Literacy as a Vehicle for Social Justice with Molly Ness, PhD

01/06/21 • 36 min

Molly Ness, PhD, shares her passion and work toward increasing access to literacy opportunities for all children. Dr. Ness shares data and insights about "book deserts," a term describing areas and circumstances in which children lack adequate access to books. She highlights organizations that are tackling social justice and equity issues related to literacy through innovative and grassroots methods. Dr. Ness calls for increased investments and policies toward ending book deserts and supporting school librarians and teachers to provide high quality literacy opportunities and instruction to their students. Committed to cultivating literacy-rich homes and communities, Dr. Ness shares actionable strategies that families can implement immediately with their own children.
Bookmarks and Resources:
Do you want to learn more from this episode? Visit readpodcast.org and the Episode #16 homepage for host Danielle Scorrano's top bookmarks and resources. You can learn more from Dr. Ness on Twitter @drmollyness or on her website, drmollyness.com.
Do you have questions for future topics and speakers? E-mail us at [email protected]
Connect with The Windward Institute on Twitter @TheWindwardInst, Instagram @thewindwardinstitute or Facebook.

Previous Episode

Special Education 101: The Law and Protections for Students with Disabilities

Federal, state, and local education policies establish the rights of students with disabilities. In this episode, The Windward School’s Committee on Special Education liaisons, Peter Beardsley and Lara Damashek, explain the fundamentals and nuances of special education law. They discuss the responsibility of educational teams to ensure that students with disabilities receive equitable, appropriate services. This episode provides READ listeners with a deep dive in the key principles of special education policies and processes and how they impact the rights of students with the most common learning disabilities including dyslexia, speech and language impairment, and ADHD.
Bookmarks and Resources:
Do you want to learn more from the episode? Visit readpodcast.org and the Episode #14 homepage for host Danielle Scorrano's top bookmarks and resources.
Do you have questions for future topics and speakers? E-mail us at [email protected]
Connect with The Windward Institute on Twitter @TheWindwardInst, Instagram @thewindwardinstitute or Facebook.

Next Episode

Science at Scale: Using Research and Social Entrepreneurship to Improve Literacy Outcomes

While the implementation of high quality, research-based literacy instruction benefits all students, schools must consider scalability and sustainability. In this episode, Magdalena Zavalia, co-founder of Intelexia, discusses the successful, scalable implementation of Aprendo Leyendo, a research-based literacy program and professional development methodology based on the PAF Reading Program. Using what she learned about the science of reading as well as her skills and experience in social entrepreneurship, Ms. Zavalia and her team transformed the literacy outcomes for 430 teachers and 10,000 students in 70 schools across the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ms. Zavalia explains how she navigated barriers for scalability including politics, cost, and resources and shares insights about unexpected challenges due to the pandemic. She offers expertise and experience in entrepreneurship and leadership, providing valuable lessons about the possibility, potential, and effectiveness of research-based reading instruction across all schools.
Bookmarks and Resources:
Do you want to learn more from this episode? Visit readpodcast.org and the Episode #17 homepage for host Danielle Scorrano's top bookmarks and resources.
Do you have questions for future topics and speakers? E-mail us at [email protected]
Connect with The Windward Institute on Twitter @TheWindwardInst, Instagram @thewindwardinstitute or Facebook.