Last week, we explored accessibility — and what it means to design literacy instruction for the full range of how adolescents actually read. If you missed it, catch up here:
The Future of Adolescent Literacy Is Accessible
This week, we're continuing our deep dive into the Adolescent Literacy Wheel from our Future of Adolescent Literacy Vision Paper with a topic that sits at the center of every good instructional decision — and one that is too often misunderstood, misused, or skipped altogether.
This week, we're talking about evidence-based, data-driven instruction, grounded in insight and recommendations from Mary Schreuder, PhD, Director of Literacy at The Achievement Network (ANet).
The Difference Between Research-Based and Evidence-Based
We use the phrase "research-based" constantly in education. It's on every curriculum brochure, every program pitch, every vendor one-pager. And yet, as Mary explains — research-based and evidence-based are not the same thing. And that distinction matters — especially for our older readers.
Research-based means a program or practice is grounded in existing research — it draws on what the field knows.
Evidence-based means we are also gathering evidence of what is actually working for the specific students in front of us. It means using data — real, ongoing, actionable data — to inform instruction, adjust practice, and measure growth over time.
The difference is the gap between knowing what works in theory and knowing what is working right now, in your classroom, for your students. That gap is where too many older striving readers fall through.
The Overwhelming Landscape of Literacy Curricula
Right now, educators and district leaders are navigating an almost impossible number of literacy programs, curricula, and interventions — all claiming to be research-based, all promising results. It's overwhelming, and without a clear framework for evaluation, schools end up adopting programs that look promising on paper but don't deliver in practice.
Mary helped us build an evidence-based literacy curriculum checklist to help educators cut through the noise. When evaluating any literacy program or curriculum, she recommends asking:
- Does it include embedded assessments and routines that help teachers monitor student progress and adjust instruction?
- Does it build knowledge through sustained engagement with complex texts, while explicitly teaching disciplinary literacy?
- Does it provide clear embedded instructional guidance for multilingual learners and students with learning differences?
- Does it align reading, writing, speaking, and listening to support analysis and discussion of complex texts?
- Is this program grounded in the science of reading?
Assessment Is the Engine of Evidence-Based Instruction
A key piece of gathering evidence is having assessments that actually work — tools that give teachers meaningful, actionable data about their students rather than just a score that sits in a spreadsheet.
For adolescent readers, finding the right assessment has historically been one of the biggest challenges in the field. Most reading assessments were designed for younger students and don't translate well to the secondary level.
That's where tools like the ROAR (Rapid Online Assessment of Reading) and Capti come in.
Learn more about the ROAR: roar.stanford.edu
Learn more about the Capti: https://www.capti.com/capti-site/
ANet has also developed a new comprehension assessment specifically designed for older readers — one that goes beyond decoding and fluency to measure how students are making meaning from complex text.
View ANet's New Comprehension Assessment
Interdisciplinary Literacy: Making Data Everyone's Responsibility
One of the most powerful shifts a school can make is moving from literacy as an ELA responsibility to literacy as a shared responsibility across every content area.
When a science teacher understands what the reading data says about her students — and uses that information to adjust how she presents complex text — that is evidence-based instruction. When a history teacher uses morphology explicitly because the data shows students are struggling with academic vocabulary — that is evidence-based instruction.
Data doesn't belong to the literacy coach. It belongs to everyone who works with students. And when schools build systems that make data accessible, actionable, and shared across disciplines, the results follow.
Keep the Conversation Going
We went deep on all of this in Episode 5 of The Adolescent Literacy Podcast with Dr. Mary Schreuder from The Achievement Network.
In "Good Data, Better Readers," we cover:
- The real difference between research-based and evidence-based practice
- How to evaluate literacy curricula with Dr. Schreuder's evidence-based checklist
- The ROAR and Capti assessments and what meaningful data looks like for older readers
- The Kentucky morphology story — and what school-wide implementation can produce
Want to connect with Dr. Schreuder directly? Reach her at: mschreuder@achievementnetwork.org
The Future of Adolescent Literacy Is Evidence-Based and Data-Driven
Infrastructure gives us the system. Accessibility gives every student a way in. And evidence-based, data-driven instruction gives educators the knowledge to make every moment of literacy instruction count.
When schools stop adopting programs on faith and start building cultures of evidence — when data moves from a compliance exercise to a genuine instructional tool — older striving readers stop falling through the cracks. They get targeted, responsive, effective instruction. Not because their teachers are working harder, but because their schools are working smarter.
The evidence is out there. The tools exist. The question is whether we're willing to use them — consistently, collectively, and with older readers at the center.
Next week, we're continuing the series with a conversation about the piece that makes all of this sustainable: collaboration. We'll be joined by Emily Russin from the HILL for Literacy to explore what it really looks like to make secondary literacy a shared responsibility across schools and districts.
Missed the earlier posts in our series? Catch up below:
Read: The Future of Adolescent Literacy is Infrastructural
Read: The Future of Adolescent Literacy Is Accessible
Follow along each week as we continue our deep dive into theAdolescent Literacy Wheel— one section at a time.