AWSP Blog

In addition to all the work of running a school building, school administrators must also take on the role of instructional leader, supporting and coaching teachers, and communicating with families about their children’s learning in meaningful, accessible ways. As school and district leaders across the country begin navigating the challenging yet necessary shift to science of reading-based instruction, they have more on their plates than ever. Fortunately, the science of reading can help Washington administrators engage in these conversations with specific knowledge drawn from rigorous research. Lexia® is eager to support school leaders in sharing information in open, clear, and critically reflective ways that help them push their schools and districts toward meaningful change.

Kimberley Astle, Associate Director of Elementary Science at OSPI, is currently collecting examples of elementary (K-5) instructional schedules at the classroom, school, and district level that include time allocated for science learning. The goal is to understand how teachers, schools, and districts are finding successful ways to organize instructional minutes so that elementary students are provided with the learning time they need for a quality science education.

Science says that COVID19 cases are on the rise and spiking across the country. Science also says we should go back into lockdowns and social isolation. Science also says we are close to the release of a new vaccine that might finally bring us some relief. That same science says that we should get kids back in school as soon as humanly possible. But doesn’t that sound like conflicting science? Well, it’s not. After countless studies conducted throughout the country studying COVID cases, transmission rates, and symptoms among youth, on top of safe procedures for reopening our schools, the evidence seems to be overwhelming that we need to get our students out of isolation and back into our schools. Schools, like always, are proving to be one the safest places for our kids.