Season 6, Episode 13

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 numbers, 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.

Meet our guest(s):

Todd Collins

Todd Collins is an organizer of the California Reading Coalition, a movement of educators, advocates, parents, and policymakers committed to improving school instruction and outcomes for California’s six million students. He is also a school board member in Palo Alto, California. After a career in technology and finance, his primary focus is on supporting and improving California public education.

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Meet our host, Susan Lambert

Susan Lambert is the Chief Academic Officer of Elementary Humanities at Amplify, and the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Her career has been focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Susan is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.

As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. As a former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, Susan is dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.

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

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