4/16/2024
S2E7 Making Changes to Drive Student Success With Dena Mortensen
“The guiding rule is no parent ever should have to call and say, ‘My child is not getting what they need.”
—Dena Mortensen
55 minutes
“There's nothing that's going to change student achievement more powerfully than the teacher, but it's very difficult for the teacher to do that job if they don't have support from leadership at the top,” Dena Mortensen says in Episode 7 of All For Literacy.
Mortensen sits down with host Dr. Liz Brooke to discuss a boots-on-the-ground perspective of literacy education. An elementary reading and language arts supervisor for Waterbury Public Schools in Waterbury, Connecticut, Mortensen offers listeners a detailed look into how the school district is making changes to improve student literacy rates. Mortensen also discusses her involvement with the documentary “Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars,” directed and produced by All For Literacy Episode 6 guest Harvey Hubbell V.
Mortensen and Brooke explore how to:
Encourage teachers to adopt the use of progress-monitoring data
Make a dedication to evidence front and center
Repurpose balanced literacy and whole language materials
Support teachers as they learn about the science of reading
Make in-classroom coaching accessible to all
Listen to Episode 7 and walk away with actionable steps for creating change across classrooms and districts. Subscribe to All For Literacy today and never miss an episode.
Episode Breakdown
(01:05) – How Mortensen became involved in education
(02:48) – Profile on Waterbury Public Schools
(05:37) – Participating in the documentary “Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars”
(08:00) – Educators as student advocates
(11:52) – Encouraging teachers to adopt the use of progress-monitoring data
(17:35) – Making evidence-backed learning front and center
(28:00) – Repurposing balanced literacy and whole language materials
(31:36) – Highlighting the importance of language and foundational word recognition skills
(37:14) – Key takeaways from the documentary “Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars”
(42:02) – Supporting teachers as they learn about the science of reading
(46:40) – Making in-classroom coaching accessible to all
(50:38) – Hope for the future
About the Guest
Dena Mortensen is the elementary reading and language arts supervisor for Waterbury Public Schools and one of the featured educators in the documentary, “Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars.” After studying education during her undergraduate degree and discovering she felt unprepared for literacy instruction once in the classroom, she enrolled in a Master’s program to become a certified reading specialist.
Mentioned in this Episode
Liz Brooke, Twitter/X @LizCBrooke
Dena Mortensen, Twitter/X @DenaHMortensen
“Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars,” directed by Harvey Hubbell V
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS)
The Simple View of Reading, Reading Rockets
A Cambium Learning® Group Brand
