Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works

Summary
What does effective literacy intervention look like for students in middle and high school? Faith Howard returns to Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works to explain how she built Literacy Lab, a 6–12 intervention model that combines the science of reading with age-appropriate, grade-level texts.
Faith shares how a glorified study hall became a focused literacy intervention, why secondary educators need practical support in teaching foundational reading skills, and how schools can build sustainable literacy capacity instead of depending on one-time professional development. She also explains why teachers—not computer programs—teach kids, and how decoding, morphology, vocabulary, and rich novels can work together for adolescent readers.
Faith Howard is an adolescent-literacy leader and educational consultant with 17 years of experience in education. She has taught middle and high school English language arts, coached ELA and social studies teachers, served as a director of curriculum and instruction, and worked as a literacy specialist.
Chapters
00:00 — Meet Faith Howard and the case for adolescent literacy
01:48 — Why the original intervention model was not working
03:50 — Faith’s self-study in the science of reading
05:02 — Building Literacy Lab with foundational skills and grade-level texts
05:58 — Why teachers teach kids, not programs
08:11 — Making structured literacy meaningful for teenagers
10:39 — What “teen-friendly” literacy intervention really means
12:40 — Decoding, morphology, vocabulary, and complex texts
14:04 — What secondary teachers need from literacy support
17:27 — Demystifying the science of reading through modeling
21:11 — A sustainable sequence for schoolwide literacy improvement
24:16 — From professional development to practice and follow-through
44:49 — Building local capacity and letting the work speak for itself
46:36 — Gene’s closing message
Show Notes
Faith’s work focuses on students who have been overlooked or left behind by unsuccessful literacy interventions. Literacy Lab brings explicit foundational-skills instruction into a teen-friendly setting, pairing work with multisyllabic words, morphology, decoding, and vocabulary with thought-provoking, grade-level books.
In this conversation, Faith and Gene discuss:
How students can be misidentified for intervention when schools do not examine the root causes of academic difficulty
Why secondary teachers are often expected to address reading gaps without having been trained to teach reading
The limits of relying on computer-based programs without an in-person connection
How to adapt foundational reading routines for older students without giving them childish content
Why adolescents need both explicit instruction and meaningful, challenging texts
How Faith supports districts through modeling, planning, coaching, and follow-through
Why lasting change requires school leaders and teachers to build capacity together
Learn more about Faith Howard and Literacy Lab:
Website: literacylabwithfaith.com
Facebook: Literacy Lab with Faith
Substack: litlabwithfaith.substack.com
YouTube: Science of Reading Classroom
Email: literacylabwithfaith@gmail.com
Faith also highlights the Wyoming Science of Teaching and Learning Collaborative Conference, taking place October 10 in Cody, Wyoming.
Better Teaching is hosted by Gene Tavernetti. Find more practical conversations about teaching and learning at tesscg.com.

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.

Summary
What should every new teacher know before they are asked to improvise, differentiate, or innovate? Gene Tavernetti argues that one of the most important foundations is fluency in explicit instruction—not just hearing about it in professional development, but learning to design it, deliver it, practice it, and receive feedback until the work becomes automatic.
Gene explains why that fluency matters in real classrooms: it reduces the number of decisions teachers have to make, gives them a reliable baseline for accommodations and modifications, helps schools eliminate instructional variables before moving students into intervention, sharpens their ability to evaluate purchased or AI-generated materials, and creates a common language for collaboration. The goal is not to make every lesson look the same; it is to give teachers a strong instructional foundation from which they can adapt intelligently.
Chapters
0:00 — Better Teaching introduction
0:41 — What new teachers need to know
1:52 — Why training and coaching matter
3:10 — Reason 1: Build fluency and automaticity
5:19 — Reason 2: Create a baseline for accommodations
6:22 — Reason 3: Eliminate instructional variables
8:02 — Reason 4: Evaluate curriculum and AI-generated lessons
10:08 — Reason 5: Build a common professional language
12:31 — Explicit instruction is a foundation, not a restriction
14:55 — Better Teaching outro
Show Notes
Gene Tavernetti helps educators strengthen explicit instruction, lesson design, and instructional coaching.
Gene’s website: tesscg.com
Gene’s books include Teach Fast, Focus, Adaptable Structured Teaching and Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles.
Follow Gene on Bluesky and X: @gtavernetti

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.

Summary

Glenn Whitman is a distinguished educator who has worked with schools around the world to support schools and teachers bringing evidence practices to their classrooms.

In this episode Glenn talks about his own school’s journey to becoming an evidence-based teaching institution, his continued role in that journey, and how his school supports schools around the world who also want to become evidence-based through The Center for Transformative Teaching.

Episode Links

Website: Home - The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning
Glenn's Email: gwhitman@saes.org

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.

Summary
Kate Meyers and Nicole Davis, AKA Two Maine Teachers and authors the EduProtocol Field Guide: AI Literacy Edition, discuss AI, AI in schools, AI for teachers, and AI for literacy for students.
Show Notes
LinkedIn: two-maine-teachers
Facebook: Facebook
Website: twomaineteachers.com
Book: The EduProtocol Field Guide AI Literacy Edition

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.

In this episode, I talk about how to get a faster and more effective start to coaching this year. 

This podcast sponsored by:
The Bell Ringer, a weekly newsletter providing news, tools, and resources on the science of learning, written by education reporter Holly Korbey. Subscribe here.