Structured Literacy
Connecting Literacy Research to Classroom Practice
Project Overview
This collection demonstrates how structured literacy principles can be translated into practical resources for both educators and developing readers. The work connects teacher professional learning with classroom tools, including decodable texts and interactive fluency practice, to support explicit instruction, purposeful practice, and increasing learner independence.
Understand
What do educators need to understand in order to translate literacy research into effective instruction?
Research on reading development provides an important foundation for literacy instruction, but knowing the research is not the same as knowing how to apply it. Educators must connect evidence-based principles to decisions about what to teach, how to sequence instruction, how to provide practice, and how to respond to individual learner needs.
The design challenge was to make those connections visible and usable—supporting educators in understanding the principles behind structured literacy while also providing practical tools they could adapt for classroom instruction.
Framework Principle
Effective design begins by understanding both the learning need and the context in which new knowledge will be applied.
Evidence
Structured Literacy Professional Learning
This professional learning presentation introduces educators to the research and instructional principles behind structured literacy, providing the foundation for translating evidence-based reading practices into classroom instruction.
Envision
What should effective structured literacy instruction look like in practice?
I envisioned an approach that would help educators move from understanding literacy research to applying it intentionally in classroom instruction. Effective structured literacy needed to be explicit, systematic, cumulative, and responsive to individual learner needs while providing purposeful opportunities for practice and application.
The goal was to translate these principles into practical instructional resources that educators could use to build foundational reading skills while gradually increasing learner independence.
Framework Principle
Effective design begins by defining what successful learning looks like before determining how instruction will support it.
Evidence
Learning Objectives & Session Design
The learning objectives define what educators should know and be able to do by the end of the professional learning experience. They progress from understanding the research behind the Science of Reading to identifying the components of skilled reading and applying research-aligned practices to their own instruction.
Instructional Insight
Clear outcomes establish the destination for learning and guide decisions about content, practice, and assessment.
Design
How did I translate structured literacy research into practical instructional resources?
I designed resources that moved educators from understanding the research to making concrete instructional decisions. Rather than presenting structured literacy as a replacement for everything teachers already knew, I focused on helping them identify where evidence-based practices could strengthen familiar classroom routines.
The resources connected research to practice through explicit examples, models, and tools educators could use in instruction. For example, teachers could see how leveled-text guided reading could incorporate decodable texts aligned to phonics instruction, or how literacy centers could be redesigned to include structured decoding, phoneme awareness, and morphology-based tasks.
Framework Principle
Effective design translates research into purposeful learning experiences and practical tools learners can apply in authentic contexts.
Evidence
Translating Research into Classroom Practice
This performance support connects familiar literacy practices with structured literacy principles, showing educators how existing routines can be adapted to incorporate explicit, systematic instruction without discarding effective classroom practices.
Instructional Insight
Effective professional learning helps educators connect new knowledge to familiar practice and identify concrete changes they can make immediately.
Engage
How did the professional learning experience help educators actively connect research to their own practice?
I designed the professional learning experience to move beyond presenting information. Educators were asked to reflect on their current literacy practices, examine research-based models, discuss how those models connected to their instruction, and consider specific changes they could make in their classrooms.
Reflection and discussion prompts encouraged educators to connect new learning to prior knowledge and classroom experience. Application activities then shifted the focus from understanding structured literacy principles to determining how those principles could inform instructional decisions.
Framework Principle
Learning is strengthened when learners actively connect new knowledge to prior experience, apply ideas, and reflect on their developing understanding.
Evidence
Instructional Insight
Active engagement becomes meaningful when learners do more than interact with content—they connect new knowledge to their existing practice, examine their assumptions, and consider how they will apply what they have learned.
Interactive Exploration: Five Pillars of Reading
Learners explore the five essential components of reading through an interactive Captivate experience, selecting each pillar to reveal supporting information. The interaction allows educators to examine each component individually before connecting the research to their own instructional practice through discussion and reflection.
Assess
How did I determine whether educators could apply structured literacy concepts to instructional decisions?
Assessment focused on application rather than recall alone. Educators responded to questions and scenarios that required them to use literacy models and research-based principles to interpret learner needs and consider appropriate instructional responses.
Knowledge checks provided opportunities to demonstrate understanding of key concepts, while scenario-based questions asked educators to connect those concepts to realistic classroom situations. This made assessment part of the learning process while providing evidence that participants could move from knowing the research to using it.
Framework Principle
Assessment should provide evidence that learners can apply new knowledge in contexts that reflect how they will use it in practice.
Instructional Insight
Assessment can be embedded throughout learning to confirm foundational understanding before learners apply new knowledge in more complex contexts.
Evidence
Knowledge Check: Applying Structured Literacy Concepts
Learners demonstrate understanding by matching statements with the instructional approach they represent. Immediate feedback confirms accurate distinctions and supports the connection between structured, explicit instruction and research-aligned reading practice.
Reflect and Refine
How can reflection help educators refine their instructional practice after the learning experience?
The learning experience concluded by asking educators to reflect on how the research connected to their own instructional practice. Rather than treating the professional learning as a one-time transfer of information, reflection encouraged participants to identify practices they might retain, reconsider, or adjust based on their new understanding of structured literacy.
Reflection prompts throughout the experience also provided opportunities for educators to connect new concepts to prior knowledge and classroom experience. The final reflection shifted the focus toward action by asking participants to identify a practical adjustment they could make to strengthen their reading instruction.
Framework Principle
Reflection turns learning into an iterative process by helping learners use new understanding to refine future decisions and practice.
Instructional Insight
Reflection is most useful when it leads to action—helping learners identify how new understanding can inform what they do next.
Evidence
Reflection Prompts: Connecting Learning to Practice
Reflection prompts were embedded throughout the professional learning experience to help educators connect research to their existing knowledge and classroom practice. The final prompt moves participants from reflection to action by asking them to identify a specific instructional adjustment they could make.
