Jefferey Austin Discusses His Unique Role as a State Literacy Consultant: An Interview by Dr. Sam Bommarito
This interview with Jefferey Austin was a real eye-opener for me. Jefferey has a role that is rarely found in the literacy world. He is a reading consultant working for the state, paid to help specific districts. It seems to me that being alone is notable. Many times, when I argue that the local district is best suited to create curricula for the district, I’m told that many states lack the depth of knowledge needed to do so. However, if the state provides expert help, then that is no longer an issue. In addition, his final advice to state legislators is to examine what mandated reading tests require of students (especially high school students), what some programs teach and how they test “reading”. Many programs focus on teaching word lists or very short passages. What Jefferey reports is that when one looks at things like the “Mississippi Miracle”, the fact is that it doesn’t exist. State tests require much more than the tests some programs use to claim miraculous results. His report dovetails completely with what other critics, such as P.L. Thomas and Andy Johnson, have been saying about the so-called Miracles. Before jumping on the bandwagon of adopting narrow-focus approaches, state legislators would do well to have their own experts examine what the state tests require vs. what the so-called miracle programs provide. That issue will be something we will study in future blogs. Now let’s have a look at the interview.
Here are the time-stamped talking points for the interview (They allow you to go to the sections that interest you the most first)
Here is a link to the YouTube Interview:
Final Thoughts
Please listen to the interview from 12:25 to 20:17. It includes this quote:
“What Seidenberg is feeling is what a lot of us are feeling, the research base and the political implementation of the research base are two very different things, and there was something, maybe a few things, that are lost in translation.”
Jefferey went on to talk about lawsuits brought by high school students in Michigan advocating for a guaranteed right to learn. As a result of interviews with high school students and the expert testimony of Elizabeth Bir Moje, the Dean of the Marsal School of Education, a document called The Disciplinary Literacy Essentials was created. Here is a link to a website that provides practical applications of Disciplinary Literacy Essentials. LINK. Please do visit the website. I found it to be exceptionally well thought out and detailed. In my upcoming Keynote at the SoMLA (State of Maryland Literacy Association) conference in Baltimore, Maryland, this week, I’ll use that website as a jumping-off point for an extended, nuanced discussion of the future of literacy instruction in general and, especially, in Secondary Schools.
I think it is time to argue (not debate) the issues around literacy instruction. Perhaps in that kind of nuanced discussion, we’ll find the common ground based on common sense that will finally cut through the Gordian knot of how best to teach literacy.
Dare to Dream.
Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)
Copyright 2026 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization. Copyrighted materials by Jefferey Austin were used with permission.
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