Linda Farrell
Linda Farrell, MBA, M.Ed., is a founding partner at Readsters in Alexandria, Virginia. She works with schools to help design and implement effective reading instruction in all grades. — Linda was an English teacher in the late 1970s. However, it wasn’t until 15 years later that she learned to teach struggling readers. That happened when she was an investment banker and volunteered to teach adults to read. Through her experiences teaching adults to read, Linda realized that most older struggling readers need explicit phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary instruction at the most basic levels. In 2000 she left investment banking to pursue her mission, which is for all children to learn to read in the early grades. — Linda was one of the original National LETRS Trainers for 7 years. Linda co-authored several publications, including Phonics Plug-In, Practice Packets for Reading Confusions, Phonics Blitz and Boost, the Diagnostic Decoding Surveys, Teaching Reading Essentials Program Guide, and Coach’s Guide (coauthored with Dr. Louisa Moats), and DIBELS: the Practical Manual. — Over the past few years, Linda has spent part of her time working in Africa designing and writing materials to teach children in rural Africa how to read in seven languages she doesn’t even speak!
Concurrent Session Description
Evaluating Curricula for Foundational Skills Instruction Based on the Science of Reading
Linda Farrell
(Components of Literacy Instruction, Curriculum, General Science of Reading)
Evaluating curricula can be daunting, whether evaluating a curriculum currently in use or evaluating curricula for adoption. The session starts with a discussion of the Simple View of Reading (SVR) because the SVR should be the framework for evaluating any curriculum, especially its approach to intervention for students who struggle with accurate and automatic decoding. The session focuses on evaluating foundational skills instruction in light of what we know from the Science of Reading (SoR). You will learn what the SoR tells us about effective foundational skills instruction and specific items to look for to ensure a curriculum is based on the SoR for foundational skills instruction. We will present suggested literacy block components and time allocations for each component across grades K-4 based on the SoR. We will also present a framework for effective intervention instruction for students who struggle with foundational skills.
Target Audience(s): Elementary
Education Track(s): New to the Science of Reading, Advanced Science of Reading