not be the sole responsibility holder for literacy instruction and growth. Community can support us before we come to school. So how are we engaging in community? That is going to look very different, and there is no um there's no really specific like criteria for what this engagement looks like. Some of the best ones of these engagements or types of these partnerships involve very intentional, small decisions. For example, and I've used this before, so I apologize if you've heard this one, but it's a really simple, kind of brilliant, genius, simple thing. We have a district who is a smallish district who is looking at their children who enter kindergarten and are currently in school who came unready to kindergarten. And they're asking, do you have siblings at home? And the likelihood that a child who came unready would have siblings who are younger who would also possibly come unready is a perfect opportunity to intervene. And in a small community, we can do that very easily because we know the families, we know how to outreach to the families, and we can begin to intervene at that level before they come to the school. Genius and simple. Other systems, other communities where things are more complex might look at agency-level solutions. They might want to engage with their DPH partners and their decal partners to say what is our transition plan for children who we know are already receiving intervention services. So that community piece is going to look very different depending on what your community looks like within your school district. The third input is going to be your district goals, you do your district goals utilizing your required data. We've already talked about those. So those three things are going to feed into this district unified literacy plan. Lovely, wonderful, unless that district unified literacy plan is something like we used to do with our curriculum guides. We put them in a big notebook, we stick them on the shelf, we come back to them at the end of the year, summer's coming, we blow the dust off, and then we revise those plans. If that is what it is, it will be meaningless. That district unified literacy plan should guide downstream everything that happens in your district. Why would that make sense? So while the school-based literacy goals utilizing required data is not a legislative requirement, like your district unified literacy plans do not have to have school-based plans within them. They're high district level. But if they don't guide, for example, things like your school improvement plan at the school level, if they don't guide the work of instructional planning that you're doing at the school level, we need to consider why there might be a disconnect there. So those school-based literacy goals should then feed into your school-based literacy, sorry, school-based literacy coach plan, which is legislatively required for your school-based coaches to create with your school administrators. So if we miss that key red step that's not legislatively required, we miss the boat. Yes. Hold on.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:52

So if they do not have a school-based coach yet, will they still be required to do a plan?

SPEAKER_14 1:04:02

Excellent question. Anne Marie asked, if I don't have a school-based coach in place, am I required to create a school-based coaching plan? The answer to that is no. Here's why. The school-based literacy coaching plan is not something that is submitted, it's something that is collaboratively developed by your school-based coach and your administration. So if I do not have one, I cannot make one. So when you have one, it is required. But there is no formal submission for that thing. Other questions. I want to see like what does this whole thing look like? Give me some exemplars, give me some things. I have good news and bad news. Um, so you want the good news first or the bad news first? We currently have a template. That template is brand new. So are there exemplars for the template? Not yet. Can we give you a big picture? And yes, that's exactly where we're headed. You want to talk?

SPEAKER_05 1:05:53

I will say Yeah, yes, it's brand new. You are going to give us exemplars that we will be using statewide, but how many? Of you have been part of the L4GA work in our state. There are your exemplars in a lot of ways. We the template you're gonna see in just a moment that you'll have access to. We're not going to make it live for you because it is a form site document. How many of you have done an audit with me? A state level audit. I've I've each reached out to your raise your hands so unwillingly. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you ball out on that. Great audits, gains on your on your scores, great reasons for audits. But it will be very similar in that we will send you the link to the template. We'll ask your superintendent who is the designee. The superintendent will connect our office with that designee, very much like we do the milestones and the withdrawal audits. You will have that direct access to a staff member at Go's who will be able to answer your questions when you call. You know, a couple in the last three years before I um accepted this honor, it was me. You called, I answered, and we've worked through it. You will have a dedicated staff person in my office who will be able to answer in during the workday when you call, collect those questions and get back with you. You'll also generate our frequently asked questions. But I say that to say the template was developed in collaboration with the DOE because we all believed that work is great work. You all believe that work is great work. I don't know anybody who didn't write that L4GA grant, receive it, and fuel their communities with positivity and literacy, make them look more literacy-rich. This template will help you tell your story. That's that's all we wanted to do is have you tell your story and show us statewide what those exemplars look like and give us a chance to do what you just asked, provide feedback to those systems who need that. And that coordinating committee that Stacey will lead is lead will lead as soon as we have them seated, will provide a review process to give you guys feedback as well. That's really all I wanted to say. Questions, discussion. Anybody need a break? We've been at it for an hour. We're not planning to keep you three. You rather us truck on through, but let's could we take five? Let's take five and come back to it, guys.

Break And Building The FAQ List

SPEAKER_05 1:08:05

Five minutes.

How You Receive And Use Formsite

SPEAKER_05 1:14:18

So we went a minute late, but um you guys will filter back in. We thank you for your patience. And again, we want this to be helpful for you. Some of the things I heard around the room, and I'll just share as you guys are kind of coming back to it, um, is the the processing of this. So I will forget if I'm not careful that we got to sit in, you know, Stacy and I have been part of this House Bill 1193 since its inception, and since getting to see it the iterations of it as it went back between the House and the Senate. And our job, and we've said this from the beginning, is we're the legislative or we're not the legislative arm, we're the executive branch. So we execute whatever they ask us to do. And this is what they've handed us to execute, but we've had some time to sit with it. Can we take a moment before we get into the template and see what questions are brewing? You are generating today our frequently asked questions document that we will use to support our legislative teams, to support our partners around the state, and to support you all. And part of the questions you're generating online and the questions you're generating in the superintendents who were texting those questions and thank you, keep them coming. Um, we're we are addressing those and giving you some structured feedback after that. So, any questions before we step into the second hour? All right. All right, Brian, are you gonna walk through the template? Or we can let's just tag it. Let's tag team it. So, what you are looking at, and I'm gonna tell you, let me tell you how you will receive this information. I will reiterate it is going to the process we are using is the same process from Go's that you'll be familiar with if you've ever had to do any sort of an audit. We will send out an email with a link, and this is the PDF we will also provide you with. And one of the most common questions that we get, and then April reminded me is can we please have the PDF? I'm scared to hit next. What if I lose everything? Can I click? I gotta see the whole thing. We get it. And so we're gonna provide you the PDF and we're gonna keep the template open in perpetuity. And you will, if you submit, you can go back and edit it. Promise. We can update inform site in real time if we find mistakes in the template, if you forgot something and it is monitored on the backside by our team. Okay. So this is page one, and again, it's in the deck, and this just explains how to use it. If you're familiar with form site, you'll get a link. You'll create an account that's unique to you. It's just a more secure Google form, if you will, that allows us to have PII in it if necessary. Second slide, this is mice type. It's your component checklist. This is for you to double check that you have every element that is required in this and for you to um jot any notes down as necessary.

SPEAKER_14 1:17:13

It's kind of your pre-work page. It is a pre-work page. And I don't I don't think these are required. I don't think these elements are required.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:19

One will have a red dot if it's required to submit, if it is not required to submit, this is a checklist on the front end to give you that big picture. This is your district template. You're going to give us some information on uh your district or charter name, the date it was adopted, your primary contact. You see those red stars mean this is information that has to be turned in and your plan review cycle. We're gonna ask you a few questions. How many coaches, how many school-based literacy coaches in schools that serve K3? This is our due diligence. We've got to update this information to our legislators. I've got to give them what is the return on your $70 million investment. So we will keep that progress monitoring alive. Um, and this goes through asking you questions, Section A, your local literacy vision and context. You're describing your plan. Section B, measurable literacy goals and your data use. You're going to upload this information there. Section C, your birth to five collaboration. Describe that. Describe how the district collaborates with early learning providers, families, and community partners to support school readiness and early language development. You'll give us your narrative. Yes.

Walking Through Template Sections

SPEAKER_16 1:18:46

Well, no, I think I think that they've already been. So the my point here is that this is not a dissertation. This these are um, I mean, this is uh like a summary is short. Like I know that that's hard to see, and you'll get a PDF so that you can see that clearly, but I but I'm pretty sure that says zero to 200 words. And so you that kind of gives you an idea when you're prepping for this and when you're thinking about this of what you're having to prepare for. To me, like as a practitioner, just that makes me feel like we can do this. We I can talk about our plan, I can talk about what's going on in my district with literacy, and I can do it concisely and succinctly in zero to 200 words.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:42

And it's also important, great. That's exactly the point. It's also important um that you measure where you are. Here's back to your our district's self um checking. This is part of that. Where are we emerging? We're beginning the process of part building partnerships in our districts. Our first meeting is set for dot dot dot. These are your narratives. Um, what is my transition from kindergarten into elementary school? Describe the district's literacy transition plan for students moving from kindergarten into elementary school before we make you do this. What have I acknowledged? We don't know exactly what this is gonna look like yet, but we've got a placeholder for it, and we'll give you guidance as we ask you for it. Right? You're gonna have ideas we haven't thought of. Um section E, high quality instructional materials and your science of reading alignment. List your K3 literacy instructional materials that are used in your district. You've already got that. Um, describe how your district ensures materials and instruction align. Explain your processes. Again, zero to two hundred words. Universal reading screeners and your dyslexia-related supports in F. Let's move through if you guys are good and stop me with questions.

SPEAKER_14 1:21:00

And but before we do move on, Fran, one of the things that I hope you also see as we talk about the template is it is a place where the information that we need to help guide our support is also embedded within a single within a single template, within a single document, so that we're not asking you multiple times for the same information, but that we can also be prepared for the reporting that we have to do as a part of the evaluation of this implementation for things like where and how are our coaches actually being deployed in schools? How is that tied to the district unified literacy plans? Are districts systematically employing these things that we have supported financially to put in place at the district level?

SPEAKER_05 1:21:47

Your first grade readiness narrative, your grades four to twelve literacy and career readiness narrative, and that conversation came up a minute ago. Um, if I was a high school English teacher, so when words started coming bubbling up in my world like RTI in the high school, I said, I'm sorry, do you mean dropout prevention? Do you mean credit recovery? It looks so different there. We only have them for this many weeks before a grading period ends, and then they don't have a credit. I don't understand what you're saying when you say 16 weeks up to me. I could not understand it. You're gonna have challenges, and we acknowledge, I acknowledge that this legislation and we acknowledge in the direction, and we had some input into the writing of this legislation, specifically around this part, Stacy, particularly giving feedback on this is gonna look different in high school. High school might not have an opportunity for. And so just recognizing that this plan should meet your needs, your district's needs. Family and community partnerships, you've got educator, leader, and coaching supports, again, your district's response to these things that are outlined in this plan. Monitoring, review, and continuous improvement, a cycle we've been raised on. And then it ends with again, not required, but check yourself if you would need that support before you submit, giving you that in, just a checklist before, don't even have to complete it, but it's for you. Um, to be able to look at the end of it and say, okay, this is what we've put together. This is our landscape analysis for what coaching is looking like in the state, what structures you have in place, and the plans you're gonna move forward with. And this helps us know how to support you. Questions? They're not gonna believe me when I tell them there were no frequently asked questions. They're coming in. All right. So then let's let's spend some time and and we're good, we've got a few of these. We really believe the best ways for communities to learn what's going on is to sit and talk to other communities who are doing this work, whether they look like your community or not. And we did get a special request for an in-person training, perhaps in September, where once some of this work has been um has begun, we could come back together and have some table time. And so we will definitely get behind the scenes and explore what we might offer you going forward.

SPEAKER_14 1:24:17

And another thing to think about too is we also want to try to regionalize this as much as possible so that we have more immediate and intimate contact with the districts with whom you're also going to be working so that there can be

Workshop Prompt On Birth To Three

SPEAKER_14 1:24:30

reasonable partnerships within a regional area. So we will have, um we are in the process of scheduling with each RESA times to come and be with the coaching teams and others who want to come. So district leaders, school leaders, as we create those environments, those are where these conversations really should be happening so that it's it's uniquely appropriate for your own community. And again, that idea of community-based support is critical because community is going to look very different in different areas.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:02

What we have designed for you next is an opportunity to really fuel some conversation around ideas to fuel your plans and to leave you with some, oh, this district, that district, you know the connections you make here when we do that. And what are they doing over in? And we want to live live like we want to take five minutes, a question, and then some time after, if you guys will loosen up and give us some responses, but to share out what is it that's going on in your unique corners of our state that looks like this, because this looks like literacy planning. And so, question number one, and then we'll give you five minutes, talk at your tables and around your tables, get up and move. What is your district currently offering families between birth and three before pre-K enrollment becomes an option? Good. Step right up, step right up. Who's willing to share what it looks like in your communities or what it could look like in your communities to support between the ages of birth and three? I'm looking for volunteers, just looking around desperately, looking for volunteers. Good conversation. It's always hard to interrupt good conversation. But I'm gonna start at this table. Anybody willing to share what's going on in your communities? I'm over at this table, just a little butching back ass. Anything, one idea. Or needs an idea. How about that? How about we do it this way? I want I have an idea or I need an idea. Can we do it that way? I just thought of that. That's called teaching on the fly. Have an idea or need an idea, and either is okay. How about need an idea? Somebody needs an idea for birth to three. Help a partner out in your state. Have an idea? All right, need an idea. This is because I just want to sit down, lady. Please stop. All right, I'm over here.

unknown 1:32:19

What you got?

Real District Ideas For Early Literacy

SPEAKER_07 1:32:20

I have a couple ideas that our districts do. So Carroll County is working with their Chamber of Commerce and they're making a video like about what the birth through three or five need. So and they're also working with a private school in the area. So they're going to make be making a video, which I think will be great, and working with the Chamber of Commerce. And then next year, Carrollton City Schools is actually opening opening an academy that will have third or three-year-olds, four-year-olds, and five-year-olds in the academy. And they'll do like flexible grouping all day. So they went to Louisiana to something called the Truman School and learned about it there. So those are two ideas that people do.

unknown 1:33:03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 1:33:04

Other ideas. We need some ideas. We got ideas here and then we'll go to the back. Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 1:33:08

Hi everyone. I'm Coretta Stewart. I'm the director of curriculum instruction in pre-K in Rome City Schools. Um, I really feel good about kind of where we are, but I do have some a question that I want to ask for some help. So about a couple of years ago, probably about three or four years ago, we started a Literacy Before Life initiative, and it starts pre-birth and goes all the way up to 12th grade. And so we actually have a template for that. It's a document that we share at every one of our meetings. We also partner with our community agencies. We partner with HM Floyd Health. Um, and then also all of our daycare centers. Um, we have what we call the Early Learning Stakeholders Committee, and we meet quarterly. Um, we just continue to add to our programs. We partner with Barrie College, and we have a three-year-old program at one of our six elementary schools. As well as this year, we're excited to start a three-year-old program at another one of our elementary schools, and we're planning for one at um an additional school. And so these are some of the things that we've started thus far, but it's been um very intentional. Um, one of the things that we are looking at is just revamping how our early learning stakeholders program works so that our daycare centers don't see us as competition because we continue to add pre-K programs at our schools. Um, so if anyone has ideas on how to um unify the local centers um with the school system so they don't see us as competition and trying to work together with them, um that's more or less our next step because it started out as a really big group, but it's kind of dwindled down a little bit as we've added pre-K classes in our schools.

SPEAKER_05 1:34:57

Excellent question. You see the challenges built in, don't you? You hear the challenges built in. I want to help all kids in my district without offending my privately owned daycare partners who are these are their livelihoods and these are their communities. And if you got a really good daycare partner, especially the one that puts little caps and gowns on them at the end and they look so dang cute, your parents have got some questions about what you're doing too. That's real, right? What do we got over here? Are we good? I need an idea. Any other ideas? We talked a little bit about parent partnerships. Can we get retired educators to come in and do describe what Stacey or do what Stacey described? Can I have my principals buy them a sub sandwich? Can I let my volunteer my retired teacher who's still ready to continue to contribute help those parents learn how to learn how to read to their children with every sibling that's gonna be my child? I got skin in this game, but I can't get them yet, right? Can I, and we did this during COVID because you had to do a lot of things during COVID, my principals read bedtime stories. Um we staged it up really nicely, and we put those out online with a QR code. Our community partners, our businesses put those QRs in the window. This week we're featuring a bedtime story by Stark Elementary School, read by principal so-and-so, so and so. So our kids could be read too. Any age. Right? Let's move on to the next one.

Partnering With Providers Without Competing

SPEAKER_05 1:36:20

I don't know where that clicker went. Let me see if I can advance the slide. Did I lay my clicker down next to anyone in this room? Just one clicker, no? No. Thanks, Stacey. All right, next question, next few minutes of discussion. What early childhood providers, HeadStarch, uh, are currently in your district footprint, and how are you formally or informally connected? So back to that, let's dig into that question a little bit. How do we do this without alienating the people who have the kids? What if there are no early childhood providers in my community? What am I doing with that? Let's take a couple of minutes, just discuss at your tables. He has an idea.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:47

It's what you get when you have a big mouth. Somebody come by and ask. I I was just sharing with some of our colleagues here. Uh, one of the things that I did as a superintendent, uh, our literacy rate where I was was not good. So, what we did is we reached out to our Head Start program uh and other uh daycare programs in local churches. And what we did is we actually invited those people to come in for professional learning for our kindergarten teachers and first grade teachers. I know they have their own curriculum at DCal. We weren't trying to force our stuff down to them, but we felt like it was gonna be a great thing. Because I mean it was multiple benefits came from that. We could actually see who our newcoming customers were going to be, what deficits they may have had. If they needed some things like babies can't wait or special services, we could go ahead and plug in early. And we developed a lot of trust in the community. So it was it really was a win-win for everybody. Didn't cost us anything extra. I might have given them a meal or two, or we may have given them some copy materials, but other than that, uh, it worked out really great for everybody.

SPEAKER_05 1:39:58

Who else has an idea? Thank you, Dr. Barrow. Other ideas, and we might have already covered a lot of this in our other discussions, right?

SPEAKER_14 1:40:08

Stacey, anything to add here? So I would just I would simply think about that in the same way sometimes that we think about operationally what we want to happen within our schools and districts, and and thinking about how we feed that understanding, we call that vertical alignment in a school, right? How do we help our communities understand what the needs are coming into formalized education? And also how do how do we systematically help them think about their own communication structure? So I'm gonna get everybody who's ever seen me talk, know I I love pop quizzes.

Thinking Beyond Books To Health Supports

SPEAKER_14 1:40:40

Here's your first pop quiz for today. I've held off this long, you should be proud. Pop quiz. And some of you who've already heard this question cannot answer DOE friends. What percentage of babies born in a certified birthing facility? What percentage of babies are screened for hearing, vision, and developmental delays? I hear, I've heard it should be 100. Any other guesses? It is a hundred. Okay, so now let's think about that for just a second whoop whoop over here. And Matt didn't tell him, did you? Okay. Matt said I didn't actually remember the answer. Remediation, remediation for you, Matt. Um, if a hundred percent, so here's a twick trick question. If one hundred percent of babies born in certified birthing centers, which is the vast, vast, vast majority of children, if 100% of those babies are screened, why don't 100% of those babies come to school having had the interventional services that they need to progress? It's not our screening processes, what is it? What's some parents opt out, but it's follow-up. Like it's not just always one thing or the other thing, but think about what an improvement it would be if just this one thing happened in a community, if just those systems that provide supports and interventions for children from birth and pre-birth. What if we better understood in a community that it is better to look at the maternal health of women pre-birth and the difference that it makes to carry a child from 36 weeks term to 40-week term? The difference of four weeks utero development makes a significant correlative difference in third-grade readiness, third grade proficiency. So if we instead of giving a family just giving them a book, if we instead set up a system by which mothers to be had support to get to prenatal care in order to provide support for better maternal health, that thing, which has nothing to do with reading, would provide services that would increase our third grade on our third grade percentage of reading of proficiency more than any other thing we could do in terms of physical support. How do we help communities better understand that? How do we show the importance of that thing again that sometimes might not have anything to do with a book and support those systems in communities? Other ideas, other things you want to share out with the group? Yeah, before we move on, we had a question over here, and and this is I'm gonna cut, we got to backtrack just

Coaching Is Not For Weak Teachers

SPEAKER_14 1:44:00

a second. I hope that that doesn't shift anybody's universe. Question came in about impact of coaching, and this is a question that we do get frequently in terms of if you say that a coaching plan does not necessarily equally divide among all teachers, we're coaching for impact. How are teachers going to feel? And this is a real question, how are teachers going to feel who do receive coaches versus those who do not receive coaching? And have we established kind of prerequisitely this idea that if I'm coached, I must not be good? If we don't start to have this conversation with administrators and teachers and pervasively have and mean this conversation, coaching is not for struggling teachers. Coaching is not for bad teachers. What other profession, athletic, business, any profession does not have executive level coaching for the best of them. Right? If we don't help teachers understand that we are not looking to improve bad practice, we are looking to improve all practice because all practice can be improved. And there are circumstances and conditions, administrators, under which I cannot change instructional practice without structural support in terms of expectations and classroom management. It's not the only thing, but that's a big thing. So if I don't have that in place, it does me no good to divert my coaching instructionally until I have the conditions under which this thing can happen. So if we begin to have a real conversation about our intent of coaching in every classroom so that every single child has access to the absolute best instruction that a person in that classroom can provide, that does mean every teacher gets some kind of coaching, especially our good ones to make them even better ones and our great ones to make them even greater and to provide them the support that they need to begin coaching other teachers as teacher leaders. So it doesn't just mean I'm gonna come in and I've seen this deficit thing. It is not deficit-based mindset, it is 100% growth-based mindset so that all of our teachers can become better instructionally.

SPEAKER_05 1:46:39

All

Building Pipelines With Teacher Prep Programs

SPEAKER_05 1:46:40

right, next topic. We're gonna take it to the other end of the spectrum. What is your current relationship with the educator prep programs sending you new K3 teachers in your area? Those challenges might be multiple. Where are the K3 teachers in your area? But what does this relationship look like? Another requirement under this plan is that you have established these for that there is an intentional relationship between your partners who are training these teachers. I mentioned earlier some test sites that will be coming, you'll get more information on just to keep you informed. Um, sort of test kitchens, if you will, but demonstration sites for practicing teachers that are going to be paired with uh pre-service teachers. So take five minutes at your tables. We talked about pre-K and that end of the spectrum. What does it look like for those pre-service teachers you are supporting in your districts?

SPEAKER_14 1:51:01

All right. Can you finish your conversations at your tables and then let's let's prep let's get ready to talk out, share out some ideas or some things that you might be doing in partnership with your um pre-service development partners. As you're thinking, this is a good place also to think about or to share information about two things that you've probably heard some about. That's not, we don't want to go into any kind of deep information, just an acknowledgement that there exists now two early literacy centers in the state of Georgia. One housed at Georgia College and State University, the Sandra Dunnegan Deal Center, that has been in place. But we also have a new center at Georgia Southern University for early literacy, applied early literacy. So a lot of ability there, and and Fran mentioned earlier those demonstration sites, those are being supported through the Georgia Southern work. So there's a lot going on in terms of support and partnerships that are potentially out there for you to be supported in. So just keep those two things in mind as you think about next steps there. Ideas or suggestions. Hold on, let me bring you the microphone. While I'm bringing the microphone, I'm reminded um Dr. April Aldridge's feelings are hurt. Those of you who are online, she is almost in tears if you can't see her in the other side of the room because no one will interact with her online. Yeah, yeah. You're not sad you're mad? You're not mad. Okay. Just hurt. Deeply deeply, deeply hurt online, folks. Send her some chats.

SPEAKER_02 1:52:48

Um, so something we're doing is our teaching as a profession pathway at our high school. We are utilizing that teacher through conjunction with a local college to teach preparation classes that certifies students as pair pros. So then when those students come out, they graduate from high school, they have that high school diploma, as well as a paras certificate. That a lot of them have started working in our elementary schools, and now we're in the process of partnering with a with a local college for them to start a cohort on our campus at night so that those kids that have already started the process can then finish that degree and hopefully we can hire them, and we've trained them from high school on. Excellent.

SPEAKER_14 1:53:31

Other ideas or suggestions practicing wait time.

unknown 1:54:15

Sure.

SPEAKER_14 1:54:16

So um another mechanism for that is your P20 systems, and each region they don't correlate necessarily with the 16 RESA regions. I think there are eight, maybe half, somewhere around half. Do y'all do you remember? Eight. So those are also good places where it is literally everyone from pre-K through post-secondary into workforce who has kind of skin in the game for that work, but it's a great recommendation. Other ideas? Okay. All right. So speaking of post-secondary partnership and strategies, here are just some things to think about. Um, we mentioned earlier the two centers that information coming out soon on those. Um, but just some big ideas. University preparation pipelines. We were just talking about that one, reading research collaboration. So, how do we how do we really get involved with a lot of that high-level research that's going on at our R1 colleges and universities? Community college transportation, uh, transition alignment, and then dual enrollment and work-based learning. And so just some kind of big picture ideas there. All right, and again, just some ideas for those community-based systems that we were talking about earlier. We've given you a couple, you've generated a few. So here are just some other things to possibly think about.

SPEAKER_05 1:55:52

Sometimes you have to get into the mindset, you are there, many of you, of going to where the kids are. Because it's I skipped the question, not because it's not important, but for the sake of just giving us time to talk and to give you some real tangible things you can take home with you about sustainability and sustaining family engagement, sustaining these relationships. I heard many of you say, back when we had. We've worked in this business a long time. We've been in schools, we got there, we arrived, we're here to help. And they would look at us and say, back when we had. You'll get in trouble. I did. You can't say number, order number, person number, our people are not numbers. We understand. I got it. So that was not my rodeo, and we did that one night, and it was wonderful. We had a great time. Have your elementary schools have their literacy nights at your local library. How are you getting into your communities? And there are a thousand ways, and we are going to, as we build this out for you, you're building it out for each other. You are doing important work in our state. You have been for a long time.

SPEAKER_14 1:57:20

Online partners, we apologize. I don't think April can see your posts that you have been diligently reposting to her.

SPEAKER_05 1:57:33

Online partner, what is your question? We'll answer it live.

SPEAKER_14 1:57:36

So I yeah. So if if you will forgive me, I'm gonna go back through and and give some um all right, let's see. Here we go. Um here to answer you, online partner. We're all here for it. All right, so going all the way back, and again, we'll just we're and we're really at the point where it's gonna be kind of open discussion to get us to the end of like actual practice practicing in. So um, I'm just gonna read these, and if we've gone over some of them, we'll just skip through. Would best practice be to have unified literacy goals aligned with school improvement goals? School improvement goals have already been written, but may be may need to be revisited. Um, this question has come up it or a similar one several times, and and just want to reiterate a couple of things.

FAQ Round One On Compliance Details

SPEAKER_14 1:58:30

We do not have, we will not have access to always immediate data at the point that this adoption is due. And um Amy talked about this a little bit before. Where we do have data like screener data, those are in the moment, like those are current and currently um appropriate to use, but we might have to look backwards to more historical information, especially if we're thinking about trends toward where we want to go, trajectories but toward where we want to go. So, yes, ideally, all of your system and school level goals will be aligned. That is a process, right? If your school improvement plans are written today, there's no reason today to change anything, but there is tremendous reason to say, how does this align with my unified literacy plan? And as I develop school improvement goals or modify those goals next year, how is that informed by my district work?

SPEAKER_05 1:59:32

Sure, summary is Georgia milestones is gonna be late this year.

SPEAKER_16 2:00:00

But yes, but like Fran and Stacy said at the beginning, even though this is informed site, and sometimes when you feel like you've hit next, that you've etched it in stone, that these are gonna remain open. And so if you as you get more data and need to make tweaks to those goals, you'll have the ability to do that. And so, and I think that that's especially important during this first round.

SPEAKER_14 2:00:27

Amy, don't put that microphone down. Hold on. All right, next question. I feel like I'm the moderator now for Amy. Amy, will the requirement to use the EIP rubric and literacy screener to determine grade placement for six-year-old students enrolling without kindergarten completion begin for the 26-27 school year?

SPEAKER_16 2:00:45

Yes, that does begin for the 26-27 school year.

SPEAKER_14 2:00:53

Do we need to administer G Kids ELA as well as EMIRA to determine first grade promotion retention?

SPEAKER_16 2:01:00

For students who are enrolled in kindergarten during the 26-27 school year. Yes, you will. So that's one of the rules that was initiated at the June State Board of Education meeting. As you know, for the past, I guess two or three years, districts have been able to waive the ELA portion of G Kids because of universal screening. Now that these first grade readiness procedures are in place, that waiver has to go away. And so districts are going to need to report on the G Kids indicators for ELA, assuming that that bill, that rule passes at the August State Board of Education meeting. That does not mean that you have to use the specific probes that are provided by our assessment division. You have, many of you may use those probes that are provided by our assessment division. Some of you have other ways that you report on those G Kids indicators, and all of that is still in play. And we're going to come out with some language and a guidance document very soon about that because we've gotten a lot of questions about that.

SPEAKER_14 2:02:29

All right, and a couple of questions. I think we've answered what requirements are there for birth to five providers in the law. I see engagement, but what in the law is there to mandate specific actions for decal, etc. There are no specific actions required in the law. Explicit engagement in partnership with birth to five, but there are no specific requirements for what that can or should look like because that has got to be a community-based decision. And then in a small rural school district with few businesses and no daycares, we will have to be very creative engaging our community. Any suggestions, ideas would be appreciated. That's another place where the the Effingham County example from earlier is probably really one of a very appropriate one. It might not be a systems or an agency level engagement. It might be really individually community-oriented in terms of family-oriented, or how do we engage for family literacy development? In a lot of places, um there aren't pediatric care centers where we have a lot of interaction with our pediatric centers with things like small talk or talk with me baby, that might not be necessarily appropriate in small town or but access to those programs and how do we how do we take those systems or those ideas and translate them to places where we do have access? We do have church and religious centers, we do have libraries, we do have lots of very locally driven initiatives. So that would be probably where we might think about looking there.

SPEAKER_05 2:04:03

Other resources that will hopefully are not unfamiliar to you, but just maybe I'm reminding you get Georgia Reading is a powerful resource for community engagement. They piloted this work, they know how to do this work, and they know how to support us in doing this work, and they have partnered, they are huge partners with us to carry this forward as a part of a statewide rollout. Another is our Georgia Reads website, um, and that is listed in your slide deck, Georgia Reads.org. We populate that with resources. We spotlight communities that are doing this work. Another place, and you all know this, this was home, right? With muscle memory, how many get back to school in the fall and you got to log right back into your MAGADO because you got to get back in there. That's also such a hub for you. And part of the reason that as a partner, I have asked them to push out this communication in full force is because it's where you already go. It's where we know you're gonna go, it's where we know you're gonna find it, it's where you're used to finding it, and it makes the most sense. And so you will not lose that flow, that stream is gonna continue to flow with information for you from our DOE partners as well.

SPEAKER_14 2:05:08

All right. This is another question that comes up frequently that is in our frequently asked questions, I think, um, but is not necessarily related to the plan proper, but it is one that is you you've probably

Staffing Models, Funding, And Split Roles

SPEAKER_14 2:05:20

had and will have. If a school is only able to hire a part-time K3 literacy coach at this point, will the school still be able to have the support of RESA Regional Literacy Coach to work with this individual and the RISA regional literacy leadership coach to work with the district and school leaders? These part-time employees are retirees or contracted for 49 to 50, 49 to 51% of the day. They do not have other duties outside of literacy coaching. All right, that last phrase is key. They do not have other responsibilities outside of literacy coaching is critically important. Again, this is about protecting the role of the coach no matter what tier that coach is. So if I'm a school-based literacy coach and the entirety of my responsibility is around literacy coaching, that coach would not be excluded, nor would that district be excluded from literacy leadership support as well. Because literacy leadership is there to support the capacity building of the school and district to fully implement working us out of jobs. Now, think about it, it is our intent to work ourselves out of jobs in this coaching world because what we want to do is build the sustainability and capacity of schools and districts to do the work. So, to the extent that we can support and honor the role of a school-based coach, the answer is yes. Lots of districts are hiring 49%ers to come in and fill these roles. The intent is to support that role. If I am choosing to fund in multiple from multiple pots, and I say 49% or 50% of their time is this, and 50% of their time is this, that is not supporting the integrity of the role. Because we all know that unless it is dedicated fully to that work, the others of those things will start to pull away from that protected role. So the intent is to provide support for those people who are functioning as a full-time coach for whatever amount of time they're there. So if I hire two 49%ers and their sole responsibilities are literacy coaching, yes, they both, they're they're the coach combined, right? All right. Um let's see. Is this presentation recorded? Yes, I believe.

SPEAKER_05 2:08:35

No want me to say it out loud. We don't know. Um, but we will find thank you, and you're welcome, every single one of you. Um on camera, you all we don't know, but we are going to find out, and we're not afraid to say it. We don't know. We're in this work with you. Your question makes perfect sense to me uh as to whether you would write this for three to five years. Obviously, it's reviewed yearly. Let us get clarification, and we'll take that note down and legislative intention on whether this is meant to be re-adopted, re-upped every January. Let us get some clarification for you on that part of why today is gonna make the magic happen. So thank you.

SPEAKER_14 2:09:10

Yes. All right, some other plan specific uh things. We are not sharing the template today. Um, Franz already talked about how that's gonna be shared, that communication plan. But yes, the PDF will be shared when it's ready to be shared. Yes, you will be able to print that. We we can set up in the system that when you complete it, and I think this is help help me remember if you don't with the and we're two weeks out, guys.

SPEAKER_05 2:09:36

Let me give you a small timeline. I won't give you an exact date. We're two weeks out. We're prepping our communication to go out to your superintendents. If you're a superintendent in this room, we're prepping that to go out to you. We want to make sure that we have taken everything we can from this experience with you, gleaned and addressed that, and giving you every resource we know you're gonna need, and we'll wait for you to ask for more. We'll give them to you then. But within the next two weeks, your superintendent will get an email. Superintendents are gonna get an email from me. It's gonna say important, please read, and it is gonna ask you to give me the name of your designee, just like we do with our audits. You're gonna give me that name, you're gonna hand that off because you know that's your walk-in boss who's gonna take care of this for you, like we always do. And that will be our liaison. You will get a link, that liaison, you will get the link to the form. And the reason for that is because you will create your own unique account. We don't want duplicity, duplicate duplication there. Um, at the end, you know, we I normally have to go through and make sure we haven't duplicated multiple accounts. Um, but you will get a link for you to complete this at your district level, a single a singular link for you all. Questions about that?

SPEAKER_14 2:10:50

Yeah. Yeah. All right, so a follow-up question is if uh we're talking about school-based coaches, correct?

unknown 2:11:00

50% S ELC, 50% something else, would they have ever received it for uh RLC?

SPEAKER_14 2:11:09

Okay, and that question we just talked about. So I'm a school-based coach, I'm paid 50% from these funds, 50% from other funds. That is not the intent of that position. So that person as a school-based coach would not receive RLC regional literacy coach support. The district would receive literacy leadership coaching support to create a plan to actually fulfill the intent of that position and have a full time position in place that is exclusively for provision of that. I think your question tied to that to the okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:11:52

All right, back to you. Mine too. Um we so we have a very small school in our district. We only earned, we only got the funding for one. Like the forty or fifty percent, whatever it was. So we paired that. So she has some duties one day a week that's like some teaching duties, and then the literacy coach that she would not receive the so that's an excellent question.

SPEAKER_14 2:12:11

Great question. The answer to that is the opposite. You are funded, your full time is 50% because you have fewer than 200 students in your school. So a full-time coach in that sense, funded position is a half position. So that half position is your full-time position. That is exclusively the answer for a school that is funded at 50%. A school that is funded at 100% should dedicate 100% to the letter of the intent of the law.

SPEAKER_00 2:12:48

So we've got three schools that were had the structured literacy grant for the last three years or last two years plus this coming year for through a three-year total. So we were told that we could split fund those three schools' positions because we weren't getting 100% funding for the people we're actually hiring. So we're offsetting that gap with the the Title I fund. So I'm assuming in that split funding scenario that we would they would still get the support. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_05 2:13:20

It sounds I see Amy shaking her head over there, and it sounds to me like you just described a similar version of what she described, but it might just have some federal dollars attached to it.

SPEAKER_16 2:13:29

Yes, but those people are dedicated school-based literacy coaches, and that's what tri you know that's what triggers that RLC re support.

SPEAKER_14 2:13:40

Not report for C and those are CSI structured literacy coaches, correct? Yeah.

SPEAKER_15 2:13:47

Okay, so how are we funding from my understanding? The funding is 100% salary-based, but all the benefits and all the other additional supplements that are received are not funded. So

Approval Versus Submission And Support Contacts

SPEAKER_15 2:14:00

how are systems actually providing a coach for every school? We've got 25 schools, and really only nine are truly funded by this. So what are what are we doing to actually meet the requirements of this?

SPEAKER_14 2:14:14

So those positions are funded exactly as any other position is fully funded in the QBE formula. So they are subject to the same rules as any other funded position, which is local fair share, but they are also eligible to go into the T and E calculation. So you will receive in your calculation T and E support for that. But in the same way that you fund any other required position, schools shall provide a literacy coach that is school-based to support effective instruction K3 by law. So in the same way that you have to supplement any other position, local funds for that, local fair share funds. Other questions? Wait at the other end. Dr. Dundor's walking across the room.

SPEAKER_00 2:15:17

Um for the structured literacy plan, once we have it in the form, are we gonna be able to download it out of the form into a PDF to where we can put it on a website and share with the board and all that?

SPEAKER_14 2:15:25

Absolutely. So what we'll do is set up the system so that once you hit submit, it will generate a PDF filled in to the email address that's that actually submits it. So we can we can make automate that in the system.

SPEAKER_05 2:15:39

Have a blank one on the front end so that they can see what's going to be required of them to vote on it to approve by January 1.

unknown 2:15:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_14 2:15:48

Other questions? And April, I've I've stopped looking at the chatter. Okay. All right. These are great questions. Um the the same is also just kind of support-wise, and and just want to be really clear. What we're trying to establish right now, again, is the protection of the role as it is defined within the legislation and the integrity of the ability of those coaches to do the work that they have been asked to do with the most support and with the ability to be able to say this is the impact that this has made, because we can say that these were fully funded and supported in this way. It's also really important, and that that whole so these questions are ones that are ones that feed all the way up to when we say at the RESA level, there are 118 funded positions in the same way that we talk about delusion of the position at the school level. It also happens as we go up into these regional and leadership coaches. If a person is funded in a way that splits them off, it makes it more difficult to have a full range of services for that position. So the realities are there will be circumstances during which we have those issues and have to kind of see how to how to mitigate those. The intent is to protect the integrity of the role in order to maximize the impact of those roles. All right. I have the clicker. I do have the clicker.

SPEAKER_05 2:17:34

The last slide really just gives you that information we talked about, and it's in the deck for you as a reference. Um the idea that there it this is not waivable. Um, and that has the language from the law there for you to reference for your boards, for your um district leaders. Uh, and again, um, this is available for you in its full form uh through the QR code in your brochure. Is recorded, is live online, but just gives you those talking points for those folks in your communities who are gonna have questions about this plan. Other online questions and more questions in the room, guys. This last hour is designed literally for you to digest it, at least a bite of it, um, and to kind of discuss with amongst yourselves what it is uh we'll do next. Our last slide, Stacey. I'll grab this if we can advance to that very last one while questions are still coming in, gives you a timeline. Thank you. So just so you see where we are, we signed this was signed May 2026. What date was it the 5th? May 5th, I believe. Would like for you all to take a deep breath, and I'll take one with you. Because we are drinking out of a fire hose, but it sure tastes good. Right? This is good work, it's the work we want to do. Um, you'll hear me talk often about changing adult behaviors. I'm talking about my behavior too. I'm talking about your behaviors. When we left the classroom, we took on another kind of challenge. And even when we want change, it is hard. I put my house up for sale several years ago, was ready to do it, and on the day that we were supposed to close, I said, they can't have it. How many of you have ever had that experience? I'm not giving it to them. I wanted to sell my house and move. I had a grandbaby, and I didn't want to sell my house and move. So we're gonna experience those whiplash of emotions. It's the reality of this work. It's fun. Your faculty meetings are gonna get rowdy for the right reasons. You're welcome. For the right reasons, right? Because it's not if it were easy, we would have already done it.

SPEAKER_14 2:20:04

I was we have a couple of the other questions to address. Um, so this one is from a from a Risa. Districts were informed that they were not required to hire literacy coaches for the 26-27 school year, but would be expected to have coaches in place by the 27-28 school year. However, districts were not aware that opting not to hire coaches this year would also result in the loss of regional coaching support. Is there a waiver or other temporary option that would allow districts to continue receiving regional coaching support during this transition year as they prepare to hire literacy coaches for the 27-28 school year? So, in the question, it sounds as though the decision not to support is a punitive decision. That is not the case. The decision of how to support with the existing resources that we have is for the sole purpose of supporting and protecting the integrity of the coaching role in the same way that we want to protect the integrity of the coaching roles at RESAS. That is a critically important thing that we have to talk about at all levels and kind of keep our heads around. Where there is capacity to support, we will support in the fullest manner possible while we also protect the integrity of the intent of the role of the coach to be fully involved in coaching. If there are circumstances where people are serving in that role, just like we've talked about, and they don't look exactly like we like on paper, they should look, their sole role is to coach and support teachers in instructional practice, that person will be supported either by a regional coach or their district will be supported by a regional literacy leadership coach. Not being served by a regional coach in that circumstance is not exclusively, but is primarily to avoid this thing that can happen. I'm a school or district, I've chosen for whatever reason, good reasons, not to put a coach in place at the school level this year. What cannot happen is that a regional literacy coach who is going to be charged with serving school-based coaches cannot become a school-based coach in lieu of you hiring that school-based coach. And that is the thing that most frequently happens when that position is not filled, and the regional coach becomes that thing. For example, Metro RESA has more elementary schools than can be served with the number of positions that they have within that RESA, at the same ratio that an Oki Fanoki RISA can serve. They are just different. So the best decisions about how to serve those districts will be made as it should and always has at the RESA level, in collaboration with RESA directors and RESA boards of control, so that we make the best possible use and protect the role and integrity of the coaches in whatever position they're in. I said there's not a one-to-one answer. This is how it will look, and this is how many schools a regional coach will support. But a regional literacy leadership coach should be working with a district who hasn't hired this year for a sustainability plan that allows for the hire and potentially starts to build capacity with those folks who might become regional literacy coaches or school-based literacy coaches. So again, it's not a one-to-one decision relative to this is how many service caseloads we'll have for each thing. The same way that it's not any different in a school, if I'm a Carrollton elementary school, I have vastly more teachers than Taulifer elementary school or Taulifer K-12 school. So in that situation, my ratio is going to be different, which is why back to our question earlier, what does that coaching plan look like? The answer to that is different at every school because every school has a different number of teachers, number one, but also has a different level of success and effectiveness in every classroom. So how do I independently judge that for every school? It's impossible. That's why the collaboration and the conversation happens at the place where it needs to happen to make the best decision. At the school level, that is between an RLC and the leadership in that school, supported by district leadership, who is also supported by the regional literacy leadership coach, to make sure that there's alignment within the district. But the conversation about a coaching plan at a school level has to happen where there is absolute understanding of the needs of the school, which should be best answered by school administrators. Does that make sense? Is there a follow-up question? April, are you tracking that in the email? Okay.

SPEAKER_05 2:25:30

I'm going to offer you this because I do want to address the misconception that we're going to be serving fewer children, that fewer children's needs are going to be met. We cannot allow this to turn into a binary conversation where we split the baby. This is not that kind of problem. Are our services going to be redistributed? Yes. And I'd like to ask you a question. And I'd like to ask you actually if you've ever gotten this question. Would you like to round up to help needy children? At the cashier. Would you like to round up to the nearest dollar to help needy children? Tell me about that question. What does it feel like when you get it? Yes, I want to help needy children. Do you always give them the extra help? Don't tell me. You know the answer, so do I. You look down and you go, not today, thank you. Or you go, yes, but I only have you do the thing, you do the thing we do. Yes, we all want to help needy children. So do not let anyone tell you that aligning coaching and professional learning in the state of Georgia is not going to help some needy children. I will not listen to that. I can't. It's not true. It is going to look different, but it is in order to build systems of capacity to help every teacher and to help every child. And I wait, I will get on my soapbox about that. That's a logical fallacy. We're not helping fewer kids. We're building to help all kids.

SPEAKER_14 2:26:56

And yes, in case you wondered, Dr. Dundor is a passionate person about this topic. She can't turn it off.

SPEAKER_15 2:27:02

Can you talk to us a little bit about the coaching models you're going to be using? So, for example, are you using Sweeney as your your mentors? Like what where and uh that's one question. The next question is do y'all have a plan of professional development that y'all will be rolling out through your

Coaching Framework And Statewide Learning Plan

SPEAKER_15 2:27:20

RLCs to kind of dwindle down just so we can kind of get a plan in our head and we're not over planning above you.

SPEAKER_14 2:27:28

Sure. That's a great question. Great question. So so I will say kind of in the easiest, simplest answer that there's a lot of underpinning in terms of not only research and theory, but also practical application. Um, some of that certainly is Sweeney's, some of that is Jim Knight's coaching framework, so then we could go on and on and on. Um, we are being primarily driven by kind of the culmination of that work in our new, in case you don't know, we have them, our new state of Georgia literacy coaching framework, which has standards and competencies that we are framing all of our learning around. And those are those are freely, those are available. We can get you a copy, but those are also the foundation for what the PSC work is now moving forward in task force to create this endorsement for a literacy coach. So there will be ongoing development of systems of support for literacy coaches. Some of that is in development and will be rolled out as it's available. That's one of the things some of our university partners and our new center is working on. We also have PL available through our Cox Campus partnerships, with a they have a new coaching course that's just come out. So there are resources out there that can support kind of in the interim. What we're rolling out this year is a coaching framework and a structure for that framework that can be statewide, state implemented statewide. So my partner in this organizational work is Dr. Nick Fillman at the Department of Education, who's been working with our has been working with our CSI structured literacy coaches. My acronyms are now wearing together running together. So our CSI structured literacy coaches have a framework and a model that they have used in terms of implementation, and it works kind of like this. There is information, content, and knowledge given through PLC. That knowledge, information is taken in by coaches and is made as adapted to the needs of a school. So what it is not is a train the trainer, cookie cutter. Here's this piece of information, now you go train this information, no, you go train this information, and it rolls down cascades like that. What it is though is conversation, deeper understanding. So at the state level, we would work with our RLCs and RLCs to have information shared on an intentional rotating basis. Like one week through a PLC, it will be a content-based thing. Like how do you deepen comprehension needs, da da da. And then that idea or that piece of content will be re-delivered, so to speak, in a mirrored PL that will all that will alternate down. Some weeks it will be a coaching strategy. So we're not just deepening coaching, we're not just deepening content knowledge, we're also deepening strategy-based instructional coaching. So, in that sense, then those RLCs and RLLCs would be supporting that in the next week with their coaches. And so each week it filters down. So there's a very intentional structure, but there is not a magic thing that we're going to hand to coaches and say, go forth and prosper. Here's this thing that will make you the perfect coach ever. It really is iterative and it's need-based. So that as we see, and as in particular Nick sees in his role with the RLCs predominantly, as he sees the need for on-site support, he can then go in to a RISA or at the school level to support the coaching of school-based coaches through the regional coach, or he can spend time with the regional coach in the same way that I will predominantly be coaching the leadership coaches. Does that does that make sense? Does that answer? I don't know, that's not all right. Other questions? Yes. You can tell me, and I'll I'll say it if you want. I'm almost there.

SPEAKER_10 2:31:44

I'm almost there.

SPEAKER_04 2:31:48

So we were just we wanted to ask a question about I know it was two different dates for the unified literacy plan. The January 1st date was the date for approval, and then a submission date is when.

SPEAKER_05 2:32:01

Again, we will we're gonna work with you on that. There is no it's not determined, and here's what I acknowledge. You ready for some more acknowledgements? I acknowledge that January 1st begins the second most exciting season of your life. I acknowledge that you are gonna be gearing up for milestones assessments, and I'm already going to audit you, some of you, during that session in that season. I feel so guilty, I don't even want to make eye contact. Um, but it's auditing the good work that you're doing. I acknowledge all of that. And therefore, the deadline you need to think about today is an approved plan. You're gonna have a document that is going to be a living document, a template you can draft in. And if you would like to call and get feedback on, we would love nothing better than to support you. Okay. You're gonna have a dedicated email, a line in my office with a dedicated person who's gonna be taking your questions. Her name's Amy Lawson. All right, and I'll make sure you have her email information at G-O-E-S. Um, don't don't pin me on that one yet. Just keep emailing go so we're still getting them. Um, so those that is to be determined, and that is I need to assess that. I'm just gonna be vulnerable and honest with you. We need to assess what is appropriate for your timelines because that's a real season for you that we're not in anymore, right? We acknowledge that. And I'm sorry I couldn't give you a more definitive answer.

SPEAKER_14 2:33:26

So another another question has come up about the um the coaching framework and structure, and there are two kind of two two separate questions and answers relative to that answer. So that coaching framework has been shared, and there were four webinars. There was uh one exclusively for RESA directors as the supervisors of those coaches, there was one for superintendents, curriculum directors, and then the the coaches themselves. So that framework has been shared pretty pervasively and is available through is online with DOE. We can get you those, and April, I think it's Dropping that LOR in the chat.

SPEAKER_16 2:34:02

We um we we re-recorded like a clean version for lack of a better word, uh, version of those four webinars. Um we can for sure have those posted in Inspire by Monday or April. Do you already have that from Celeste?

unknown 2:34:20

I'm trying to link into the chat pack.

SPEAKER_16 2:34:24

Okay, okay. But by Monday, we will have the recorded webinar up in Inspire, just waiting on a few last little things to process on that.

SPEAKER_14 2:34:35

And the second part of that question is is the framework available, the coaching competency framework. It is available. It is actually published through the Dill Center and their work. They they were the facilitating group for the creation of those state literacy standards, so it's available there, but I can also get that sent out to our Gill folks and have that sent to everybody. And we can post that in the Inspire resources too.

SPEAKER_05 2:35:00

And I stepped out of the room and asking about some professional learning. So you may have addressed kind of what is coming down the road if you did, Stacey, tell me. But um, in terms of professional learning and coaching models, let me be very clear. We had, and Stacy's referenced, three different ways we were addressing coaching formally, if you will, in our state. You were addressing coaching a thousand different ways in your school systems using all of this research in a variety of ways. And so you get the word systemization. That is, we're trying to systematize this. In doing that, we we followed all of the arrows. We followed the work to lead us into what we can get started with. And let me say that this is an evolutionary work. This you don't have a framework that's finished. I just had a question: where's the framework? Where can we get it? You're living it. It's living. We're getting you through semester one. What is this? What we are calling a framework is an engagement structure. It is an engagement structure with some very strong research-focused opportunities to get you into to build a system. But there are a lot of things that are happening in the background that are different from that. We have standards that the PSC has approved that we've got that are going to lead this endorsement. Those will also lead the development of professional learning in our state that will be to support teachers. Our DOE has professional learning that currently supports you all and supports the work that you're doing. And there will be other entities. There's work at Georgia Southern right now that I mentioned to you those test kitchens, the demonstration sites, I know Stacy's mentioned. None of that legislatively is expected to be in place for you until 2028. We can't let you wait, and they know that. So with their support and their high fives, we're taking you this leg of the journey as we collaboratively with input design what we might call a formalized system of coaching. Again, I'm going to take you back to that timeline, ladies and gentlemen, May 2026. So we couldn't wait to build something. We had to get you ready for school. And thanks to everybody in this room who's been part of that.

SPEAKER_14 2:37:07

And just as a follow-up to that, another question in the chat asked for scope and sequence for this coaching work. So the best scope and sequence that we can provide is the state are the standards and competencies themselves. That is the guidance for what will eventually become the competency-based endorsement for literacy coaching. That is freely available. We're going to make that get that out there in resources and things like that. But in terms of what is being supported at the state level, what is being put in place is a structure, as Fran just said, a structure of communication and a structure through which we can build the capacity of coaching in coordination with the standards and competencies. It is not a train the trainer. It is not a come Monday, you're going to have this and you're going to re-deliver this. Here are all the resources, and then you're going to go and see this thing happen. Because we are in such vastly different places in each school and district across the state. We cannot presume that a one chunk block of PL is going to sufficiently answer the need that we have for coaching. Professional learning is not coaching. And we want to make sure that we support coaching in classrooms in practice, not the re-delivery of information. That is a different thing from what we want to build capacity for in coaches. Other questions? April, do you have anything online? Any other questions? Make sure that's the last is that last. So yes, and. Anything else?

SPEAKER_03 2:40:47

And the answer to that is yes. It may be that they're housed somewhere else too,

Final Questions And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_03 2:41:00

so that they can be assessed. But we will we'll take that question and think about how to make sure we're putting all the resources in one place so that you can easily get to them.

SPEAKER_05 2:41:10

Again, we're GOES is rebranding. We're building out. And our DOE partners, guys, have been the infrastructure for information in this state. It doesn't make sense to recreate that. Will this live other places for you to click? Of course. Your first place should be the place you always go to to get ready with your resources for back to school. And that is an Inspire.

SPEAKER_14 2:41:36

All right. For anyone who doesn't want to ask a question out loud, we encourage you to do that. But if you we'll we'll be around for however long we need to to we'll hang around.

SPEAKER_05 2:41:46

Thank you for hanging with us. I think we broke a record on a Friday. They're outside talking about how cool this was. So thank you all for hanging with us today. We're here to answer questions and more to come. We appreciate what you do.