In this special LEAD on READ edition of READ Podcast, Head of The Windward School and Executive Director of The Windward Institute, Jamie Williamson, sits down with former New York City Schools Chancellor Dr. Meisha Porter and Assemblymember Robert Carroll ’04, Windward alumnus and advocate for students with dyslexia. Together, they discuss why literacy must remain at the center of New York City’s educational priorities, especially as new leadership emerges.

From personal stories to policy insights, this powerful conversation highlights the necessity of evidence-based literacy practices, screening for dyslexia, teacher support, and community advocacy, and how all of this can shape a more equitable, literate future for all New York City students and beyond.

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.

In the final episode of this series, we dive into implementation where we bridge research, classroom, and systems. Our experts offer key pillars for supporting teachers and schools bring the evidence on literacy to practice. You will gain

• takeaways from bringing Virginia's universal screening legislation to practice with Carlin Conner, PhD, Senior Research Scientist at Virginia Literacy Partnerships at UVA.
• implications for robustly building teacher knowledge and skills through professional development with Jasmine Rogers, EdD, researcher and professional development expert at DC Reading Clinic.
• a comprehensive synthesis on how to create effective systems for literacy change with Margie Gillis, EdD, founder of Literacy How.

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.

We invite you to share your top bookmarks from this episode by connecting with us on Instagram @thewindwardinstitute, or Facebook. Subscribe to READ's newsletter for access to monthly episodes: Subscribe

Until next time READers!

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 brings the research on reading development into the classroom as we examine effective reading instruction. You will learn about

• evidence-based reading instruction through an integrated lens with Young Suk-Kim, EdD, Professor at UC Irvine.
• a deeper dive into multicomponent instruction with Maryanne Wolf, EdD, Professor-in-Residence and Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at UCLA.
• the implications for interventions for children who continue to have difficulty learning to read with Stephanie Al Otaiba, PhD, Patsy and Ray Caldwell Centennial Chair in Teaching & Learning and Professor at Southern Methodist University
• approaches to empower multilingual and bidialectal learners with Young Suk-Kim, EdD, and Jasmine Rogers, EdD, researcher and professional development expert at DC Reading Clinic.

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.

We invite you to share your top bookmarks from this episode by connecting with us on Instagram @thewindwardinstitute, or Facebook. Subscribe to READ's newsletter for access to monthly episodes: Subscribe

Until next time READers!