Hardworking teachers, schools, school leaders, and school districts deserve applause every single day. We try to honor educators and their outstanding contributions in as many ways as we can at Amplify—which is why our annual Science of Reading Star Awards is one of our biggest events of the year! We’re currently accepting nominations through Jan. 31. Apply now!

This annual educator awards program is a great opportunity to shine a spotlight on the teachers, administrators, and entire schools working to improve student literacy outcomes in communities across the country—just like 2024 Science of Reading Rookie winner Windber Elementary in Windber, PA.

We hope their positive impact on student learning inspires you in your work—and inspires you to nominate a teacher or school for an award next year!

The challenge: Driving success in early literacy skills

Windber Area School District is a small, rural district in central Pennsylvania. Its preK–5 elementary school is Title One and has just over 620 students, 54% of whom are economically disadvantaged.

The district has been dedicated to helping its diverse student population succeed for years, but getting young learners to excel in literacy has always been a challenge.

That’s why, when Principal Charles Beckley stepped in to lead the way, he adopted a fresh approach to early literacy learning experiences. Principal Beckley has worked in education for a decade, first in North Carolina then at Windber Elementary as classroom teacher, dean of students, and now principal. Under his guidance, Windber’s educators worked together to transform the school’s reading program—and offer inspiration for literacy educators everywhere.

Best practices: Embracing a Science of Reading curriculum

Principal Beckley’s leadership did what truly powerful leadership does: inspire and equip others to lead, too.

First, he and his colleagues had to clarify the why of science-based literacy education. “We had to understand the literacy research and the rationale behind why we needed to make the shift,” he recalls. They collaborated with outside experts to get the information they needed, then they focused on teamwork.

“The original stakeholders who led the push for the Science of Reading, they talked to their colleagues, they collaborated. They were understanding of their teams’ needs and wants. It was a team effort and a team approach,” he says.

They knew they were on the right track when the school board offered their full support, aligning everyone behind their vision for research-based literacy education.

Individual teacher awards: Also deserved!

The most powerful drivers of this change, says Beckley, were the teachers: “Our teachers and coaches had the biggest lift because they had to learn the [CKLA] curriculum.” He affectionately calls them “the neurosurgeons of our school,” and emphasizes their ability to pinpoint areas of need and build the grade-level foundational skills students need most, as well as their readiness to embrace change and dedication to professional growth.

Beckley further emphasized his school’s collective effort, which other districts can look to as a model: “Our community has been on board with this,” he says, “and our students have been great.”

The adoption of Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) was also crucial, providing the teachers with a framework and instructional materials that skillfully combined both skills and content knowledge.

The results have been undeniable. “If you look at our kindergarten,” Beckley says, “at midyear, [we] were 72% on or above benchmark through DIBELS^®.”

Windber’s progress is proof of the power of an evidence-based curriculum that nurtures capable and informed readers—and of a community willing to deliver innovative literacy approaches. Their story is one of commitment to research, dedication to student success, development of shared leadership, and access to the right tools and support.

“We know that we’ve done the best for our kids,” Beckley says. “And that’s the most important thing.”

Inspired? Nominate a teacher, school, or district for an award.

We’re looking for our shining 2025 Science of Reading leaders now! Find the specs, our nomination deadline, and more on our Star Awards page. Nominate a teacher for an award.

Amplify’s Science of Reading: The Podcast won both Silver and the Listeners’ Choice Award in the education category at the 2024 Signal Awards! If you haven’t already, we hope you’ll join those who have helped catapult the podcast to more than six million downloads.

You’re welcome to binge-listen all 29 podcast episodes released in 2024, but here, we’ve selected a few to highlight for you.

The power of the Science of Reading

Some context: As you probably know, the Science of Reading is a much-researched area alongside the science of learning. Applying cognitive, neuroscience, and educational principles, it helps us understand and improve how students acquire and develop reading skills. This knowledge is essential because, while humans typically learn to speak naturally, reading (and writing) require formal instruction. According to the Simple View of Reading, reading comprehension is the product of both decoding and linguistic comprehension. So kids must be taught the relationships between sounds and letters, and how to decode words. Systematic instruction presents these skills in a logical order, explicit instruction goes beyond just “exposing” kids to words and texts, and cumulative instruction builds on skills learned before.

The episodes below are a great start to exploring the fundamentals of evidence-based instruction beginning in early literacy. You’ll hear about the importance of knowledge building, the symbiosis between reading and writing, and the power of multilingual learning, just to name a few topics.

The power of knowledge

Season 8 focuses on why knowledge is so critical for literacy development and how educators can empower students to build it.

• Episode 10: Comprehension is an outcome, with Sharon Vaughn

Many of us (as students and educators) were taught or trained with comprehension framed as a skill. But award-winning researcher and author Sharon Vaughn, Ph.D., says (spoiler!) that comprehension is not a skill to be taught in a vacuum, but rather an outcome—of strong decoding, vocabulary, and background knowledge. “If students can’t read words or don’t know what they mean, emphasizing comprehension is just the wrong priority,” she says. Vaughn stresses the importance of systematically building background knowledge through coherent, high-level informational texts and relevant content lessons, enabling students to connect ideas and deepen understanding. By focusing on these foundational elements, educators can support comprehension and meaningful learning.

Episode 11: Cognitive load theory: Four items at a time, with Greg Ashman, Ph.D.

Drawing from his book A Little Guide for Teachers: Cognitive Load Theory, deputy principal and professor Greg Ashman argues that students need to build a strong foundation of knowledge in order to think and learn effectively. He challenges the idea of leaving students to “figure things out” on their own. “Kids are not little scientists,” he says, and advocates instead for structured instruction to build the schemas necessary for deeper learning.

Ashman also recommends reducing extra cognitive load—distractions that overwhelm working memory—and cautions against overrelying on approaches like “productive failure,” which can frustrate students who happen to lack relevant foundational knowledge. His advice: Use evidence-based methods and prioritize clear, incremental instruction.

The power of evidence-based literacy instruction

Season 9 dives deep into the key principles of and latest developments in the Science of Reading.

Episode 3: Know the non-negotiables in a program aligned to the Science of Reading, with Kari Kurto

Kari Kurto, national Science of Reading project director with the Reading League, discusses the organization’s curriculum evaluation tool designed to assess research-based practices in reading programs. Drawing from her experience teaching students with dyslexia, Kurto emphasizes the necessity of explicit, systematic instruction in phonics and (like Ashman) the importance of reducing extraneous cognitive load.

She says one must-have for any effective, evidence-based curriculum is explicit instruction in phonics through a clear scope and sequence, which ensures that students build foundational skills, such as phonemic awareness, in a systematic way. “No program is perfect, but understanding both its strengths and areas for improvement allows schools to maximize its impact,” she says.

Episode 4: Comprehension is not a skill, with Hugh Catts, Ph.D.

Hugh Catts, like Vaughn, continues to challenge us to rethink reading comprehension. “Comprehension isn’t the purpose of reading,” says Catts, a professor at Florida State University. “The purpose of reading is whatever you’re reading for.” Whether scanning for a fact, grasping the gist, or diving deep into a complex topic, comprehension varies based on the reader’s intent and context. He also urges educators to do what the evidence asserts: Move beyond isolated skill drills to content-rich instruction that builds knowledge and engages students meaningfully. Catts notes that comprehension grows over time, as students develop mental models and apply critical thinking in a variety of reading contexts.

The power of multilingualism

In this special miniseries, our podcast focuses on how the Science of Reading serves multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs).

Episode 1: Language is always an asset, with Kajal Patel Below

Kajal Patel Below, Amplify’s vice president of biliteracy, highlights why language is such a powerful asset, and how multilingualism is not a barrier, but a gift. “Literacy in a new language builds from literacy in the home language,” she says.

But that’s not—yet—the prevailing view. Multilingual and English learners often face challenges like being left out of research or misidentified in assessments. Below also notes schools focus too much on phonics and foundational skills, sometimes overlooking the equally important elements of language comprehension, vocabulary, and speaking skills.

With the number of multilingual learners growing fast in the U.S., Below calls for schools and educators to embrace bilingual education, create stronger resources, and celebrate the unique strengths these students bring to the classroom.

More to explore

• Science of Reading: The Podcast
• Beyond My Years podcast
• Science of Reading
• Science of Reading: A New Teacher’s Guide ebook

Awards for teachers—we should probably give them out every day. We try to honor teachers and their exceptional contributions in as many ways as we can at Amplify. That’s why our annual Science of Reading Star Awards is one of our biggest events of the year!

We’re currently accepting nominations through Jan. 31. Apply now!

This annual award program is a great opportunity for us to shine a spotlight on the classroom teachers, school administrators, and educators who are improving student literacy outcomes in schools and communities across the country—like 2024 Changemaker Award winner Altramez Simone McQuaige. We hope her significant contributions inspire you in your work—and inspire you to nominate a teacher for an award next year!

A leadership role: Experience and experimentation

Altramez Simone McQuaige has spent more than 30 years in education, so it’s probably safe to assume she knows what she’s doing. But she’s not afraid to embrace change, or even take risks. “We didn’t go into this profession to do the same thing every day,” she says.

As supervisor of elementary reading and English language arts at Prince George’s County Public Schools, McQuaige took on the challenge of improving literacy instruction in her district by focusing on the Science of Reading.

Foundational skills: Noticing the problem

Several years ago, McQuaige and her team noticed a specific issue with foundational skills instruction, especially in first and second grades. “We were seeing a population of students that we weren’t seeing progress with consistency,” she says.

Under McQuaige’s leadership, a team of coaches, reading leaders, and administrators met to discuss how to improve their foundational skills instruction and student outcomes, asking themselves questions like: Should they shift their curriculum? Their classroom methods? Their entire literacy approach?

Then the pandemic hit.

Coming together: Exploring a new approach

Despite pandemic disruptions, McQuaige and her team convened and launched a cohort of 240 teachers, central office personnel, and reading leaders to learn more about the Science of Reading.

Openness to change was key. The cohort had to be willing to look at the latest research and see—as McQuaige puts it— that “some of the practices that may have been used from yesteryear were not effective.”

Their decision? Start to shift from a balanced literacy environment to a structured literacy approach involving explicit, systematic teaching of the elements of reading and a strong emphasis on phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies.

Varied stakeholders building energy for change

There was “energy around the shift,” she recalls. The excitement coming from that large team of varied stakeholders helped build further buy-in—and success.

“We wanted to ensure that our reading leaders and our central office personnel with ESOL teachers and special educators had an opportunity to engage in these conversations,” she says. “That led us to have teachers practice or pilot programs before we chose the best products to meet the needs of our teachers.”

“We were building capacity across our district,” she says, “and building leaders and allies to talk about why the shift is necessary, and what they noticed as they started to embed those practices in their instruction.”

Professional development: Continued improvement and support

The result? The district successfully moved to a structured literacy approach in just three years, and improvements in student performance data demonstrate the effectiveness of the changes. “Even those who were once reticent are seeing the shift in their students,” McQuaige says of the teachers around her.

She also acknowledges the essential role of their partners: “Amplify’s support was crucial as we shifted. We know that as you make the shift, it will never be one and done. The continuous learning across our district, using our Amplify team, is invaluable.”

But McQuaige knows that even if the shift in approach is technically complete, she—like her students—must always be learning. “Let’s follow the research,” she says. “I know research is always changing, and that means we’re always changing.”

Here’s your nomination form!

Inspired? We’re looking for our shining 2025 Science of Reading leaders now! Visit our Star Awards page for information like our submission deadline, and nominate a teacher for an award today!