What happens when a district empowers its teachers to lead change? In this episode, three educators from Federal Way Public Schools in Washington share how a grassroots effort turned into a systemwide literacy transformation across one of the state’s most diverse districts.

You’ll hear from the district's executive director Erika Rudnicki, former district literacy leader Alyssa Johnson, and secondary ELA leader Tami Smith as they walk us through their bold, teacher-centered approach to improving literacy outcomes—and the real results that followed, including:

• A “middle-out” professional development approach that started with teachers and coaches instead of administrators
  
  
  
  


• Teacher-led transformation sparked by a kindergarten and first grade teacher exploring the science of reading
  
  
  
  


• LETRS training implementation with stipends, accountability emails, and protected learning time
  
  
  
  


• A comprehensive five-year literacy plan addressing curriculum, assessment, schedules, and support structures
  
  
  
  


• Systems change, not just PD, ensuring a holistic approach to districtwide literacy improvement
  
  
  
  


• Early literacy score gains seen even during implementation year, defying typical trends
  
  
  
  


• Voluntary teacher engagement, with hundreds of teachers requesting LETRS by Year 4
  
  
  
  


• Support structures that work, based on the idea that accountability + collaboration = more impactful training

Listen now to learn how this team is redefining literacy success—and how your district can, too.

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