Insights From The Experts
Discover ideas, tips, and techniques to elevate your literacy instruction and learn about the latest research that aligns with innovative instructional strategies. Join us live to engage with speakers during a Q&A session, or watch recorded presentations whenever it suits your schedule.
Join Us Live
What I Got Wrong: 10 Assumptions about Literacy Implementation that Don’t Hold Up
Thursday, May 28, 2026 @ 3:00PM EDT
Grounded in learning science, this webinar with Adrea Truckenmiller, PhD, NCSP of Michigan State University will unpack 10 common misconceptions about how students learn to read, how educators change practice, and what actually leads to sustainable instructional improvement. Attendees will leave with research-informed insights and practical considerations for strengthening literacy implementation in schools and districts.
On-Demand
The HILL’s Literacy Summit During Sundance 2026
Designing for Learning: Empowering Educators, Serving Students
Literacy advocates and leaders discuss the importance of consistent implementation of evidence-based reading instruction, breaking down deficit-based thinking, and working collaboratively across sectors to ensure all students receive high-quality literacy instruction.
Dyslexia: The Sleeping Giant
Delve into ways to better support children with dyslexia, including proactive early identification, better public awareness, and breaking down silos between medical and educational professionals.
Language Is Medicine: Literacy’s Role in Lifelong Health
Explore the critical connection between literacy and health, with a focus on how literacy enables communication, builds community, and supports intergenerational health knowledge transfer.
Language First: The Cognitive Foundation of Reading
Educators and researchers discuss language-first approaches to education, emphasizing the need for language development to be a priority across all educational levels.
Stories That Let Children Lead: Engagement, Choice, and Access
Authors and educators discuss book access and literacy education, covering the crisis of book deserts, digital literacy solutions, the importance of reading aloud, and strategies for building reading motivation.
Framing the Silent Crisis: Documentaries as Catalysts for Literacy Reform
Explore the significant impact of literacy challenges in education and the transformative power of storytelling to drive awareness, change perceptions, and lead to action.
Maintaining Ethical Creativity in an Age of Innovation
An examination of the intersection of AI, educational technology, and literacy, including ethical considerations such as equitable access and preserving creativity and critical thinking.
The Power & Promise: Transforming Learning Science with AI
Learn how AI can transform education by incorporating learning science principles and ensuring AI is implemented ethically and effectively, connecting humans rather than replacing them.
Speaker Series
Dr. Tim Odegard | Middle Tennessee State University
Dr. Megan Gierka | Middle Tennessee State University
Rome Wasn’t Built on a Scope and Sequence
Dr. Odegard and Dr. Gierka examine how learning science grounds effective literacy instruction, why the same activity can support skill development at one phase and quietly undermine it at another, and why it makes everything else hold together.
Dr. Antonio Fierro | The Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz
The Language Laboratory We All Live In: How Language Shapes Learning
Dr. Fierro explores why oral language matters for thinking and learning, and how structured literacy helps educators design classrooms where language grows.
Dr. Deborah K. Reed | Tennessee Reading Research Center
Does Statewide Teacher Training Really Help Kids Read? Insights for Educators.
Dr. Deborah Reid from the Tennessee Reading Research Center presents findings from an independent evaluation of statewide teacher training programs on student reading outcomes.
Dr. Terrie Noland | The Transformative Reading Teacher Group
Dr. Nell Thompson | The Transformative Reading Teacher Group
One System, Two Directions: How Teachers and Leaders Converge for Literacy Impact
Dr. Noland and Dr. Thompson highlight high-leverage, evidence-based moves that leaders and teachers can implement to reduce instructional friction, strengthen coherence, and turn classroom insights into system action.
Dr. Leslie Laud | Releasing Writers (formerly ThinkSRSD)
Rebecca Thompson | Holyoke Public Schools (MA)
Cara Dellaterra | HILL For Literacy
Transforming Writing: A District’s SRSD & MTSS Journey
This webinar presents a comprehensive look at how Holyoke Public Schools has implemented a strategic literacy transformation through partnerships with HILL For Literacy and Releasing Writers.
Dr. Stephanie Stollar | Reading Science Academy
Kari Kurto | The Reading League
Emily Russin | HILL For Literacy
Adolescent Literacy within an MTSS Framework: Strategies to Support Striving Readers
This panel, sponsored by HILL For Literacy and The Reading League-Connecticut, highlights the need for data-driven decision-making and integrated instruction to address literacy challenges in secondary education.
Dr. Rachel Romeo | University of Maryland
The Role of Oral Language in Literacy Development: Evidence from Educational Neuroscience
Dr. Romeo, a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, presents foundational research and practical implications related to the role of oral language in literacy development.
Dr. Rachel Brown-Chidsey | University of Southern Maine
How’s That Working? Selecting & Implementing Effective Tier 1 Core Reading Instruction
Dr. Brown-Chidsey discusses the importance of effective tier one core reading instruction for all students.
Tanya Wright, Ed.M. | Educator and SAG Award Winner
A Fireside Chat
Ms. Wright shares her mission to advance equitable literacy outcomes for children, drawing from her own experiences and discussing the importance of storytelling in education.
Dr. Maryanne Wolf | UCLA
Read, Rave, and Rekindle Joy
Dr. Wolf shares her insights on the importance of fostering a love for reading among children.
Dr. Michael Coyne | NEAG School of Education at UCONN
The Power of Partnership: Working Together to Improve Literacy
Dr. Coyne highlights Connecticut’s successful literacy model, which has evolved over twelve years through collaboration among state departments, educational institutions, and local partners.
Our Own Expertise
Experience our training services through 30-minute expert-led webinars. Topics include:
- Reading and the Brain
- Phonemic Awareness & Phonics
- Highly Effective Vocabulary & Comprehension Strategies
Reading & The Brain
Phonemic Awareness & Phonics
Vocabulary & Comprehension
Work With the HILL
Every HILL solution starts with a conversation so we understand your goals, needs, and budget.