BOSTON, MA – HILL for Literacy (“the HILL”), a leading technology-enabled literacy consultancy in the New England region has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institution for Education Sciences (IES) From Seedlings to Scale grant program which invests in innovative ideas as they grow from seedlings to scalable solutions. HILL Online Advisor represents the first step in the development of the next generation of the HILL’s award-winning HILL Online solution.
HILL Online Advisor, aimed at teachers of grades K-2, is envisioned as an integrated, user-friendly interface supporting teachers in: (a) evaluating students’ current reading abilities; (b) linking student assessment data to instructional recommendations; (c) enabling teacher access to targeted professional learning resources; (d) monitoring student progress and intervention efficacy; and (e) assessing user engagement with recommended practice, as powered by the engagement of educators.
We are honored to receive this funding that recognizes the innovation and dedication of our team.
Darci Burns, Ph.D., Executive Director, HILL for Literacy
Since 2017, the HILL has provided a technology-driven solution designed to enhance services and support in schools. HILL Online Advisor, the next generation solution, is an embedded, year-round support platform offering ongoing professional development and coaching for teachers and administrators. It integrates with daily workflows to inform instructional decisions, foster communication, and drive continuous improvement. The system aligns school-wide and classroom goals, simplifies processes, provides real-time data insights, and adapts to changing school needs, making every aspect of planning, teaching, and reflection a learning opportunity.
HILL Online Advisor enables ongoing, job-embedded learning with real-time alerts, recommendations, microlearning, and seamless communication as part of classroom routines. The platform unifies evidence-based practices, professional learning, instruction, and workflow management, ensuring progress for both teachers and students. The system can flexibly set school-wide expectations, monitor implementation, track learning, and offer timely support; teachers receive actionable insights, resources, and opportunities to identify needs. The system documents the full cycle—from screening to action steps and professional development—ensuring continuity of learning for students.
HILL Online Advisor is in line with the HILL’s mission to ensure every child is a reader. It seeks to address the need for reading instruction grounded in the neuroscience of reading. The HILL’s programs and services are aimed at ensuring the nation’s teachers have professional learning resources that support them in providing evidence-based literacy instruction to students grades PK to 12.
The HILL’s plans call for improvements to the user experience and opportunities for coaching using technology so the HILL’s experts can work with teachers in large and small districts across the country making literacy instruction for effective and reaching teachers at scale. A library of just right/just-in-time, brief, succinct micro-courses will give educators the information and support they need when they need it and have clear applications to everyday instruction. The HILL plans to use AI to achieve these goals with both speed and scale. Additional funding for this project was received from Thomas Ewing and Marilyn London-Ewing..
About HILL For Literacy
HILL for Literacy operates with a mission to create a world where every child is a reader. Since its founding in 2001, the HILL has brought research, experience, and evidence-based practices to schools and teachers across the country. Grounded in the neuroscience of reading, the HILL is dedicated to bringing its clients the best and latest in evidence-based literacy practices. The HILL is an approved professional development provider in several states. Its HILL Online software has received the Brandon Hall Group™ Silver Award. From 2010 to 2019, the HILL collaborated on several IES grants focused on MTSS, special education, and early numeracy skills through the University of Oregon and the University of Connecticut.
About the Institute for Education Sciences
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. It is an independent and non-partisan with a mission to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public. IES supports the development of practical solutions for education from the earliest design stages through pilot studies and rigorous testing at scale. With IES support, researchers are learning what works for improving instruction, student behavior, teacher learning, and school and system organization.
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