When I began my career as a high school language arts teacher, my profound passion for instilling a love of literacy in my students was my driving force. I envisioned a dynamic approach to achieving this, but I soon confronted a daunting reality: I had students before me who were on the cusp of graduation yet could not read, and I found myself unequipped to support them.

Over the past decade, my journey has taken me from working with students ranging from PreK to grade 12 to higher education. Determined never to experience that sense of helplessness again, I actively collaborate with neurologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, speech pathologists, and esteemed researchers across the nation. This collaboration along with advanced studies in Language and Literacy significantly bolstered my knowledge and capacity to provide the most effective evidence-based instruction to all students, subsequently leading me to mentor district staff, school leaders, and teachers throughout the city of Boston.

Throughout my experiences, as a special educator and reading specialist, a salient issue has consistently emerged: the challenge of implementing evidence-based practices in our classrooms. We possess a wealth of knowledge about the four language competencies of reading, writing, speaking, and listening and decades of empirical research across multiple fields has given us a clear understanding of language and literacy development—yet we continue to grapple with the practical application of this knowledge, which results in a proliferation of temporary solutions, systemic shortcomings, and academic underachievement.