Literacy learning does not stop when the school day ends.
Students encounter literacy instruction and learning opportunities across classrooms, tutoring programs, after-school programs, libraries, homes, community organizations and other settings. When those experiences reinforce one another, students have more opportunities to strengthen the skills, knowledge and understanding they develop during core instruction.
Yet, too often, these experiences operate independently. Well-intentioned partners may use different materials, texts, instructional approaches or learning goals, creating disconnected experiences for students. As districts and schools increasingly adopt research-aligned, high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), there is an opportunity to extend that coherence beyond the classroom.
Aligned by Design: Creating Instructionally Coherent Literacy Partnerships Across Communities and Schools defines what instructionally coherent literacy partnerships can look like and provides a framework for designing them. Drawing on research and conversations with more than 30 districts, schools and partner organizations, the report highlights examples of partnerships that connect literacy learning across schools and communities. It also provides district and school leaders with practical steps for launching, strengthening and expanding these partnerships.
Instructionally Coherent Literacy Partnerships
An instructionally coherent literacy partner is an organization or individual that supports student learning in ways that align with research on effective reading instruction and with the materials students experience in core instruction.
The report identifies three strategies for designing effective partnerships:
1. Literacy Strategy
Partnerships should begin by identifying what literacy learning they will reinforce. This may include foundational literacy skills, reading comprehension or both, as well as determining the grade levels and students the partnership will support.
2. Coherence Strategy
Partners should determine how their work will connect to core instruction. This can include using adopted HQIM, aligned lessons and instructional routines, or selecting texts, experiences and activities that connect to the topics students are studying in class.
3. Implementation Strategy
Strong partnerships also require a plan for putting the work into practice and measuring its impact. Training, project management, communication, data sharing and progress monitoring can help partners implement their shared approach effectively.
Five Steps for Building Coherent Literacy Partnerships
The report’s action guide provides district and school leaders with a path for putting these ideas into practice:
- Build your team and define your “why.” Establish shared ownership, goals and communication across district and community partners.
- Deploy quick-launch strategies. Align existing resources, family communications, field trips, library offerings and other experiences with current classroom learning.
- Convert existing partnerships. Review current relationships and identify opportunities to make them more instructionally coherent.
- Expand the partnership portfolio. Identify gaps in student learning or educator capacity and engage new partners who can address those needs.
- Monitor progress and plan for change. Establish milestones, measure impact and continually refine partnerships as student, educator and community needs evolve.
Together, these strategies and actions offer a way for schools and communities to move from disconnected literacy experiences toward a shared vision for learning—extending the impact of strong core instruction and giving students more consistent opportunities to grow as readers and learners, wherever learning takes place.
