When Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia set out to tackle persistent challenges in adolescent literacy, district leaders knew surface-level fixes wouldn't cut it. They needed a systemic approach, one that connected district vision to building-level execution and put Structured Literacy into practice across secondary classrooms.
That meant making strategic choices early: defining what success looked like for adolescent readers, aligning professional learning to match, and building a long-term partnership with Lexia® that went far beyond product licenses.
Dr. Michelle Picard, Ed.D., and her team approached implementation issues head-on. They broke down traditional silos between the central office and school buildings. They earned principal buy-in not through mandates, but through consistent partnership, shared resources, and visible progress. And as early results began to show, they leveraged data intentionally to adjust and strengthen their implementation across buildings and divisions.
This case study explores how Loudoun County and Lexia built a partnership grounded in shared accountability, real-time data, and evaluation best practices, creating a feedback loop between classroom instruction, student performance, and professional learning that drives sustainable adolescent literacy gains.
Inside, you'll learn how Loudoun County:
Defined success for adolescent literacy before selecting tools or programs.
Built a district–partner relationship designed around shared values and accountability.
Broke down silos between central office leadership and building-level teams.
Used evaluation and data to make instructional decisions in real time.
Scaled from early adopters to a districtwide model that includes all learners.
Every district faces its own version of this challenge. Loudoun County's story offers a concrete example of what it looks like when planning, partnership, and practice come together successfully.
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