Suellen Piercey, a K–6 literacy coach who serves schools across St. Lawrence and Lewis counties in upstate New York, joins Rose Else-Mitchell to talk about how the reading experiences with her daughter changed the way she understood reading instruction. After more than 35 years working with students with reading challenges across a range of educational settings, Suellen had long considered herself a reading specialist. But when her daughter struggled to learn to read, she began looking for answers that challenged her day to day work and her career.

In an effort to get to the bottom of her daughter’s challenge, she was fortunate to meet Dr. Sally Shaywitz—renowned dyslexia researcher, author and expert at Yale University—who helped her understand the role of phonemic awareness and explicit reading instruction. Suellen talks candidly about the practices she once used and advocated, including memorizing sight words and looking for visual cues, and why being willing to examine what we once believed has to be part of our learning.

Suellen and Rose explore the challenges of changing reading instruction within schools and what can make that change "stick." Suellen talks about working alongside teachers, listening to what they know about their students, and creating a culture where they feel safe enough to learn and try something new. For Suellen, the goal is to build a system that can withstand changes in leadership, staffing, fads, and circumstances—to keep supporting students long after the coach has left the building.

References and Resources:

• Overcoming Dyslexia by Dr. Sally Shaywitz
• Yale School of Medicine Child Study Center
• Haskins Laboratories: The Science of the Spoken and Written Word
• Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz

Credits:

• Guest: Suellen Piercey, K–6 Literacy Coach, St. Lawrence & Lewis County BOCES, NY
• Host: Rose Else-Mitchell, Executive Director of the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz
• Produced by the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz, Rose Else-Mitchell, and Onalee Smith
• Original music and audio editing by Ross Gentry

*****

Are you seeking high-quality professional learning that’s affordable and actually fits your schedule? Enroll in the SUNY Science of Reading Center’s Science of Reading Fundamentals microcredential and join a community of educators strengthening their literacy instruction.

*****

The research is clear. Now comes the work of putting it into practice.

On October 14th, you're invited to the 2026 Leading Literacy Summit: The Next Chapter in Evidence-Based Literacy—hosted by the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz and EdTrust-New York—to explore what comes next in evidence-based literacy.

Learn more and register here.

*****

Get in Touch:

Interested in being on a future episode of Reading Realities? Or have a question or topic you’d like us to cover? Contact us at scienceofreading@newpaltz.edu.

If this episode resonated with you, please:

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Virginia Quinn-Mooney, a first grade teacher based in Connecticut, joins Rose Else-Mitchell to explore why teacher voice matters in the science of reading movement, what teachers need from school and district leaders, and why teachers shouldn't have to learn how to translate research into classroom practice on their own.

Virginia shares how a simple question from her sister-in-law sent her down a path of digging into reading research, changing her instruction, and eventually cultivating a community of teachers. Growing from that community, her work with Teachers Teach Teachers opens the classroom door through video of real instruction to give teachers something professional development often misses: a chance to actually see what the research looks like in practice.

References and Resources:

• Sold a Story, the podcast by Emily Hanford that Virginia describes as a turning point in her learning about reading instruction
• Science of Reading — What I Should Have Learned in College, the Facebook group founded by Donna Hejtmanek and moderated by Virginia
• Teachers Teach Teachers from the Goyen Foundation, a professional learning program built around watching and discussing real classroom instruction
• Goyen Foundation, which supports the Goyen Literacy Fellowship and Teachers Teach Teachers
• Lori Josephson, whose work includes research on how children's brains learn to read and spell
• Lindsay Kemeny, an elementary-school teacher and author
• Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching by Anita L. Archer and Charles A. Hughes
• Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, which Virginia recently read
• Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz

Credits:

• Guest: Virginia Quinn Mooney, First Grade Teacher and Goyen Literacy Fellow, based in Connecticut
• Host: Rose Else-Mitchell, Executive Director of the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz
• Produced by the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz, Rose Else-Mitchell, and Onalee Smith
• Original music and audio editing by Ross Gentry

***

Are you seeking high-quality professional learning that’s affordable and actually fits your schedule? Enroll in the SUNY Science of Reading Center’s Science of Reading Fundamentals microcredential and join a community of educators strengthening their literacy instruction.

***

On Wednesday, October 14, you're invited to the 2026 Leading Literacy Summit: The Next Chapter in Evidence-Based Literacy, hosted by the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz and EdTrust-New York.

The event will bring together educators, literacy leaders, administrators, researchers, and community partners from across New York for a day of learning, collaboration, and meaningful conversation. Together, we’ll explore what comes next in evidence-based literacy—focusing on

Get in Touch:

Interested in being on a future episode of Reading Realities? Or have a question or topic you’d like us to cover? Contact us at scienceofreading@newpaltz.edu.

If this episode resonated with you, please:

• Follow Reading Realities
• Leave a rating and review
• Share with a colleague or educator in your network

Visit our website to learn more.

Rachel Manandhar, a high school literacy interventionist/education specialist and co-founder of the Project for Adolescent Literacy (PAL), joins Rose Else-Mitchell to talk about her realization that 20 years in special education had not given her the knowledge she needed to identify and support the reading skill development her struggling students were missing. After years of working with students across grade levels and being trained in a range of intervention programs, Rachel decided she needed to really understand where reading was breaking down.

Rose and Rachel explore the pain of older readers who don't outgrow their need for reading instruction just because they are in middle or high school. Rachel shares how learning about foundational reading skills changed what she could do to help, and how she built a literacy center in her school for high school students. They discuss how routines for word recognition, morphology, vocabulary, and comprehension can support students across content areas—and why listening to students read and hearing their voices matters so much in reaching adolescents who struggle to read.

References and Resources:

• Project for Adolescent Literacy (PAL)
• EdWeek: What Teachers Say They Need Most to Help Struggling Teen Readers
• The 74: Many Older Students Struggle to Push Beyond the Reading Threshold
• EdWeek: 4 Ways Teachers Identify and Support Struggling Older Readers
• Teaching Foundational Skills to Adolescent Readers by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Sarah Ortega, Kierstan Barbee, and Aida Allen-Rotell
• Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
• Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz

Credits:

• Guest: Rachel Manandhar, High School Literacy Interventionist/Education Specialist and Co-Founder of the Project for Adolescent Literacy, based in Northern CA
• Host: Rose Else-Mitchell, Executive Director of the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz
• Produced by the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz, Rose Else-Mitchell, and Onalee Smith
• Original music and audio editing by Ross Gentry

***

Are you seeking high-quality professional learning that’s affordable and actually fits your schedule? Enroll in the SUNY Science of Reading Center’s Science of Reading Fundamentals microcredential and join a community of educators strengthening their literacy instruction.

***

On Wednesday, October 14, join educators from across New York and beyond for the 2026 Leading Literacy Summit, hosted by the Science of Reading Center at SUNY New Paltz.

Save the date and stay tuned for more details.

***

Get in Touch:

Interested in being on a future episode of Reading Realities? Or have a question or topic you’d like us to cover? Contact us at scienceofreading@newpaltz.edu.

If this episode resonated with you, please:

• Follow Reading Realities
• Leave a rating and review
• Share with a colleague or educator in your network

Visit our website to learn more.