2022 is around the corner which means that one of our favorite IMSE literacy experts, Amy Gulley, M.Ed Literacy and Curriculum, Certified Academic Language Therapist C.A.L.T and an IDA Certified Dyslexia Specialist, has the opportunity to share her literacy predictions for the year ahead. 

It’s hard to believe that we’re two years into the pandemic and the subsequent degrees of disrupted instruction for students. Remember the incredibly fast pivot to distance learning and the incredible steps that brave and tireless schools around the country took to lessen the learning fallout?  And while teachers and parents went above and beyond to keep children engaged in learning, it seems the great divide among students in terms of engagement, connectivity, and access to proper equipment was exposed in a whole new way for the country to see from the confines of their homes.

With that in mind, here are three predictions that will be front and center in 2022. 

• The research to support this approach to teaching reading and the efficacy of it in application is strong. Schools are realizing that many of their teachers were not taught this approach to instruction. Districts will have the burden to ensure their teachers play catch up.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a heightened awareness of the important role parents play in a child’s education, as well as a heightened awareness to the inequities we face across the nation including access to virtual learning; parental leave to be at home with the kids, time away from a job or jobs with no funding reprieve; and the need for parents to have basic knowledge of what their children are learning in school. 
  • Schools, districts, and states will work to figure out family policy changes to help reduce the inequities in education – especially as it relates to supporting early literacy education and leveling the playing field. 

• Schools will make changes to provide systematic instruction and stem the bleed of learning loss – the gaps will have to be filled from the COVID-19 pandemic; as administrators begin to witness the widening of learning gaps, they will have to assure that teachers are equipped to provide systematic and focused instruction. Many states will receive federal ESSR funds to increase professional development for teachers and help support systematic instruction.

Please connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest to get tips and tricks from your peers and IMSE. Read the IMSE Journal to hear success stories from other schools and districts, and be sure to read the OG Weekly email series for refreshers and tips.