Episode 1: Why Adolescent Literacy Can't Wait

Seventy percent of 8th graders in this country are not reading on grade level. It's a statistic that should stop us in our tracks — and yet, for too long, it hasn't.In our inaugural episode, we sit down with adolescent literacy expert Louise Baigelman and middle school educator Shira Engel to tackle one of the most urgent and underserved challenges in education: adolescent literacy. What makes it different from early literacy? Why have older struggling readers been so overlooked? And what does it actually take to change outcomes for a 14-year-old who has spent years feeling like reading just isn't for them?Louise and Shira bring together vision and research in a conversation that is equal parts honest, hopeful, and actionable — exploring what the science tells us, what's working in classrooms right now, and why transforming adolescent literacy requires all of us to think and do things differently.This is where the conversation starts.