our programs

Literacy best practices for teachers & leaders

There is a desperate need for improvement in the reading abilities of children in Shelby County.

Fewer than 1 in 4 of our students are reading on grade level.

According to the 2022-2023 state assessment, 22.1 % of grades 3-12 students within Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) are reading proficiently, while students at Achievement School District (ASD) schools tested at a 8.8% reading proficiency. Of course, early literacy challenges contribute to other factors that deeply and negatively impact a child’s future social and economic opportunities. Almost 85% of teens in the juvenile justice system are functionally illiterate and seven out of 10 adult prisoners in the prison population can’t read above a fourth grade level.

MLI has been established by the Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR) to address these specific needs for the benefit of Memphis teachers, leaders and - ultimately - students.

MTR is a 15-year old institution that recruits, trains and supports high-potential teachers for Shelby County’s historically most underserved schools. Over this time, MTR has trained approximately 700 teachers, 300 of whom are still working as educators within Memphis high-need schools. Regarding program effectiveness, on the annual TN Teacher Prep Report Card published each February by the TN State Board of Education, out of 42 teacher preparation programs in the state with complete results, Memphis Teacher Residency has been among the top two programs on the report card for each of the last five years, as measured by points earned. Annually, notwithstanding Covid, MSCS prepares an evaluation of MTR teachers compared to other non-MTR new hires in the district. Historically, MTR teachers are regularly found to be statistically, significantly more effective than their peer teachers. 

Based on several years of research, The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has sought to understand Tennessee’s most compelling opportunities to improve early literacy and found:

  • The need for a clear, comprehensive vision for strong literacy instruction; 

  • Current teachers and leaders have unfinished learning about literacy instruction; and, 

  • New teachers enter the field underprepared to teach reading

(Renewing Our Pledge, 2021 State of Education in Tennessee Report)

Reading Specialist Certification

A 13-month, 21-credit hour program leads to a TN Department of Education endorsement as a Reading Specialist and provides schools access to high quality literacy instruction for their teachers and leaders. 

MSCS Early Literacy department provided 15 scholarships for the 2022-2023 RSC cohort. We are encouraged by this relationship as it speaks to the goodwill and trust that exists between our two organizations as well as to the potential opportunity for MLI to provide important content knowledge and curriculum internalization within the district. 

School-based Partnerships

Based upon our Literacy Belief Statement, MLI has crafted a school model that is a dynamic synthesis of research and practical, long-standing experience in high-needs school environments.

The MLI model for school-based literacy support strategically identifies four essential elements needed to positively impact student literacy outcomes: teacher content knowledge, literacy curriculum, instructional practices, and school leadership. Our first school partnership was with Capstone Education Group’s new charter school (Cornerstone Prep School, CPS) during the 2022-2023 school year, with kindergarten only, growing to grades K-8 by adding one grade per year. MLI partnered with CPS to implement with fidelity our school literacy model to serve as both a demonstration site of the effectiveness of our model and as a training site for local leaders and teachers. We are continuing our partnership with CPS during the 2023-2024 school year, while also bringing Compass Orange Mound on as a literacy partner school.

Professional Learning

We design and provide professional learning in cohorts made up of partner schools that apply to receive training and consulting in the implementation of the literacy model. Additional professional development and training opportunities will be made available at the teacher, school and district levels.

Launching Fall 2024

Memphis Literacy Conference

An annual conference that provides local and national literacy experts offering sessions aligned to the science of reading and to each of our four components of the MLI school-based literacy model.