Stronger States, Stronger Outcomes

Scaling Evidence-Based Adolescent Literacy in Ohio and Virginia
Extending literacy improvement into the secondary grades requires coherent policies, strong implementation supports, and sustained investment in educator capacity. Ohio and Virginia will share complementary statewide approaches to strengthening evidence-based literacy instruction for adolescent learners. Ohio will highlight the ReadOhio initiative, including regional literacy specialists, cross-agency partnerships, and professional networks that help translate research into practice. Virginia will describe its policy framework for literacy instruction, screening, intervention, and educator preparation, including its language and literacy screening system for grades 4–8. Participants will learn practical strategies for aligning policy, funding, data, partnerships, and professional learning to build scalable systems that address the complex literacy needs of students in grades 4–12.