Home Education Breaking Barriers: Six Teachers Honored for Achieving Dramatic Growth in Students’ Reading

Breaking Barriers: Six Teachers Honored for Achieving Dramatic Growth in Students’ Reading

Breaking Barriers: Six Teachers Honored for Achieving Dramatic Growth in Students’ Reading
ReadTheory, an adaptive reading comprehension platform used by 18 million students in schools worldwide, celebrates the success of their 2023 Teacher of the Year Award winners.

The 2022-2023 school year was challenging for teachers, as students entered classrooms at more varying levels than any other school year. With teacher nominations spanning 31 countries, the six awardees come from different regions with varying specialties, but they have one thing in common - they rose to the occasion and made an incredible impact on student achievement - despite ongoing challenges posed by the pandemic's learning loss.

The 2023 awardees are:

Elementary School Teacher of the Year: Anne Stehly, CA

Middle School Teacher of the Year: Caitlyn Herron, TX

High School Teacher of the Year: Carrie Kirkland, GA

Special Education Teacher of the Year: Kelly Stehlik, IN

ESL Teacher of the Year: Kevin Jordan, CA

International Teacher of the Year: Michael Doherty, Spain

"This year's reading scores fell by the largest margin in over 30 years, but these teachers were determined to make a difference," said Ron Kirschenbaum, Co-Managing Partner at ReadTheory.

Anne Stehly, a 3rd-grade teacher, and awardee from Rio School District in CA, wanted to change the trajectory. While there are many ways to measure students' growth, she started charting her students' Lexile Levels. "My 3rd graders started with a class average of a 275 Lexile Level and we just made our 600 Lexile Level goal on ReadTheory. My students are never discouraged by challenging passages because they've seen so much growth already, they know they will reach their next reading goal," she shares.

With such limited classroom time and learning gaps to fill, teachers had to get creative this year. Carrie Kirkland, the Dougherty County, GA awardee, found it necessary to give each student unique intervention and personalized time. "My students spend 30 minutes, three times a week, practicing on ReadTheory. The fact that the system operates on its own allows me the chance to have 1:1s with them." Kevin Jordan, an awardee from Los Angeles Unified School District in CA, also holds 1:1s with his students and uses data to drive instruction, "ReadTheory allows me to have solid metrics, so when I meet with students, we know where to improve their skills for course completion."

These educators put immense energy, imagination, and effort into their instruction to leave students feeling inspired and transformed. "While ReadTheory is a powerful tool, it is exceptional teachers like Anne, Caitlyn, Carrie, Kelly, Kevin, and Michael who make the real difference in their students' learning," says Josh Capon, Co-Managing partner at ReadTheory. 

About ReadTheory

ReadTheory's adaptive reading comprehension platform is used by 18 million students across the globe and is tailored for each. For more information on ReadTheory, visit www.readtheory.org

Contact Information:
Courtney Gacona Cioci
Head of Marketing
courtney@readtheory.org


Original Source: Breaking Barriers: Six Teachers Honored for Achieving Dramatic Growth in Students' Reading