From Advocacy to Action: Supporting Literacy in California
Click here to read this blog in Spanish!
This winter, GO Public Schools hosted three impactful workshops as part of our ongoing efforts to support literacy advocacy and empower families, educators, and community leaders with the tools they need to drive meaningful change.
GO launched the series with: “Improving Literacy One District at a Time: Learning from Parent Advocates Across the State.” This workshop brought together families, educators, and community leaders from across the state to explore strategies for literacy advocacy and transforming schools and districts.
The session featured an inspiring panel of parent leaders from Decoding Dyslexia- California, Families in Action (Oakland), Families in Schools (Los Angeles) and Reading for Berkeley. Moderated by members of GO Public Schools West Contra Costa’s Community-Led Committee on Literacy, the discussion spotlighted three critical themes:
- Barriers to Advocacy: Panelists described the systemic challenges they’ve encountered, such as navigating limited resources, addressing inequities for English learners, and holding leaders accountable for implementation after policy wins.
- Strategies for Success: Panelists shared actionable tips, including grassroots organizing, relationship-building with district leaders, and sustaining momentum for long-term advocacy efforts.
- Motivation and Persistence: Acknowledging the emotional toll advocacy can take, panelists offered encouragement to families and parents, emphasizing the importance of finding joy, celebrating small wins, and staying focused on long-term progress.
One workshop participant commented to a panelist, “hearing your story really motivates me to keep moving forward in my daughter’s education.” Multiple people shared that the panel was “inspiring.” Another participant added, “Thank you to all the panelists! And thank you GO Public Schools for putting this on! It was great! Super informative and helpful!!” If you missed the workshop, you can watch the recording (available in English and Spanish) to hear these powerful stories and insights.
In January, GO hosted a two-part workshop on California’s new requirement for K-2 Reading Risk Screeners, which will be implemented statewide starting next school year. This new initiative aims to identify students at risk of reading difficulties early, allowing for timely interventions when they are most effective.
In part one, participants learned about the state’s new mandate and the importance of these screeners in shaping early literacy outcomes. This session highlighted how these tools can provide vital data to support struggling readers before they fall behind and examined both the opportunities and potential challenges districts face in implementation.
In part two, focused on practical steps for schools and districts, including how to select the right screener from the four state-approved screeners: Amira, mCLASS, Multitudes, and ROAR. Districts must select at least one approved screener to use in a public meeting by the end of June 2025. Using the California County Superintendents Association Adoption Toolkit as a guide, the session outlined key considerations for ensuring the process is equitable, especially for English learners, who often face unique challenges in literacy development.
Throughout both sessions, we emphasized the necessity of thoughtfully planning for the needs of English learners in this process from the start, and the importance of partnering with families in all steps of this process– from the planning happening this spring, to screener implementation next fall, and most importantly to meaningfully sharing results with families and collaborating with them to determine next steps for their students.
Workshop participants commented that it was “super informational” and “extremely helpful.” To learn more, you can watch the videos (part 1, part 2), as well as access the workshops’ worksheets with links to additional resources (part 1, part 2). You can also access additional GO literacy resources on our literacy webpage. For more information about the screeners or other literacy topics, contact Molly Moloney.
