Making high-quality text free and accessible, with Susanne Nobles
In this episode, Susan Lambert chats with ReadWorks Chief Academic Officer Susanne Nobles, Ph.D., to explore her organization’s mission of making high-quality texts free and accessible to all. Together, they discuss ReadWorks’ Article-A-Day program, which offers articles to build students’ knowledge and vocabulary while supporting teachers with resources that promote topical coherence. Susanne shares insights into why text quality matters, including that kids know when text isn’t worth their time and attention. She also details how ReadWorks ensures the quality of their materials, describes the Spanish-English texts they’ve introduced to support multilingual/English learners, and offers advice for listeners thinking about text quality and cohesion.
Meet our guest(s):
Susanne Nobles, Ph.D.
Susanne Nobles, Ph.D., has spent her career working to empower educators and students with research, structures, and tools for meaningful and effective learning. She is currently Chief Academic Officer at ReadWorks, an educational technology nonprofit, where she oversees research, pedagogy, and product. Before joining ReadWorks, she led the Digital Promise’s collaborative work with developers, researchers, and educators for the Learner Variability Project. Susanne is also an adjunct instructor at American University’s School of Education and Relay Graduate School of Education. She was a K–12 teacher and administrator for over 20 years, and her doctoral research focused on creating effective digital communities of practice to support student writing.
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. Throughout her career, she has focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Lambert 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, Lambert explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. As a former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, Lambert 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.
