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Dr. Tracy Weeden leads us into a deeply personal and honest discussion around her work and her passion, particularly the conviction that literacy is the currency of the 21st century and that we need to educate ALL of our children well so that they can have a “place at the table.” Tracy talks about her beginnings as the oldest of seven children (her “first classroom”) and “Bessie’s Book Club” as early influences. Her words of wisdom include acknowledging that we don’t know what we don’t know so we must strive to be “better not bitter.” She defines memorable acronyms for FEAR and FAITH, and advises young people to not answer the question, “What do you want to do?” but answer the question “How do you want to change the world?”
Tracy has indeed done her part to change the world, and for that we are grateful. This discussion will inspire, motivate, and touch your heart.
Teaching, Reading & Learning: The Podcast elevates important contributions to the educational community, with the goal of inspiring teachers, informing practice, and celebrating people in the community who have influenced teaching and literacy to the betterment of children. The podcast features guests whose life stories are compelling and rich in ways that are instructive to us all. The podcast focuses on literacy as we know it (reading and writing) but will also connect to other “literacies” that impact children’s learning; for example, emotional, physical, and social literacies as they apply to teachers and children.
[00:00:00.730] - Speaker 1
As a proud partner of the Reading League and the Science of Reading Coalition, Lexia Learning is excited to announce Letters Literacy. Professional learning is now available through Lexia. Lexia joined forces with Voyager Sopress Learning Learning to exclusively offer letters developed by renowned educator Dr. Louisa Moats and other literacy experts. For more information about how letters is part of Lexia, visit Lexialarning.com le T-R-S. That's Lexialarning.com. L-E-T-R-S. Hello everyone and welcome to Teaching, Reading and Learning, the TRL Podcast. I'm Laura Stewart, your host. The focus of this podcast is to have important conversations around education specifically focused on inspiring, informing and elevating contributions to teaching and learning. Our guest today is Dr. Tracy Whedon and I have had the pleasure of getting to know Tracy just this past year, and I just have to tell you, I'm just so delighted to have this conversation with her today. As a way of introducing Tracy, I would like to read her bio to you. Dr. Tracy Whedon is a seasoned and passionate leader dedicated to advancing literacy and academic excellence for children and adults. With an Eddie in Educational leadership, Tracy has spent her career creating and building innovative programs, systems and teams focused on providing enhanced learning opportunities and exceptional outcomes for children.
[00:01:47.730] - Speaker 1
Tracey is a true visionary when it comes to improving the world through education. Her innovative style of leadership, combined with her compassionate and engaging nature, enables her to successfully manage change and growth across a diverse constituent base including boards of trustees, donors, staff, parents, teachers, educational partners, and students. In her current role as President and CEO of Nihaus, she provides leadership and support in the areas of financial management, recruitment and development of staff fundraising initiatives, initiating and furthering relationships with NEC partners, and guidance of professional and public relations. Prior to joining Nighhouse, Tracy was the Executive Director of Academic Planning with Scholastic Achievement Partners. In this capacity, Dr. Wheaton provided executive consulting nationally on the development of systems that help school districts improve student achievement and address barriers to rigorous, relevant learning. Prior to Scholastic Achievement Partners, she spent more than five years as the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for the Houston Independent School District. What an impressive career you have had, Tracy, and welcome to the podcast.
[00:03:22.930] - Speaker 2
Thank you so much for having me, Laura.
[00:03:25.460] - Speaker 1
Well, I thought we'd just jump right in and I'd love to hear from you a quote that you live by. And return to the quote I live.
[00:03:32.980] - Speaker 2
By is a quote that was planted in my heart by my father and I am a PK preacher's kid. So it is a spiritual quote and it is trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not into your own understanding in all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will direct your path. And that is exactly what happened in my life. And that path changes over time. It's never the same. Every day is a new adventure and opportunity to get anchored to those core values that I intend to live by and let those be the guiding light for my path, moving forward and making sure that I'm bringing light and life with my words and my actions. And when I fall, get up, fresh off, seek that wisdom and keep moving along that path.
[00:04:30.730] - Speaker 1
That is lovely. Just lovely. I love the idea of light and life, bringing light and life to your work. And again, I've known you this past year, and I just feel that from you, Tracy, I feel that I feel that you have that inner guidance. So thank you. Thank you for starting us off with that. I'd also like to share with our listeners kind of your background. What made you decide to go into education?
[00:04:58.990] - Speaker 2
Be careful what you speak over your children, because it becomes true. It becomes their script. So my dad, the same man used to tease me. I was excruciatingly thin when I was growing up. And so he used to say, you're going to be a teacher because you carry your pencils with you, my little skinny legs. And I would laugh and like, oh, dad. Okay, well, Ironically enough, that was exactly what happened. And I've always been a bit of a teacher because I'm the oldest of seven. And so I was Mama number two in the household, and I had a ton of responsibility and no regrets about that. But I really learned how to manage a team. My mom and dad left. I had full authority, and I exercised that authority at times to the chagrin of my siblings. But I've had the back off being the bossy. Ovis, can't do that anymore. However, that was my first classroom, if you will. And then from there, I was as a young adult, a cheerleading coach for years. And I went to my undergrad study at the University of Detroit thinking I was going to be on radio and television.
[00:06:07.480] - Speaker 2
I wanted to be newscaster, Mike. And as I went through the program, I really enjoyed it. But it wasn't there was something missing right here. And I decided in a moment where I had been asking, okay, what am I supposed to do with my life, dad? What's the point here I was doing volunteer work at a community center in inner city city Detroit, teaching modern dance to a group of kids from that neighborhood. And I had this epiphany in that moment, you're an educator. And I was at exactly the point where I could make a mid course adjustment, finish all of my certification coursework in University and graduate on time. I know that wasn't an accident that I got that answer. And I had had aspirational adults in my past who had also been my models for what it looks like to lead a classroom or lead a group instructionally. And so those seeds have been planted and they started to just blossom so I never looked back. And the ironic thing is, even in this moment, all of those skills I gained in undergrad had come to bear on what I get to do now as an ambassador of really transformational work where reading and literacy are concerned.
[00:07:22.000] - Speaker 1
Wow. So you just kind of opened your up. You opened yourself up.
[00:07:26.830] - Speaker 2
I asked the question and I got the answer.
[00:07:29.610] - Speaker 1
And you had this epiphany that you were meant to be a teacher.
[00:07:33.430] - Speaker 2
Yes. I was missing the point. This idea of I don't ask young people, what do you want to be when you grow up anymore? I asked them, how do you want to change the world? Because when I answered that question, I was super clear on my path. I love children. I love people. And seeing them elevated to their highest purpose is my reward. And if I get to be a tool on that journey in any way, that's what brings me joy. I love Stefan Graham's book on self leadership, and he says, you need to build your life around the things you love. I love books. I love literacy. I love how words can transform your life. Just one phrase at the right time can cause your life to just reboot and be reenvisioned and reinvented. And so that's what I get to do.
[00:08:37.250] - Speaker 1
Wow. So I love this. Asking young people, how do you want to change the world? That is a powerful question, and it's an empowering question, isn't it?
[00:08:50.330] - Speaker 2
Yes. And it's not just about a degree. It's about your purpose and your path and your passion.
[00:08:58.280] - Speaker 1
Yeah. In addition to you mentioned Steven Graham's book, are there other people or places or books or experiences that really influenced you early on?
[00:09:09.830] - Speaker 2
Early on, believe it or not, it was Theresa May Alcott, Little Women, that whole series. And, you know, I have a lot of sisters, so I could so relate to her and her boldness and her frailty and her finding her path and her sisters and their uniqueness, even though culturally, I mean, it was so dynamically different from my existence. But there were so many parallels. Also the CS Lewis series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and that whole I'm A series Gal. So read every single book in that series. And this battle between good and evil and moments of frailty and failure, and then again, reinventing oneself out of that failure. It taught me so much. I would say my Angeles work. I know why the Caged Bird Sings and works like that. That helped me realize that there are no feelings on who I choose to be unless I put them there. And pain can actually lead to passion. You know, we can either get better or we can get better. And I refuse to allow anyone to define my narrative. I get to define what my narrative will be and explore that narrative and share that narrative in a way that hopefully brings hope to other people.
[00:10:42.910] - Speaker 2
But right now, the book I fall in love with is Dare to Lead by Brene Brown.
[00:10:49.050] - Speaker 1
Oh, yes.
[00:10:51.790] - Speaker 2
Such a good book. And a way to exercise tools to be brave, to ask questions that are that white elephant sitting in the front room underlined in Multicolored by COVID. We have to have those rumbles and those real, raw, respectful conversations about what really matters. And I want to make sure I have the tools to have those conversations.
[00:11:15.670] - Speaker 1
Yeah. I love this. I love the better, not bitter. That's really nice. The idea that you can define your narrative and explore your narrative and change your narrative, that's another really empowering thing. And I also have to say I love Louisiana Alcott as well. Little Women was one of my favorite books growing up. How many sisters did you have, by the way?
[00:11:43.090] - Speaker 2
There are five sisters, two brothers. Two of my siblings are deceased, and I sure do miss them. The joy of growing up in that big, lively household is just such an incredible blessing. And then you have these built in besties for life. So I feel very fortunate to have been born into the family I was born into.
[00:12:06.210] - Speaker 1
And you led the pack.
[00:12:08.770] - Speaker 2
I led it. I tried my best to do it because I was going to be responsible if it didn't work. So accountability was well in place. All of that was, I think, just part of my path in preparation for what I get to do today.
[00:12:22.210] - Speaker 1
It just feels like you're a very strong believer in this idea of letting the path unfold and trusting that path and listening to the guidance behind that path. That's really nice, Tracy. It's lovely.
[00:12:39.710] - Speaker 2
Absolutely lovely.
[00:12:42.250] - Speaker 1
And I wanted to mention, when I read your bio, you mentioned your work focuses on addressing barriers to rigorous, relevant learning. So I wonder if you could share with us what you've learned and how you have overcome about overcoming barriers.
[00:12:59.630] - Speaker 2
I learned from my visionary mother and my father that poverty does not define us. They came out of abject poverty days where they didn't know where their next meal would be coming from dealing with barriers to learning that you would typically see in a high poverty situation. But they had this vision that was bigger than the circumstances they were born into. And what fascinates me is my mother had the sense that literacy was our ticket out of those circumstances. And so we lived a very modest childhood, but we ate very well. My mom was the one who would go to the health food store and buy flaxseed and all the things she would study up on how to make our brains as bright as possible. And so she would grind flaxseed and put it in spaghetti sauce. I mean, she was way ahead of her side.
[00:13:59.420] - Speaker 1
I was just going to say that was kind of ahead of her time. Yeah.
[00:14:03.290] - Speaker 2
We didn't have sugar, so we go to school and we beg for sugar from our friends have any candy because she wouldn't Cook with sugar. She was way, way ahead of her time, but she wanted us to have all the advantages that she did not have. And so as a stay at home mom, I would come home to bread therapy. She would Bake bread from scratch for us, and she slathered with butter and honey and sit down and just kind of help us process our day. That was my normal. And I thought that was going to be my normal, too. But it didn't turn out that way. Not a stay at home mom, but so grateful that she saw and found out what middle class families did like going to the library. So we haven't before Oprah's Book Club, there was Bessie's book Club, and we all became voracious readers. And we would exchange books and have these conversations, and she would have us read to her orally. Now, I didn't know she was a struggling reader because she went to probably 14 different schools growing up because of the adverse circumstances of her childhood.
[00:15:12.780] - Speaker 2
And so she had gaps in her own learning, but she was absolutely sure we wouldn't. We had one parent volunteer in our elementary school, in our neighborhood school, my mom, and she built relationships with the best teachers to make sure she could get us into those best classes. It just blows my mind. And then my dad had a severe stutter, and he went to a Toastmasters club, and then he would bring back all the tongue twisters and all the speeches, and we would give the speeches at home. So I think about I call it the currency of the 21st century. If we can read in the language of power, write in the language of power, and express our ideas in the language of power, we have a place at the table. And that was the currency I was given. When I look at my extended village, if you will, many of those people I grew up with became collateral damage to a lack of literacy. And so I had a decision to make. Am I going to pay that privilege forward? Literacy privilege forward. I am compelled to do that because I could easily be a statistic, but I'm not.
[00:16:24.380] - Speaker 2
And the seven of us were not. And I believe the literacy was what defined our path. And even though the research says that our brain is not wired for reading, Laura, I believe our spirits are wired for reading. We just can't prove it. Yet how can someone read a book and their life be completely reinvented it's? Because that spirit in us is that tuning fork for words.
[00:16:55.550] - Speaker 1
Tracy, I love that so much, and I want to read this tweet that you recently set out because you tweeted this. You said our brains do not appear to be wired for reading, but I believe our spirits are when they are planted in our souls. Spoken and written words change our destiny. That is why access to literacy and science of reading must be a fundamental human right. That's so beautifully, beautifully said. And that's something, to be honest. Even though this has been my life's work as well, I've really never thought about it that way. I've never thought about how our spirits are wired for that. And I really think that's a powerful message for us as educators to really take to heart.
[00:17:46.010] - Speaker 2
Absolutely. If we don't get anything else right, as leaders and teachers who by the way, if you're listening, you are a VIP. Don't ever say I'm just a teacher. You are a person who transforms lives. And I don't know why my printer's deciding to go off now. It's quiet.
[00:18:06.070] - Speaker 1
That's okay.
[00:18:12.390] - Speaker 2
Literally, you transform the family tree when you get literacy right. And Ironically enough, it's really the cornerstone of all learning. It is the mother that brings life into every other content area. Sadly, when we are being apprenticed as leaders or as teachers who really apprentices us to scale the work of literacy responsibly, how do we reinvent what we're doing in University so that as a Superintendent in preparing for the work, I know how to intentionally scale the work of literacy well. And then I can build on that foundation anything I dream for my students. But if we don't do that in College readiness and even workforce readiness and certification pathways that smoke and mirrors. It's just not real. And it should not be dependent upon the Zip code a child comes from, the dialect they're logged in or the language they're loved in.
[00:19:16.830] - Speaker 1
Say that again. It should not say that again.
[00:19:19.800] - Speaker 2
It should not depend on the Zip code, the dialect the child is locked in, or the Zip code that they are loved in. It should not matter. And when we do that work, well, it's our moonshot. It's our national moonshot to transform. Imagine if we were the most literate country in the world. What would happen if we could think critically and be shaped by words that bring life? We would be a completely different nation.
[00:19:53.250] - Speaker 1
Yes, we would. And I think you are such an articulate spokesperson for that. I want to read something else that you recently post on Twitter that I just cherish. You wrote, the first and most important job of a student is learning to read. The first and foremost and most important job of a leader is scaling the work of literacy responsibly. Reading is the cornerstone of learning for a lifetime. And I've also heard you, as you said, literacy is the civil right of the 21st century.
[00:20:27.550] - Speaker 2
Absolutely.
[00:20:32.750] - Speaker 1
I think what you say is so true and so passionate and so inspiring. What is getting in our way? What do you think is really getting in our way?
[00:20:44.260] - Speaker 2
Tracy, I want to go back to Laura. Another quote. My dad a wise word. My dad gave me. And it's for lack of vision. The people perish. And if you go back to the original Hebrew, it means they cast off restraint. They fail to selfregulate. They fail to remain disciplined and focused on the things that will make a difference. So that's one dynamic. Sometimes we don't know what we don't know. And so it's about being humble enough to admit that and seeking those answers relentlessly until we get them. Finding the systems that are doing this work well, go walk that building, talk with the district leadership, find out how they've done this work, and then replicate it for your system in a way that is responsible and responsive to the culture of your district or your school. This work takes a lot of humility. Secondly, I believe adult egos get in the way. In other words, I'm a new leader. Am I about the work and the children and sustainable change, or I'm about promoting myself. And so a sign of selfpromotion is to come in and not really examine what's working and sticking with what's working and then strategically abandoning what's not take a lot of courage.
[00:22:15.650] - Speaker 2
And I say that's the third, it's courage. And what blocks people is fear. And this is an acronym I live by. Fear is often false evidence appearing real. We have to examine our fear, put it in the light, and then determine that we want to walk by faith. And the acronym that I received in my quiet time one morning was Faith is focused adults intervening tenaciously with hope. And when that intervention is at tier one, we're going to get first instruction right the first time. And if we do that, we'll identify kids who are dyslexic, and then we can intervene for those kids. But the critical mass of kids are going to read on my watch, and we keep hope is an action word. It is not just a word. And when we activate strategies, we're keeping hope at the forefront of what we do. We refuse to give up. We refuse to quit. So those are the biggest barriers I see. And it's at the University level where egos can get in the way and fear can get in the way of the new. It can be at the district level. It could be at the school or the classroom level.
[00:23:33.870] - Speaker 2
It doesn't matter. It's the same battle. And the battle starts between our ears. We have to think through these things with a shoulder partner who will tell us what's true and what's right, not what we want to hear, but what we need to hear.
[00:23:49.330] - Speaker 1
And that takes a lot of humility and courage. You know, it's interesting. I just had a conversation with Jan Hasbrook, and we were talking about humility, curiosity, and collaboration. And you kind of hit on that, too, when you said one of the barriers is recognizing we don't know what we don't know. And that does take humility. And then we have to follow that curiosity, right? What do I need to know? And then we have to find people to collaborate with us to find those answers. I also wanted to mention I had a great conversation with the wise and wonderful Parker Palmer, and he said that teaching is this intersection between humility and chutzpah. And I think you really hit on that. Right. Because it's being humble, but also having courage, having that courage to step outside of what might be your known or step outside of what might be your comfort and challenge yourself to say, if I'm not reaching all these kids, what else can I learn? What else can I do?
[00:25:05.150] - Speaker 2
Exactly? You remember the movie Sophie's Choice with Meryl Street? Which kid do we pick to fall through the cracks? Which kid do we say? We can warehouse you until you end up in the school to prison pipeline. I'm not choosing that particular choice. We choose that they all will have that opportunity. And that means being willing to fail forward and learn forward, giving ourselves permission not to pretend to be the stage on the stage who has all the answers. Don't. And one of the most inspirational superintendents I've ever worked with is in the Valley in Carl Engine Consolidated Independent School District. And he says we have to plan the work and then work the plan. It's not that complicated. But planning the work is really so crucial and planning that with the shower partner who knows the work is so important, he says, because you can do work. But is it the right work? Is it the right work? And I see some misinformation out there about what the right work is when it comes to teaching the structure of the English language explicitly. I mean, it's the right work. And it doesn't stop with early literacy.
[00:26:21.920] - Speaker 2
It should be an articulated pathway all the way through to when a kid graduates from high school where the focus is developmentally appropriate but still very intentional. And when we do that, well, the fastest improving systems I've seen in the country. And I've worked from coast to coast, from DC Public Schools to Compton USD. When they get literacy right across the continent areas, you see dramatic growth in change, regardless of the population that is being served.
[00:26:53.430] - Speaker 1
Right. So tell us a little bit more about I mean, pick one of those experiences. You said you've worked coast to coast. I know you worked in districts to help really transform those districts. Can you give us a specific example?
[00:27:08.270] - Speaker 2
Absolutely. So I will use Harlengin and what happened with that Superintendent. So he was humble enough to realize my team and I don't know what to do with this. We have 64% of our kids in PreK kinder ready after a year of instruction. That means about a third of them are being left out of the loop. And that's not acceptable on my watch. So we sat down with Dr. Gavassos and his leadership team. And we looked at their data, we looked at their data. We knew the kind of targeted instruction they would need. And we recognized that it needed to be not just the teachers, but the district coaches and the principals who were also looped into the learning. But he says we first have to sell the problem. And the way they do that is they have design teams. So we were able to work with his design team on getting first instruction right, really training those coaches up so they could help sustain the work. And then when we launched into the work over a two year period, they went from 64% kinder ready to 95% kinder ready in two years in the Valley where the critical master, their kids are English language learners.
[00:28:20.720] - Speaker 2
So if we can do it there, it can be done anywhere. The beauty of the way they do things, though, in data driven decision making they saw the next year they dropped to 91%. And so they dug into the data, and what they found was several principals had taken the highly trained teachers and put them in tested grades. So that's something I learned when I was an assistant Superintendent. Nature, the highest performing high poverty schools made sure that the early grades had the best teachers in place. And they understood that if they laid that literacy foundation well, then the test is not the biggest barrier. The biggest barrier is creating gaps unintentionally in the early grades. And so then they circled back to these principles and said, this isn't nonnecociable. We are investing in early literacy, and you're undermining your own success. They are such a great example. And there's a succession plan in place so that as he transitions out of the district, he has been apprenticing and working with the new Superintendent so that there's a seamless transition, so that the work continues in a sustainable way, then we focus on special education and dyslexia so effectively.
[00:29:44.670] - Speaker 2
I call it the illiteracy statement that no child can bother the cracks when districts do that. And they articulate all tiers of instruction. So there's alignment and sustainability in place, double digit growth and amazing change.
[00:30:01.130] - Speaker 1
I'm so glad you described that, because I really believe one of the things that's getting in our way as well in terms of us kind of nationally moving forward, is that we have a lack of stories like that. I think there's something really powerful in story. I think we can't beat people over the head with research. I think it really has to be grounded in story, has to be grounded in narrative. And you hit on so many important things that are critical to the success. Number one, a visionary leader who will not accept that kids are falling through the cracks. Number two, a relentless look at data, constantly going back to the data. What does the data show us and how do we use that to inform us the third importance of teamwork and making sure all hands are on deck. And, you know, the early grades have these really strong teachers so that we don't create a gap that's insurmountable in 3rd, 4th, whatever grade and a succession plan. How do you keep this going? Because I was recently talking to a Superintendent, and he said, the thing is we really learned is you cannot take your foot off the gas.
[00:31:18.110] - Speaker 1
It's not like you arrive. It's not like you say, we got this all figured out. We're good forever.
[00:31:23.220] - Speaker 2
Never. Something else you said, Laura, that triggered a thought. And I understand this all too well. We can work in silos, and the silo effect is deadly. It really overtaxes the system and causes initiative overload. So if special education is demanding from central office, this and the El Department, that and curriculum, instruction, and it's overwhelming kind of blessed principles out there trying to do the work. So if we will map our work and break down those silos to understand what we're asking and we create coherence, a strategic communication plan is crucial for districts. It's the same challenge I have as the head of a nonprofit. Communication is absolutely important, but it's such a habit to work in silos, and we waste funding, we waste time, we waste our amazing people power. And what I found in the districts that get that right, and they map the resources and they calibrate across departments. They recapture funding that would otherwise be lost. I used to look at cumulative funding, lost data with district leaders. It's striking how millions of dollars are wasted because kids give up in middle and high school and they drop out. So the title funds walk out with them.
[00:32:45.010] - Speaker 2
And when we get literacy right in the early grade, they recapture that funding and they can focus it on not just excellent first destruction, but enrichment for all that's the opportunity.
[00:32:56.040] - Speaker 1
Oh, my gosh, this is so enlightening. Yeah. So the silos being deadly. There's really a couple of things going on here. One is initiative overload, and the second is the financial drain that could be better utilized. Again, if we get this right in the early grades, then we have more available resources to continue to support our kids. Yeah.
[00:33:23.510] - Speaker 2
Teachers are not as likely to give up on the profession. That's the other thing. I would love some research behind this. When they succeed, teachers don't come to profession and say, I want to be a loser. They come and say, I want to win for kids. And when they do, they want to stick with it. So the systems that do this well, their teachers don't leave, they stick around.
[00:33:44.090] - Speaker 1
Yeah. And that's funny. That was the question I was just going to ask you. So how do we recruit, retain and encourage teachers to stay in the profession and leaders to administrators? Do you think the secret is that success, it's a self perpetuating cycle of success.
[00:34:09.470] - Speaker 2
I love a term that Echo Institute uses, and they create communities of learners. They say, you have to figure out what the forced multiplier is. In my opinion, the forced multiplier would be a Superintendent who has been apprenticed to scale this work responsibly. Imagine if every Superintendent across the country understood the power of the science of reading and doing it intentionally and sustainably. It would be absolutely transformational. Now that means we have to backload to University preparation programs. And how do you reinvent your leadership preparation program so that leaders get that opportunity? But we can't wait on the University. So I think we create conditions where those who want to learn this work can do that, and we're working on that right now. And when we do that, we maintain that community. So they have a Vegas space where they can get together with other superintendents fighting the St battles and have honest discourse about what they're learning and what they're leading. So I think that is the huge opportunity gap that exists nationally that I intend to do something about with our team.
[00:35:28.620] - Speaker 1
Yeah. So tell me more about that. So tell me more about your work at Nighthouse and that in particular.
[00:35:34.790] - Speaker 2
Yes, absolutely. So what I've discovered with my team is that I believe there's a blueprint for success and there are key variables that they're addressed and sequential. And then it's also about mid course adjustments because we can't just be on automatic. As leaders with this work, you have to anticipate those who are going to push back the work of Dr. Anthony Mohammed Love. He talks about how you have believers, your first adopters, who have the right value system to support the work. You have your Tweeters, who are waiting to see, is this going to stick around or sell this to pass? And then you have your fundamentalists who are determined to stick with what they're comfortable with, who are not about what's best for kids. So the key is to equip those believers for success, because when you do, the trainers want to win and they'll come along for the ride and you build your critical mass of believers and your fundamentalists, as the culture changes become uncomfortable and they will either leave or be quiet. And so for district leaders, there's this balance of the qualitative dynamics of what's going on. And it's the quantitative dynamics where we're looking at our formative and summative assessment data to drive what we're doing next.
[00:36:53.300] - Speaker 2
It's a balance between those two indicators to guide our next steps and to look at what the shifts that are occurring. The other thing, Laura, that we have to be alert to is what are those perception gaps that exist? The best ones to ask about that are our children. Do we have a way to intentionally survey our students to see what they think is happening, what the teachers say is happening? And the leaders and the perception gap and closing that perception gap over time, qualitatively and quantitatively. So what is the customer experience for students? Because they are ultimately our customer.
[00:37:35.990] - Speaker 1
That's a good point. They are the clientele. Right. And how do we best serve our clientele? This perception gap idea is something that seems very kind of novel to me. I love this idea. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
[00:37:54.770] - Speaker 2
Yes, absolutely. At one point I worked with when I was with Scholastic Achievement Partners, we had surveys that we would use to find out from different stakeholders what their experience was during an initiative. And then we were actually able to look at what that gap was and whether it was being closed and to activate strategies that were meaningful to each stakeholder group to make that happen. And often we just were driven by numbers. But we missed the story. You said earlier. What's the narrative underneath? Because perception becomes reality. We may not agree with it, and it may not be completely accurate, but it's the perception.
[00:38:38.290] - Speaker 1
It is somebody's reality.
[00:38:39.910] - Speaker 2
Yeah, it's somebody's reality. And parents, that's the fourth leg of the school family engagement. And what I love about our work is we get to look at this work holistically. We want to build teacher knowledge, leader knowledge, partner with universities. We have University partners. But what about that parent who's desperate for support? Maybe their kid is undiagnosed. And Dyslexic, we have a family support office to help that parent. What if the parent is dyslexic and never learn to read? We have adult literacy program. So at night, dyslexia therapists deliver instructions so adults can learn to read. And they can do it virtually. Now because colbid forced us to go into what I call our colbit Chrysalis, I told my team we've got to reinvent ourselves. We have a mission to fulfill. How do we do that? Because we can't let code stop us, and they roast to vacation. We were able to shift to a virtual delivery system that included virtual coaching and adult literacy support. And it's going really well. And so the thing is it creates a whole new way to deliver services. And we have our first group of teachers in training from Hong Kong, of all places, because we were able to make that pivot.
[00:39:56.330] - Speaker 1
Well, I do think that's been part of the gift of this time is that we all had to pivot and go into that virtual space. But then look at how many people we can reach that's been reached.
[00:40:13.320] - Speaker 2
Yes. And non profits like ours really deserve philanthropic support because it created an incubation lab for new ideas because we couldn't deliver services the way we had before. And if people really care about the future of our country and nation building, we're the kind of organizations to invest in to create intentional spaces for us to continue to reinvent the work and reinvent the future.
[00:40:42.110] - Speaker 1
Well, I love when you talk about the four legs of the stool. So you serve children. You serve parents in not only how to support their children, but you also serve them as readers. Right. It sounds like you offer services to them.
[00:40:58.730] - Speaker 2
Yeah. Well, we actually have funding to provide for children who need Dyslexia therapy, and we have therapists who can serve them. There's not nearly enough for that work, of course, but we do some of that work. Our force, multiplier, is to empower teachers and leaders.
[00:41:18.070] - Speaker 1
And teachers. Right.
[00:41:19.280] - Speaker 2
And leaders so that they can become really apprentice to do this work. Well, that's our course multiplier. And in terms of preventing the failure of leaders and teachers, it's partnering universities who are brave and bold enough to reinvent how they're preparing teachers and leaders for the work. And I think University same principle. If you are preparing teachers across the continent areas to get literacy. Right. Let's say I'm a math teacher. Can I apprentice students in the literacy of my content area so they can read like a mathematician, speak like a mathematician, and present their ideas like a mathematician. You know how you hear this idea? I'm not a reading teacher. Yes.
[00:42:00.920] - Speaker 1
Yes, you are.
[00:42:02.500] - Speaker 2
You are responsible for the Liberty of your content area. So they deserve to be equipped to do that work. Well. And if we're not doing it, we need to be about the business of making it happen.
[00:42:15.480] - Speaker 1
Oh, my gosh, I love it. So you're doing some amazing work at the center with all these different stakeholders. Yeah.
[00:42:24.710] - Speaker 2
Yes, I'm very thankful, very blessed. And the team that I get to work with, they're just unbelievably, relentless, committed, all about outgoing concern for anybody in front of us to make a difference.
[00:42:41.930] - Speaker 1
Well, one of the things I'll definitely do in the show Notes is put your website so people can learn more about the work that you're doing. So, Tracy, you put on so many just amazing themes. I want to reiterate those little acronyms you shared with us, the acronym for Fear, False Evidence, Appearing Real. I love that because then that kind of helps us overcome our fear if it's appearing real. Right. That gives us a little power to get in there and overcome. And then I like faith focused adults intervening tenaciously with hope. Did I get that right?
[00:43:20.470] - Speaker 2
Yes, you got it. Perfect.
[00:43:23.090] - Speaker 1
I love it. Tracy, when you think about kind of the arc of your work, your whole career, what are the hopes that you have for the work that you do or the work that you have done? What are the greatest hopes? Do you have.
[00:43:42.150] - Speaker 2
The greatest hope that I have? I really do this work for the little besties and the little Henry's. My mom and dad were out there to be that ally and advocate for them. It is also to inspire and encourage literacy allies to combine forces. And I call them my literacy allies. And it doesn't matter what woman or man suit or suit, you respect your hand. It doesn't matter to me. You can be Polkadot. But if you're a literacy ally, you know that when people don't have access to that currency, it drains the mind, body, and spirit. And we don't have to accept that as the future for any individual on our watch. We can influence from the middle. If we're a teacher and we're outstanding in our work, someone will come to your classroom and want to do what you're doing for more people. A principal, a Superintendent. I call these my Lighthouse people. Lighthouse districts, Lighthouse, schools, like house, classrooms, be that Lighthouse, that beacon of hope to help people navigate the Shoals and the rocks and the barriers, because it makes no sense when we think about children being cast into a sea of illiteracy and hoping that they'll swim and float.
[00:45:10.560] - Speaker 2
And then if they succumb to those waves, then we're going to administer CPR when we could have taught them the skills in the first place. If I can come back to a place I remember crossing the Pettis Bridge, going to work with a board in that area in Alabama, and I was thinking about my ancestors who gave so much for me to have the opportunities I have today and to see a place where the critical mass of children could not read on grade level. Thinking back about anti literacy laws that existed in States in the 1830s, I am the person that they lifted up on their prayers and hopes. And so I'm going to seize this moment and fight this battle and find my allies until I see the change we want to see together.
[00:46:07.430] - Speaker 1
I love that. Tracy, I think you are a Lighthouse person. I really do. You are a Lighthouse person.
[00:46:16.010] - Speaker 2
Well, Lord, you're my people. So it's so good to be with an ally like you today. It's just a highlight of my week.
[00:46:25.340] - Speaker 1
There's so much richness in what you've said, and I hope that those people who are listening to this are as inspired and humbled and grateful as I am for this conversation. I mean, that from my heart. So I want to ask you some closing questions. And actually, I think you've already answered some of these. Who was your favorite teacher growing up and why?
[00:47:00.590] - Speaker 2
This is Landrum? Doris Landrum. She was my fourth grade teacher, and she created a new team every day. I was expected to help deliver the news, and she made me the captain. You won't be able to believe this, but I was very shy and retiring as a kid. I just tried to hide and stay in the background, and she forced me to the limelight and made me leave. And I just like, Why me? I don't want to do this. But she saw something in me, and so it really was my first leadership opportunity beyond my family circle, right out of my comfort zone. She was probably my very favorite teacher, and I'm so thankful for her. I wish I could thank her today, but she's on to her next adventure on the Other side. Maybe I'll get to thank her one day.
[00:47:49.030] - Speaker 1
Do you think she did she know as you went on through the grades, did she know what she had accomplished?
[00:47:56.570] - Speaker 2
I don't think she found out. I was trying my best to get a hold of her, and then I was too late. So I want to encourage our listeners, if you have a teacher like that, make the time and let them know because it will mean the world to them. I know.
[00:48:10.850] - Speaker 1
You know, it's funny. I ask all of our podcast guests this question, and it's so interesting to me how many of them name a fourth grade teacher?
[00:48:19.610] - Speaker 2
Really?
[00:48:20.350] - Speaker 1
Isn't that interesting? I think fourth grade must be a pivotal year for us because a lot of us have that fourth grade teacher experience.
[00:48:28.250] - Speaker 2
Right. That's amazing.
[00:48:30.200] - Speaker 1
Well, so thank you, Mrs. Landrum. We appreciate you. Thank you. Now you may have already answered this one. What is the favorite book, either as a child or an adult? I know you mentioned Lion, Witch and Wardrobe series. You mentioned Little Women. You mentioned Maya Angelou. Are there any others you want to share that were favorites for you?
[00:48:50.380] - Speaker 2
I really do want to encourage leaders to think about reading two books. One is Dare to Lead by Renee Brown. So you know how to have those fierce conversations in a way that's respectful and builds the kind of culture. And I'm learning it. I mean, I'm a Disciple premiere, trying to learn to work. The other one is when to Walk Away. That book talks about toxic relationships, whether it's work related. Gary Thomas is the author work related, family related, because I believe we all have a destiny. And if there's someone or something that's sucking the life out of you, energy, vampires taking your purpose from you, you need to know how to create those boundaries and when to walk away. And it has been a life changing book for me.
[00:49:40.920] - Speaker 1
Interesting. I'll be putting all these in the show notes, too, so people can follow these threads. And I wanted to mention Renee Brown also has a podcast.
[00:49:50.330] - Speaker 2
Yes, it does. Highly encourage it very powerful work and research base, which I think is just phenomenal life changing work she's doing.
[00:50:05.090] - Speaker 1
What do you have on your desk that symbolizes you or is dear to you?
[00:50:12.810] - Speaker 2
Let's see, it's my daughter's pencil sharpener. I love my kids. I have twin boys who are 21 and they just graduated from College. And then I have a 16 year old who's my surprise baby. And I just adore them. They're all miracles. I wasn't expecting. I had a trouble with giving birth, but I got double the blessing with my twins when I was 38. And then when I was in my forty s at forty two, my oldest twin said, Mommy, we have too many boys in this family. We need a girl. And I laughed and I said, well, sweetie, you're going to have to pray about that. And that little boy laid hands on me and said in the name of Jesus. And he started to pray fervently for his sister. And the next thing I know, I'm pregnant and had her at 43. So I would say my children, my dreams for them is that they will carry this legacy of caring for our community forward, find their purpose and their path, and just be those change agents to take it to the next level. That's my hope. And I'm so thankful I got to have children.
[00:51:25.270] - Speaker 1
And I feel like that's not only your hope for your own children, it's your hope for everybody's. Children.
[00:51:29.990] - Speaker 2
Every child. Absolutely.
[00:51:32.260] - Speaker 1
Yeah. And you have a son that's going to Chicago for graduate school.
[00:51:37.030] - Speaker 2
Yes. I have one going for a master's in screenwriting at the Paul. I'm so proud of him for pursuing his dreams and another one who's exploring. Well, they're both being certified to teach. One is a go and the other one is getting ready to take his exams. But it will be interesting to see if anybody walks in my footsteps. We'll see. We'll see. Fingers crossed. And maybe law like dad is a lawyer. So law professor. But definitely I love that the research says that children will likely reach the aspirational goals of mine. So I wanted to be the first in my family to earn a doctorate, but not just for me, but for them to show if she can do it, surely I can do it. And it's possible. But my goodness, I had to push against fear. I had to really push hard against beer to go the distance on that. Yeah. So glad I did it.
[00:52:33.380] - Speaker 1
So glad you did. Well, if your son needs an Auntie in Chicago, you know who to call aunties are welcome.
[00:52:41.540] - Speaker 2
Yes. Thank you.
[00:52:44.170] - Speaker 1
Well, this is just Tracy, this has been so delightful and I feel really blessed to have had this conversation with you today. You're really an inspiration. And I know that this will be an episode that our listeners will really appreciate and love and cherish. So thank you so much for your time.
[00:53:03.730] - Speaker 2
Honored to be with you, Laura. And thank you for your service to our community and being a voice of hope.
[00:53:09.550] - Speaker 1
You're welcome. Thank you very much. This podcast, I hardly have the words to express how much this affected me, and I'm guessing it affected you as well. We at the Reading League are committed to bringing you these important conversations. If you enjoyed this, please share it out. We want other people to hear Tracy's wise and wonderful words and please rate us. Provide us with feedback. That feedback is really important to us. So thank you for tuning in. Thank you for reviewing and we'll see you next time.