About Us
Jenean Bray
Staff Development and
Curriculum Specialist ELA/ELD
Tulare County Office of Education
Readership Co-Lead
Email Jenean
Tammy Milligan
Staff Development and
Curriculum Specialist ELA/ELD
Tulare County Office of Education
Readership Co-Lead
Email Tammy
About Readership
Our Mission Statement
Our mission is to increase reading achievement by cultivating and promoting literacy that engages adolescents to become self-motivated, avid readers and writers influenced and inspired by personal and cultural perspectives through authentic literacy experiences with books.
Image courtesy Alvin Trusty, Flickr, via Creative Commons license.
Outcome Goals
Increase 6th-12th grade students' motivation and joy for reading
Increase literacy scores in participating school as monitored by local data, SBAC and ELPAC data in reading, writing, speaking and listening and the California Spanish Assessment (CSA) as appropriate.
Decrease the percentage of LTEL and at-risk LTEL students in 6-12th grades.
Build an understanding of instruction that supports culturally and linguistically responsive text.
Provide professional development and on-site coaching to county and district/school literacy coaches, lead ELA teachers, and classroom teachers to increase student connection and achievement through literacy.
Empower teachers to deliver strong standards-aligned literacy instruction.
TCOE Curriculum Specialists will build coach and teacher understanding and application of Improvement Science and the use of PDSA cycles to improve student literacy.
Build student knowledge of the world and a sense of significance and belonging through literacy (SEL)
Fully align school and district libraries as a supportive resource for students and teachers in the culture of literacy.
From the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant - Priority 6:
Grades 6-12 programs that build school capacity for effective literacy and comprehensive ELD for English learners, including opportunities to develop biliteracy and primary literacy instruction whenever possible.
Our Basis
State data shows that adolescent students lose ground when it comes literacy achievement as they progress through the secondary grades. Persistent achievement gaps exist in subgroups of English learners and students who are socio-economically disadvantages.
Many rural English learners are categorized as Long Term English Learners (LTEL) starting in 6th grade and continuing through 12th grade. Ever-ELs do not receive the Seal of Biliteracy in high school at the same rate as English Only students. ELs along with secondary students in marginalized groups such as foster youth, homeless and Native American youth often silently struggle to connect to reading and writing; a dire need exists to motivate these students to enjoy reading. Furthermore, schools are not yet fully employing adolescents' assets through making literacy connections and building family and community engagement.
By building on existing knowledge and Readership grant implementation 2019-2021, we were awarded the Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) Grant.