The word "ecosystem" might bring to mind images of rainforests and coral reefs, but what does it mean in the context of literacy instruction? When I was fresh out of college and unsure if I wanted to work in education long-term (spoiler: I did), I decided to try my hand at teaching by being a long-term substitute in a third-grade science class. I remember that, when I talked about ecosystems with my students, their eyes would light up as they shared examples from their own lives. From the plants and animals that call Central Park their home to the New York City subway system, my students loved exploring this concept of interconnectedness, of diverse elements working together to create a thriving whole. This functional definition of an ecosystem is crucial when we talk about creating a transformative wraparound culture of literacy support for older striving readers.
Too often, we treat literacy as siloed — disparate strands of skills and the sole responsibility of the ELA teacher rather than a deeply interconnected ecosystem where the parts all dynamically work together. Instead of looking at the feedback loop between intervention and grade-level rigor, our discussions delineate strictly between "core" instruction and "remediation." While these frameworks are an important part of how we think about student support, we risk overlooking the rich, dynamic interplay of factors that truly contribute to a student's literacy development. An ecosystem, on the other hand, recognizes that every element, every educator, every book, and every curriculum plays a vital role.
In a robust literacy ecosystem, every teacher is a teacher of literacy. The science teacher guides students in dissecting complex texts, the history teacher helps them analyze primary sources, the art teacher facilitates visual literacy, and the PE teacher is trained in reading intervention programs (Trust me — that coaching mindset, paired with a strong foundational skills curriculum and engaging books is a winning combination for students who struggle with reading!). Literacy becomes a shared responsibility, fostering a culture where reading, writing, speaking, and listening are valued and practiced across all disciplines.
This comprehensive approach was beautifully articulated in our recent literacy leadership webinar, where school principals emphasized the importance of a collaborative and integrated model. One school leader shared: “If you don't think of [literacy] as an ecosystem, you're not going to make a change. You can't just tweak one part of the ecosystem for the type of intensive support that's needed. We need something that could help us with the full ecosystem.”
A key part of our mission at Storyshares is to support older striving readers with their literacy growth by working within the ecosystems they are part of. Literacy ecosystems extend beyond individual classrooms and even beyond individual schools, districts, and networks. Instead of relying solely on teachers, literacy ecosystems thrive when there are transformative partnerships. When school systems connect with community-based organizations, high-impact tutoring partnerships, and literacy companies, they fill gaps and connect the dots all at once. The idea is to create a "wraparound" support system, much like what we offer in our Elevate package, ensuring that all students have access to the resources and guidance they need to flourish as readers, writers, and thinkers.
Explore the Storyshares wraparound approach to secondary literacy here.