“It is important for our JPS community to know that we must all work together to help our students improve their literacy skills,” said Dr. Aaron. “My goal is to ensure that everyone understands how students learn literacy, no matter their home language or background, and give staff and families concrete ways to help our students to become better readers and writers.”

Dr. Aaron comes to JPS with a wealth of literacy experience including: working as a K-2 Universal Literacy Reading Coach for the New York City Department of Education, a kindergarten and first grade teacher in New York City and a third grade teacher and K-5 Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach for the Clarke County Schools in Georgia. She has been a testing coordinator for the Learning Disabilities Center at the University of Georgia and a Pre-K to fifth grade special education teacher in North Carolina. Dr. Aaron has been a guest lecturer, presenter and been featured in publications.

The first goal for Dr. Aaron is to ensure that all JPS teachers are being taught the science of reading, which includes five pillars:

¯ Phonological awareness

Bush Elementary School second graders, Alexi Cronin and Sarah Davis, participate in “pair reading” where one student reads while the other listens, and then, they switch. Paired reading helps students work together, encourages cooperation and supports peer-assisted learning. It allows students to take turns reading and provide each other with feedback as a way to monitor comprehension.

¯ Phonics

¯ Fluency

¯ Vocabulary

¯ Reading comprehension

“Scientists have learned in the past 50 years that reading just doesn’t ‘happen.’ Language and speech is natural, but our brains aren’t wired for written language and reading,” said Dr. Aaron. “It is something we must learn. Educators have to create pathways in the brain to help students learn to read. As a teacher, if I don’t have that knowledge, I may fall back on how I was taught (or not taught) to read, or I may suggest an ineffective strategy when they encounter a problem in the text.”

To ensure teachers are best prepared to teach reading and writing they will be participating in professional development through LETRS® (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). LETRS® is based on more than two decades of research and addresses four critical outcomes for effective literacy instruction: understanding the science of reading, converting research to practice, enhancing teacher effectiveness, and transforming instruction. By understanding the “why” behind science and evidence-based research, educators can effectively know how to aid students in learning to read.

JPS is also working on a committee to choose a new literacy curriculum for K-8. Currently, the district has two literacy programs: one for K-2 and one for 3-8. The new curriculum will better connect K-8 learning. The new curriculum will also have explicit phonemic instruction. Phonics links what is already happening in the brain to print and is very important for every child. If a child picks up reading quickly, phonics instruction will help improve spelling. If a child is struggling with reading, phonics builds the pathways necessary for students to learn to read and write.

Dr. Aaron also plans to hold more workshops to help families understand how to help their child to learn how to better read and write. For example, the little things families can do at home that get to the heart of how to improve literacy in their children, such as having conversation with children in English or their home language to build experiences that help make them ready to read. Nursery rhymes, letter word games like “I spy…” or taking pictures during school breaks or weekends and then looking through the photos to tell an oral story about what happened.

“It is important for families to understand that it does not matter what language you have the oral conversation in – it does not have to be English, it can be the home language – as oral language is oral language,” said Dr. Aaron. “The schools will take care of teaching in English. The important thing for families to do is to communicate orally in the home language to build oral language skills. Some parents feel they have to converse only in English for students to get better in English literacy – but just having conversations with your children will build experiences that will benefit them as they learn to read.”