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The Sacramento County READS initiative is a transformative approach to literacy and reading success. The mission is to create a collaborative learning environment based on the science of reading, ensuring that every learner in our community thrives. Through partnerships, innovative programs, and support services, Sacramento County READS is committed to making literacy accessible to all.
Explore our website at
scoe.net/SacramentoCountyReads
and a collection of videos on our
YouTube Channel.
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A Note From . . .
Tami Wilson, Director
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As we enter Spring 2025, I’m excited about the promise universal screening holds for our youngest learners. This proactive approach to ensuring every child learns to read is a significant step forward in education. By identifying early signs of reading difficulties, we can intervene before challenges become barriers to success.
Local education agencies (LEAs) are currently selecting screening tools for K-2 students, set to begin universal screening in the 2025-2026 school year. These tools will help pinpoint students who may need additional support, allowing for timely, targeted interventions.
Universal screening brings several benefits. It ensures no child falls through the cracks and falls behind, promotes equity by addressing challenges early, and encourages collaboration among educators, families, and specialists. By using data to inform instruction, we create a stronger support system for each child, increasing the likelihood of academic success.
In the 2025-2026 school year, this shift promises to improve early literacy outcomes and set all students on a path to becoming confident, capable readers. Together, we can make this vision a reality.
For webinar recordings and resources about Education Code 53008, access the Padlet: Screening for Reading Difficulties Including Risk of Dyslexia.
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Teaching & Learning
Educator Resources
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Is your LEA committed to ensuring all students learn to read? Explore the 10 Maxims: a clear, concise summary of the research on how children learn to read, developed by Dr. Reid Lyon. By increasing understanding and adopting scientifically based reading instruction, together we can address the literacy crisis head-on, reversing historical patterns of inequity and changing lives of millions of children.
Explore Reading Universe where you'll find ready-to-use teaching strategies, in-classroom videos, interviews with teachers and reading experts, and quick, concrete answers to common questions about teaching reading and writing. And it's all free!
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Screening for Risk of Reading Difficulties
Education Code 53008 requires all California local educational agencies (LEAs) to adopt a screening instrument by June 30, 2025, to allow for early identification and intervention of reading difficulties, including dyslexia, for students in kindergarten to grade two. The LEAs select their screening instrument from the approved list by the Reading Difficulties Risk Screener Selection Panel (RDRSSP) appointed by the State Board of Education.
For the list and additional information, visit the California Literacy page and select the “Screening” tab.
For more information, refer to the Frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers regarding the LEA requirements for Screening for Risk of Reading Difficulties.
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Literacy Leadership
Spotlight on San Juan Unified School District
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San Juan Unified School District’s Family and Community Engagement (FACE) team has been working hard to build the capacity of families around literacy to help support their children. Building on their district’s new strategic plan which focuses on engaging students, families and community as valued educational partners, FACE has been collaborating closely with literacy-based community partners, such as the Sacramento Public Library and Scholastic, Inc, as well as district departments, including Professional Learning and Innovation (PLI), to help create opportunities and resources to support literacy education with families and improve student outcomes together.
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This literacy focus and partnership is evident in several of the team’s initiatives, including their Neighborhood Learning Project, FACE Mobile visits, Community Care Hubs, weekly educational workshops, Families Matter conferences, and summer learning enrichment. During Neighborhood Learning Projects, the FACE team brings staff from schools and departments into school neighborhoods to meet families where they’re at, and partner with their local community organizations to offer helpful resources, literacy make-and-take family games, free books, and tips on ways families can support literacy at home.
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Another successful initiative has been this year’s launch of bi-weekly Community Care Hubs across the district, where the FACE team brings their mobile family resource bus: the FACE Mobile, and joins a wide-variety of community partners and district departments to provide additional literacy supports and family resources to all of our students, families, staff and surrounding community.
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Additionally, FACE and PLI partner together to create in-person and virtual literacy workshops, conferences, and events for families and educators to help build knowledge around the importance of a school-home literacy partnership and the ongoing ways to support students’ literacy learning. These innovative and collaborative San Juan Unified initiatives are helping ALL families become literacy leaders!
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This important work wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing collaboration and partnership between the district’s FACE team and PLI team. The bi-weekly collaborative planning meetings the two teams have, help to integrate family engagement and academic learning together serve as an incredibly helpful tool to make these literacy initiatives and school-to-home partnerships thrive.
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Literacy at Home
Activities & Resources
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Sacramento Public Library: Early Learning Bring the Library Home
Looking for ways to support young learners at home? Discover a wealth of online early learning resources, including virtual storytimes, eBooks, videos, and interactive activities designed to help your child build essential literacy skills in a fun and engaging way.
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Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-9
The Institute of Education Sciences Educator’s Practice Guide, Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4-9, provides four high-leverage recommendations that research has demonstrated as strong practices.
For each of the four recommendations, the guide offers information each recommendation, how to incorporate it into instruction, an expert panel’s advice on how to navigate potential obstacles and provides resources and examples.
Recommendation 1 is about building students’ decoding skills so they can read complex multisyllabic words. Learn more on pages 4-11.
As students advance grade levels, the words that appear in the texts become increasingly complex and more difficult to read and understand. SCOE has produced the bookmark below to support the teaching of Recommendation 1.
Routines for Reading & Making Meaning
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Reading Rockets
Discover how to support your child’s growth as a young reader and writer. Here you’ll find a reading guide for families, bilingual parent tips, ideas for building your child’s knowledge about the world, Q&A with experts, guidance on how to help a child who struggles, and ways to connect with schools.
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Community Partners
Connecting & Engaging
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Summer Social in the Park
Saturday, June 7, 2025
10am-3pm at Hagan Community Park
2197 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova CA 95670
The Third District PTA is proud to support PTA units across more than 140 schools and representing over 10,000 members in Sacramento, El Dorado, Yolo, Placer, Sutter, Colusa, Yuba, and Nevada counties. The Summer Social in the Park event will be an opportunity for community organizations to engage directly with PTA unit leaders and to meet trusted community partners in support of their school communities. Local community leaders, including school superintendents, board members, state leaders and all others are invited.
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Community of Practice: Partner Village
The Power of Partnership: Engaging Families and Communities to Enhance Literacy Outcomes
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On March 27th, 2025, we proudly celebrated a successful and impactful gathering during the years' fourth Community of Practice event, where we had the privilege of connecting with our incredible community partners.
The event was kicked-off with a keynote by Dr. Terica Butler that emphasized the transformative role family and community engagement plays in supporting students' academic growth and overall well-being. Through her insights, attendees gained a deeper understanding of how families can sustain positive educational outcomes, inside and out of the home.
We featured inspiring stories of successful partnerships between Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and community organizations, showcasing how these connections are advancing literacy efforts. This event was made even more special by the presence of 17 outstanding organizations who hosted information tables, further reinforcing our shared commitment to enhancing literacy outcomes across the greater Sacramento area.
We are deeply grateful to collaborate with a community that values outreach and provides critical solutions to support youth literacy. Together, we are shaping the future of education and academic success for our young learners.
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On April 1st, 2025, we hosted a memorable evening at The Sophia, Home of the B Street Theatre, for a screening of Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars by Harvey Hubbell V. This thought-provoking film explores the challenges and strategies behind the ongoing "reading wars" in America and highlights innovative solutions for improving literacy outcomes for students.
The event began with networking and hors d'oeuvres, creating a welcoming atmosphere for guests to connect for the evening. Superintendent Dave Gordon and Assistant Superintendent Channa Pitt kicked off the program with an impactful introduction, highlighting the importance of this Sacramento County board initiative and its role in advancing literacy efforts across the region. Their words reinforced our shared commitment to improving reading outcomes for students.
It was a truly inspiring evening, and we look forward to continuing the conversation and working together to make a lasting impact on literacy in our community.
| Channa Pitt, Ph.D. Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services | Dave Gordon, Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools |
| Professional Learning Opportunities | | |
Date: June 17, 2025, from
Time: 8:30 am - 3:30 pm
Audience: Open to all
The Sacramento County Office of Education and Napa County Office of Education are pleased to announce the virtual California Literacy Conference: Everyone Has the Right to Read! This free conference is sponsored by the California Department of Education through the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Educator Training (LCRSET)
grant program.
Join teachers, administrators, district and site colleagues, as well as other partners, as we learn about evidence-based practices in literacy.
The California Literacy Conference will kick off with a keynote by Kristen Wynn and offer over 50 sessions on literacy, with topics on multilingual learners, MTSS, special education, adolescent literacy, assessment, inclusive practices, literacy leadership, and literacy coaching. All this and more! We hope to see you there!
This event is free of charge. Registration is required, and space is limited.
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Joyful Literacy STATEWIDE Institute to be Held June 16-18, 2025 at SCOE
Join us for the Joyful Literacy Statewide institute at the SCOE Conference Center. Participants will engage with the Joyful Literacy Program to support interactive read alouds using culturally affirming storybooks, oral language development, social-emotional growth, and creative expression through play, writing and the arts in early learning settings. District teams of teachers and administrators are encouraged. All participants receive free children’s books and book kits. Breakfast and lunch are included with registration.
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