Fall 2025 Series: Universal Literacy Screening for Every Reader

The Windward Institute invites all new and returning READ listeners for a five-part Fall 2025 series, What We all Can Learn about Reading, Together. This series brings together 20 guests including researchers and educators. We’ll dive into reading research, practice, and lived experience. This series is for everyone, whether you’re just starting to learn about reading education or you’ve been immersed in it for years.

This episode explains the research on universal screening for risks of reading difficulties. As states around the country continue to introduce universal literacy screening programs in schools, you will learn about the evidence supporting the rationale and benefits through a public health lens. In this episode, you will learn about

• a definition of universal literacy screening and its benefits on student outcomes with Jay Russell, EdD, Associate Director of the Haskins Global Literacy Hub at Yale University.
• the characteristics of effective literacy screeners with Marilu Gorno-Tempini, MD, PhD, Director of the Language Neurobiology laboratory of the UCSF Memory and Aging Center and the UCSF Dyslexia Center.
• the role of screening and progress monitoring within coherent assessment and data systems with Jamie Williamson, EdS, Head of School at The Windward School and Executive Director of The Windward Institute.
• the research on screening for emergent bilingual students learning to read in English with Laura Rhinehart, PhD, Assistant Researcher at the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at UCLA.
• implications for translating screening policy into practice with Carlin Conner, PhD, Senior Research Scientist at Virginia Literacy Partnerships at UVA.

Thank you for joining our special READ Podcast series: What We All Can Learn About Reading, Together. You can also tune into this series at The Windward Institute's YouTube page.

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Until next time READers!