Discover How to Choose the Right Literacy Programs: S3 E23

🚀 Are you overwhelmed by the sheer number of literacy programs on the market? Wondering which ones actually work? 🚀

You’re not alone. With hundreds of educational tools promising to boost student literacy, how do you separate marketing hype from real research-backed solutions?

Meet Our Expert Guest: Dr. Rachel Schechter

Dr. Rachel Schechter is the founder of LXD Research, a literacy researcher, and former Director of Research at Lexia Learning and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. With over two decades of experience studying what works in literacy education, she has evaluated over two dozen literacy programs and products to ensure they deliver real classroom results.

🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ What “evidence-based” really means—and why it’s different from “research-based”
✅ The biggest mistakes schools make when selecting literacy programs
✅ How to verify if an educational product is truly backed by research
✅ Why characters & storytelling play a vital role in student engagement
✅ Where to find trusted resources like What Works Clearinghouse & Evidence for ESSA
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DisabilityLabs.com sponsors this video podcast. We are committed to IMPACT the journey of 200K teachers (3M students) by 2030 so they can reignite their passion for teaching.

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Resources Mentioned

1. LXD Research – Dr. Rachel Schechter’s company focused on literacy research and product evaluation. (Website: LXDResearch.com)
2. What Works Clearinghouse – A government resource for evaluating educational programs. (Website: whatworks.ed.gov)
3. Evidence for ESSA – A research review site run by Johns Hopkins University. (Website: evidenceforessa.org)
4. Reading Rockets – Parent- and teacher-friendly literacy resource by PBS. (Website: readingrockets.org)
5. Digital Promise – An organization that certifies research-based educational products. (Website: digitalpromise.org)
6. The Reading League – A nonprofit focused on literacy education and the science of reading. (Website: thereadingleague.org)
7. ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) – A government database of education research. (Website: eric.ed.gov)
8. Google Scholar & ResearchGate – Free databases for finding research studies.
9. ISTE EdTech Evaluations – A database for educational technology reviews. (Website: iste.org)

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TIME STAMPS

01:43 Dr. Rachel Schechter’s background in child development and literacy research

02:20 The impact of Dora the Explorer on children’s learning

05:54 Do characters in educational content enhance learning?

07:47 How puppets and interactive elements help students engage

11:14 What makes a literacy resource truly evidence-based?

14:31 The difference between research-based and evidence-based programs

17:09 Trusted resources for evaluating literacy programs 

23:38 Understanding state reading laws and their impact on curriculum choices

29:56 What Works Clearinghouse vs. Evidence for ES