My Takeaways from LITCON: Insights into the current state of the Literacy World by Dr. Sam Bommarito.

LitCon was amazing this year.  I was pleasantly surprised by the reception I got from some of my followers- thanks to my friends from Chicago for the incredibly kind remarks at the elevator, and to all the folks who attended my session, I think my message was well received. Let’s start with some of the highlights of what I had to say at that session. The complete ppt and supporting handouts can be found in this shareholder LINK. The PDF of the PowerPoint will have live links for all the slides shown in this blog).

One clear message was that RR WORKS!!!! It gets results in weeks, not years.

Another insight is that the amazing results that RR gets in its first year (the only year!), do stick. I detailed Billy Malosso’s report on the misinformation that had been spread about that point and the information showing that the learning does stick.

I also included some Myth-busting slides. Expect to hear much more about those in the coming weeks. During this session, I talked about the need for DIRECTLY TEACHING comprehension strategies and the 30-plus years of research indicated that doing so does improve reading performance significantly :

I was also able to attend Susan Vincent’s session, where she talked about the kinds of student texts found in each of the eras of reading and the kind of decisions teachers can/should make in deciding which of these texts to use and why. She even shared how she guides students in her university classes to make good decisions around those issues. BTW- Susan has agreed to do an interview around that topic- be on the lookout for that!

I also had a chance to hear Dr. George Hruby’s presentation as he talked about various issues including the issue of what we can learn from current brain research. Here’s a teaser- did you know that the pictures of the brain lighting up aren’t direct pictures? Those images are computer-generated and based on the data being collected. Soooo, this picture of the brain lighting up is not an actual picture that was taken directly. It is a computer-generated statistical chart. It is only as valid as the application of the data being collected and the interpretation of that data.

As I watched his presentation, I was left with the impression that in terms of what we know about what the brain is doing during the reading process, indications are that the clinical definition of Dyslexia may be in need of revision.

He also pointed out the major limits and limitations of current research about the brain. “50% of all studies in cognitive neuroscience are reporting false positives.” My take: a lot of the brain research being used as a basis for new legislation around literacy falls into the “not ready for prime time” category.

I was especially intrigued by what he said about mature readers and what the brain does when we look at mature readers.  It’s usually not letter-by-letter sounding.  I concluded that the evidence he presented shows that the brains of mature readers do not “sound out” every word as some SOR advocates claim. Rather they seem to use an additional part of the brain as they read. In the old days, we used to call that using sight words. I don’t want to get this one wrong- so stay tuned- I’ve asked Dr. Hruby to also do an interview and dig deeper into some of the points he covered in his presentation.

So. there was a lot presented and a lot to take away at this year’s LitCon. I’ll be busy with other presentations in the next few weeks.  These include the WSRA Conference, the MHRC Mid-Hudson Reading Conference and the Write to Learn Conference. Each of these conferences has a wide range of speakers with many worthwhile ideas to consider. I hope to see you at one or more of these conferences. BTW I’m using the same share folder for each conference LINK and may be adding additional handouts to them. As I said- Stay Tuned!!! Great interviews coming up, and expect more op-eds about the topic of best practices in literacy and the current rush to legislate based on not being ready for prime-time ideas.  In the meantime, I hope many of you consider the centrist call to use common sense to seek common ground as we continue exploring the best way to teach reading and writing.

Happy Reading and Writing.

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the middle taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2024 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.