S6 E13: From education outsider to literacy expert with Todd Collins

Todd Collins went from education outsider to literacy expert when he joined his local school board after a career in finance and technology. When Todd saw the literacy assessment number, his data-driven mind said "this isn't good enough" and got to work. Todd went on to organize the California Reading Coalition, a movement of educators, advocates, parents, and policymakers committed to improving reading instruction and outcomes for California's six million students. In this episode, he joins Susan Lambert to discuss what it really takes to make effective change; the importance of clear, ambitious goals and strong leadership in schools; and which numbers within literacy data are most important to focus on.

Show notes: 

• California Reading Coalition 
• California Reading Report Card
• California Reading Coalition on Twitter
• California Reading Coalition on Facebook

Quotes:
“We have to help everybody kind of collectively align our voices and help people who wanna find out more about this, find out more about it.” —Todd Collins

“If the pieces of the system aren't all working together, then you just don't achieve sustained change.” —Todd Collins

“Leaders have a critical function. They communicate to everybody in a state or in an organization what's important. You don't have to tell 'em what to do, but you need to tell 'em what the goal is.” —Todd Collins

“Teachers aren't the problem. Teachers are the solution.” —Todd Collins

“We simply can't call ourselves a great school district unless we get great results for our most challenged and least resourced students.” —Todd Collins

“It's not a new thing to be concerned about the low achievement among low-income students but it's a relatively new thing to do something about it.” —Todd Collins