Reading Instruction as the Vision: Lessons From Tim Shanahan
- DocHolbrook
- 14 hours ago
- 4 min read
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to hear Tim Shanahan speak at Nassau BOCES. For those unfamiliar with Tim Shanahan, he is one of the country’s leading literacy researchers and a former member of the National Reading Panel. He is widely known for his work on evidence-based reading instruction, complex text, and literacy systems change. He is also the author of Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives, where he challenges the long-held practice of matching students primarily to leveled texts and instead advocates for supported access to grade-level reading. One of the things I didn’t realize before hearing him speak was that he also previously served as the Director of Reading for Chicago Public Schools, overseeing reading instruction for more than 427,000 students in the nation’s third-largest school district.
In that role, he implemented instructional time standards, developed a research-based curriculum framework, and created professional development systems designed to improve teacher practice across the district. His leadership is credited with substantially improving reading achievement. What struck me most, though, was how he described decision-making.
Every major district decision had to come back to one question:
How will this impact reading instruction?
If the district wanted to change transportation schedules, adjust start times, extend lunch periods, or modify recess schedules, the question remained the same. How would those decisions affect students’ opportunity to learn to read?
That mindset has stayed with me because I think one of the biggest misunderstandings about reading is that people often view it as simply a program or service.
You Cannot Create Time Without Intentionally Designing for It
This is where literacy becomes a systems issue, not just a curriculum issue.
Schools often say: “We don’t have enough time.”
But the reality is we are already making decisions about time every single day.
We decide:
how long lunch is
how transitions work
when intervention happens
whether assemblies interrupt instructional blocks
how schedules are built
whether students miss core instruction for support services
how much uninterrupted reading instruction students actually receive
Those are literacy decisions whether we acknowledge them as such or not.
If we know students need more instructional time, then schools have to intentionally design systems that make that possible.
Time Alone is Not Enough
And just as importantly, schools need people who actually know how to teach reading.
Because time alone does not improve reading achievement.
Schedules mean nothing if instructional time is wasted. Intervention blocks mean nothing if the instruction is not responsive to student need. More minutes only matter when students are receiving explicit, targeted teaching from trained educators who understand how reading develops and how to respond when students struggle.
Schools need knowledgeable teachers, interventionists, specialists, and leaders who understand assessment, instruction, language, decoding, fluency, comprehension, and how those pieces work together.
The minutes matter. But what happens during those minutes matters even more.
If Schools Truly Want to Improve, Literacy Has to Lead
One of the things I appreciated most about hearing Shanahan speak was that he approached literacy improvement with both urgency and realism.
All week, I kept coming back to this idea:
If schools truly want to improve outcomes, literacy has to become the priority.
Because so many of the challenges schools face ultimately connect back to reading.
Academic struggles often stem from students not being able to independently access text, vocabulary, directions, background knowledge, or written tasks. But even many behavioral challenges are connected to literacy. Students who cannot access instruction often disengage. Frustration grows. Avoidance grows. Confidence decreases.
When students begin reading successfully, so many other things improve alongside it.
Math improves because students can better access word problems and academic vocabulary. Science improves because students can read informational text and build knowledge. State test scores improve because nearly every assessment depends on reading comprehension. Even behavior often improves because students feel more successful and connected in classrooms.
And yet schools often try to do everything at once.
We are focused on reading and math.
And implementing a new science initiative.
And rolling out a new behavior system.
And bringing in consultants for a new questioning strategy.
And changing grading practices.
And redesigning assessments.
The focus gets blurry.
Attention gets divided. People become overwhelmed.
And when everything becomes the priority, nothing truly is.
That is why I keep thinking about Shanahan’s leadership approach in Chicago. Every major decision came back to one question:
How will this impact reading instruction?
Will this strengthen it?
Protect it?
Increase it?
Support it?
Or will it distract from it?
Those are powerful questions for schools to ask.
Because literacy is not just another initiative competing for attention. It is the foundation that supports almost everything else schools are trying to accomplish.
When schools build strong readers, many other outcomes follow.
Not overnight. Not magically. But systematically.
And maybe that is part of the challenge of school improvement right now. Schools are not failing because they are not trying. They are failing because they are trying to carry too many priorities at once.
But reading is different.
Reading changes access.
Reading changes confidence.
Reading changes opportunity.
And if schools can commit to literacy as the vision, the systems, structures, schedules, and priorities begin to align around what matters most.
Because when children learn to read well, the world opens to them.
That is work worth organizing systems around.
That is work worth protecting time for.
And that is work worth fighting for.
When we know better, we teach better.
See you next Sunday!
