Strong language and literacy skills provide the foundation for all learning. Ensuring Ohio educators are equipped to deliver high-quality language and literacy instruction for all students, including struggling readers and those with disabilities and learning difficulties, is imperative. Recognizing and responding to the need to improve literacy outcomes for all learners in Ohio, the Ohio Deans Compact, in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, established the P20 Literacy Collaborative.
The P20 Literacy Collaborative serves as a peer-to-peer learning group or community of practice, to support authentic, meaningful, and sustainable university-school district partnerships to strengthen core reading course content offered through Ohio institutions of higher education.
In Ohio, there is a critical shortage of educators who are adequately prepared and trained to support students with low incidence sensory impairments. The shortages are even greater in hard-to-staff areas, specifically in rural and more remote communities. To help address these shortages, the Compact and its partners are exploring, investing in, and supporting important work, including:
The Compact supports the development of authentic higher education – school district partnerships that employ innovative strategies for recruiting and retaining educators in difficult-to-staff areas (e.g., special education) using a Grow Your Own (GYO) model. GYO models help schools and districts cultivate educators from within their communities, providing clear pathways to licensure, hands-on training, and academic support; and strengthening retention and workforce sustainability. District/school – higher education partnerships help to align teacher preparation with classroom realities, ensuring candidates are learner-ready from day one. The Compact also supports efforts to ensure that every student is workforce ready by advancing meaningful postsecondary options and partnerships.
The use of explicit instruction and effective strategies, such as high-dosage tutoring in reading and mathematics, increases teacher capacity to accelerate learning for each child. To support teacher and teacher team knowledge and application of foundational skills using evidence-based practices, the Compact provides a forum for individual and collective learning through participation in high-quality professional learning grounded in reading science, high-leverage instructional practices, and more.
Ohio’s central goal is an annual increase in the percentage of high school graduates who, one year after graduation are enrolled and succeeding in postsecondary learning experiences, serving in a military branch, earning a living wage, or engaged in a meaningful, self-sustaining vocation. Leveraging our existing partnerships with institutions of higher education, school districts, and other community partners, the Compact works to develop and implement innovative and sustainable improvements across the P20 continuum to advance postsecondary learning experiences, successful employment, and independent living for all students.
