Partner Highlight
TL;DR
Sterling Literacy Consulting worked with Lake County School District in Leadville, Colorado, on literacy instruction, curriculum implementation, and district planning. The partnership tied teacher professional learning to principal coaching, intervention procedures, and a shared literacy plan.
The goal: help educators and leaders build the skills and systems to carry the work forward.
What did Lake County need help with?
Lake County School District needed support connecting literacy instruction and teacher learning with the systems leaders used to guide literacy work.
The work began with a literacy audit in preschool and grades 7 through 12. Prior to Sterling Literacy Consulting's partnership with the district, the district literacy team completed an internal audit for kindergarten through grade 6. That audit gave the district a starting point for looking at instruction and identifying priorities.
Sterling Literacy Consulting provided foundational professional development aligned with the Science of Reading and evidence-based literacy instruction. It also helped teachers set up ways to collaborate and use assessment information to guide instruction.
How did the work reach Lake County's classrooms?
Sterling Literacy Consulting helped Lake County select new high-quality instructional materials, then supported teachers as they learned to teach with them. Read about implementing a new reading curriculum.
Coaching focused on the intellectual preparation prior to instruction:
- Unit unpacking: looking closely at what the unit asked teachers and students to do.
- Unit planning: Identifying key instructional tasks, aligned with the summative and formative assessment tasks, and identifying key scaffolds and high-leverage instructional practices to support implementation
- Lesson implementation: supporting teachers as they put the materials into use.
Sterling Literacy Consulting also helped the district identify data-collection methods and assessment tools to advance their Multi-Tiered System of Support.
What support did Lake County's principals receive?
Sterling Literacy Consulting coached principals on giving feedback to teachers.
The aim was to strengthen principals' coaching skills so they could support teachers' learning.
This work included helping principals set up professional learning communities where teachers could collaborate and look at data together. The guide to using reading assessment data explains related instructional decisions. The team also worked with leaders on districtwide data trends and how those findings could inform instructional decisions.
How did Lake County develop its reading intervention system?
Sterling Literacy Consulting helped build a districtwide multi-tiered system of supports, with procedures for intervention decisions and progress monitoring.
Intervention checklists and decision trees were meant to clarify which students receive support, when, and why. The work also covered what instruction would look like during intervention and how educators monitor students' progress.
How did the partnership support continued literacy work?
Lake County and Sterling Literacy Consulting developed a literacy plan spanning preschool through grade 12. It gave leaders a document to guide the work going forward.
Near the end of the grant, Sterling Literacy Consulting went back to the original audit tools for follow-up observations, so instruction could be compared over time.
The partnership brought curriculum, instruction, leadership, and intervention into one district literacy effort. Preparing teachers and principals to lead that work is central to Sterling Literacy Consulting's approach.
If your district is weighing similar support, you can explore literacy audits and strategic planning or talk with the Sterling Literacy Consulting team about your literacy priorities.
Frequently asked questions about the Lake County partnership
What literacy support did Sterling Literacy Consulting provide to Lake County?
Sterling Literacy Consulting audited preschool literacy and literacy instruction in grades 7 through 12. The district literacy team had already completed an internal audit for kindergarten through grade 6. Sterling Literacy Consulting also supported foundational professional development, curriculum selection and implementation, teacher coaching, principal coaching and intervention planning. The partnership also included a shared prekindergarten through grade 12 literacy plan.
How were Lake County's principals involved?
Principals received coaching on teacher feedback, professional learning communities and using districtwide data to inform instructional decisions. The aim was to strengthen their ability to support teachers as they put new learning and materials into practice.
How did the partnership support long-term literacy implementation?
Lake County and Sterling Literacy Consulting developed a shared literacy plan and worked on teacher collaboration, principal coaching and intervention procedures. These efforts were intended to help district staff carry the work forward, including through leadership changes.