Back to Basics: The Keys to Successful Literacy Instruction
Diana Fedderman, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Palm Beach County School District The role of a school administrator has always been that of a juggler, deftly working to keep multiple balls (literacy, math, science, learning gains) in the air. Now, toss in school security, creating a single point of entry, and managing the fears and expectations of community and parents, and keeping all those balls in the air seems like an even more daunting task. So how do we, as school and district leaders, keep the focus on our central function: teaching and learning? The instructional core is the foundation of the school, and honing in on the literacy core actions as the building blocks is crucial to developing strong readers and writers as well as successful young adults ready for both college career. With ever-changing educational initiatives, one of the few constants is the call of the instructional leader to set the course for academic rigor. Defining what t