Another year, another successful LitCon! Reading teachers, interventionists, Reading Recovery professionals, and district leaders gathered for a spring weekend in Columbus, Ohio, January 27 -31. After the first in-person Litcon last year since 2020, attendees were excited to reconnect and refresh during over 100 sessions throughout four days of learning.

“Attending LitCon brings a unity and clarity of purpose to the service of teaching and learning to support ALL kids. Sessions are both specific and general. All the presenters I’ve seen are incredibly experienced, well-researched, have a broad perspective, and are beautifully articulate. The keynote speakers deliver! I enter and leave LitCon with an assured tide of community grit and grace – each day a new day for sharing and boosting one another along in the journey of teaching, learning, and literacy.”

Designed for the broader K-8 Literacy community, LitCon sessions are offered in strands of Classroom Literacy (K-2, 3-5, 6-8), Children’s Literature, Leadership in Literacy, Literacy Coaching, and Reading Recovery. Each day, featured sessions spotlighted literacy leaders who are experts in their fields; with many choices, there was something for everyone. Sessions such as Creating Conscious Classrooms: Using Diverse Books for Anti-Racist Teaching with Allison Briceño and Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been?: Prioritizing Teacher Autonomy in the SOR Era with Paul Thomas covered everything from integrating language and literacy with social justice to the importance of prioritizing teacher autonomy. Throughout the day, attendees also attended smaller breakout concurrent sessions of everything from Enhancing Phonemic Awareness and Phonics in the Upper-Grade Levels: Unlocking the Code to Writing Success to The Power of One Conversation: A Guide to Evidence-Based Writing & Student Dialogue for Students in Underserved Communities. “The speakers were excellent,” shared one attendee. “They shared a good mixture of theoretical and practical information.”

“The caliber of the presenters is unmatched.  It is refreshing and encouraging to spend time with like-minded educators when we are bombarded with negative feedback on a daily basis in the media and our schools.”

In between learning, there was plenty of fun! On Saturday, registrants partied the night away at the Big Win: a gala for the Foundation for Struggling Readers featuring music, drinks, games, and several sudden-death Bingo-off competitions. A few lucky attendees walked away with grand prizes, but everyone was a winner partying for a good cause. In between sessions, attendees shopped to their heart’s content at over 50 booths in the Exhibit Hall. They browsed giveaways, books, goodies, educational programs, art, and nonprofits while making new connections and building relationships.

“LitCon is THE conference to attend if you teach reading. The presenters are knowledgeable and engaging. I learn something new in each session.”

Keynote speakers offered a mix of inspiration and practical challenges literacy leaders could apply to their classrooms immediately. To kick off LitCon Saturday night, Shuaib Meacham delivered Literacy, Joy, and Resilience: Hip Hop Literacy, Youth Excellence, and the Power of Hip Hop for Educators. Conferencegoers left his keynote inspired by the boundless potential of hip-hop culture to ignite a passion for learning, fostering resilience and empowerment in students. On Monday, Peter Johnston presented Unshrinking Literacy, Teaching and Learning. Children’s social and emotional development lies squarely in the bailiwick of the language arts and the literate talk within which they are immersed, he shared, and that development, in turn, supports literacy development. Everyone left buzzing from this thought-provoking presentation. Finally, best-selling author Jason Reynolds shared his reflections on integrating characters and stories of difference in his writing in STAMPED: Reflections on Integrating Characters & Stories of Difference. One attendee shared that it was “inspirational, motivating, and encouraging for educators to see the positives and strengths in all kids who have a message to share.”

“It’s simply the best professional development in the nation.  Teachers can immediately implement new skills and strategies gathered at this conference.”

By Tuesday afternoon, the Columbus Convention Center was quiet. LitCon attendees headed home inspired and rejuvenated, ready to apply all they learned to their schools and classrooms. But while LitCon ’24 is over, LitCon ’25 is just around the corner (and you’ll love what’s in store!). As one attendee put it, LitCon is “a place to find “your people”! Knowledge is power, and it’s the place to get the knowledge!”

Just in time for Groundhog Day, history is repeating itself. But for those of you playing along and to refresh education’s collective long-term memory loss, let’s recap:

Established as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, Reading First was conceived as a six-year initiative aimed at fostering reading proficiency among students by the conclusion of the third grade. Six years and six BILLION dollars later, reading achievement moved, well, barely at all. As stated by a summary by the Center for Public Integrity: “An April 2008 study revealed the general ineffectiveness of Reading First and found that students in schools receiving funds for the program had no better reading skills than children in schools that did not.”

Fast forward to this week’s announcement of Ohio’s Approved Curriculum List. The new approved list – now decades later – includes many of the same players from the disastrous boondoggle that was Reading First. Suddenly, it’s deja vu all over again. Talk about ignoring the evidence.

If only humans could learn from past mistakes. If only DeWine had listened to the protests of many literacy researchers and educators before dismantling the ELECTED State School Board and replacing it with his hand-picked Department of Workforce and Education. Now Ohio is stuck with politically-backed toadies with carte blanche to choose one-size-fits-all programs that definitely do not fit all.

Even districts with the highest literacy achievement are being forced to change direction and implement one from the prescribed list. Does it make sense? No. Does it make profits for the prioritized publishers? You bet.

Unsurprisingly, people are angry. Even some Science of Reading activists, those who lobbied for politicians like DeWine to blow up well-rounded literacy instruction in schools, are perplexed at the choices announced. And veteran teachers who have served students through multiple pendulum swings in the Reading Wars can simply shake their heads and sigh, “Here we go again.” Many will choose to leave the profession, yet another devastating blow to public education’s teacher shortage.

Could we be entering the era of “Told ya so?” Probably, but that certainly doesn’t feel like a victory when tens of thousands of children have missed out on well-rounded literacy instruction.

So what’s next? We already know, because history has already told us: The prioritization and over-prescription of phonics will eventually be found – again —to produce better test-takers but worse readers, as is already happening in the U.K. after ten years of mandated structured literacy. People will lament the next generation’s disinterest in reading. People in power will remember why they reverted to Balanced Literacy before, and they’ll spend millions to reinstate it.

Until the next time.

Dr. Billy Molasso is the Executive Director of the not-for-profit Reading Recovery Council of North America.