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Written by Louisa C. Moats, it describes the origin of LETRS, its rationale, and why it targets educator professional development rather than direct instruction to children. The article emphasizes that well-trained teachers can better support struggling readers and English learners through informed decisions, sequencing, and assessment-informed differentiation.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/creating-confident-readers-how-letrs-supports-teachersand-their-students/591210/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/creating-confident-readers-how-letrs-supports-teachersand-their-students/591210.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"eBook King","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"What is LETRS and what is its main purpose?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"LETRS is a professional development course that builds educators’ knowledge of language structure and the processes involved in learning to read, spell, and comprehend. It helps teachers apply these understandings in their classrooms.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"Why does the article argue that teachers’ expertise matters?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"Teaching reading is described as complex, requiring daily decisions about time allocation, instructional differentiation, assessment use, and integrating literacy components. The article stresses that teachers are essential facilitators and decision makers.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"How did the author describe LETRS’s development?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"The author states that she created the LETRS prototype in the early 1990s and that the course developed from applying reading science research and structuring it into sequenced units for educators.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},591210,1792080410,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":138,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":139,"faqs":140,"seo_title":141,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":142,"read_time":46},962088006270,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Creating Confident Readers  \nHow LETRS Supports Teachers—and Their Students  \nPHOTOS BY PAMELA WOLFE  \nAt Vado Elementary School in Vado, New Mexico, students have been thriving since their teachers participated in LETRS professional development. Here, kindergartners in Patricia Ramos’s class are listening to a whole-group read-aloud.  \nBy Louisa C. Moats  \nI  \nn 1999 and again in 2020, I was honored to write Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science for theAFT. This report (which is available [for free at go.aft.org/keo](for free at go.aft.org/keo)) summarizes key findings from reading science and their implications for teaching literacy. It also  \noutlines what all early childhood and elementary teachers should know about language, reading, and writing development—a challenging set of concepts that teachers should be studying from the beginnings of their teacher preparation programs to the ends  \nLouisa C. Moats has been a teacher, psychologist, researcher, graduate school faculty member, and author of many influential scientific journal articles, books, and policy papers on the topics of reading, spelling, language, and teacher preparation. After 15 years as a licensed psychologist specializing in evaluation and consultation with individuals who experienced reading, writing, and language difficulties, she served as a site director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Early Interventions Project and research advisor and consultant with Sopris Learning.  \nof their careers. I’m heartened that the AFT’s reading courses* are grounded in this science, but my hope has long been that all teacher preparation programs across the country would be informed by science and structure their literacy courses accordingly. Although there has been significant progress in the last 20 years,1 we are still far from that goal. Consequently, the students who would benefit the most, including struggling readers and English learners, continue to fall behind at unacceptable rates.  \nTo remedy that, I’m hoping to reach all teachers who have not yet had an opportunity to learn this science with LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) professional development.2 Yes, this is a commercially available program published by a for-profit company. And yes, asthe lead author of the program, I have a financial stake init. However, as a former teacher, psychologist, and researcher, my primary goal is to ensure that every child learns to read—because I know that most children can and will if they are well taught.3  \nSeveral decades ago (yes, I’m also past retirement age), I hoped that the then-emerging science of reading would be widely adopted by professors, state and district policymakers, textbook publishers, and professional development providers. When I saw resistance in some areas and slow progress in others, I sought ways to improve  \n*To learn about the AFT’s courses, see [go.aft.org/0ki](go.aft.org/0ki).  \n4 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2023  \nand distribute the courses I had been creating for my graduate students. LETRS was the eventual result.  \nNo information presented inLETRS is unique or proprietary—it just breaks down the “rocket science” of reading instruction into carefully sequenced units so that teachers build the insights and knowledge necessary to succeed. Although LETRS has become popular in recent years, my sincere hope is that in the near future it becomes unnecessary because teachers are already masters of this science as they graduate from their preparation programs and are routinely supported by well-informed administrators and science-based materials. Until that day comes, LETRS is my best effort to give our nation’s teachers the information they need. In this article, I explain the origin and development of LETRS and the rationale for the course content.  \nInvesting in Teachers’ Expertise  \nLETRS isnot a program of instruction for teaching reading to children. It is a professional development","cbCaijcUh4GjZcV6","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijcUh4GjZcV6","pdf",1441561,"English","# Creating Confident Readers\n## How LETRS Supports Teachers—and Their Students\n## Investing in Teachers’ Expertise\n## How Did LETRS Evolve?","[{\"question\":\"What is LETRS and what is its main purpose?\",\"answer\":\"LETRS is a professional development course that builds educators’ knowledge of language structure and the processes involved in learning to read, spell, and comprehend. It helps teachers apply these understandings in their classrooms.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article argue that teachers’ expertise matters?\",\"answer\":\"Teaching reading is described as complex, requiring daily decisions about time allocation, instructional differentiation, assessment use, and integrating literacy components. The article stresses that teachers are essential facilitators and decision makers.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the author describe LETRS’s development?\",\"answer\":\"The author states that she created the LETRS prototype in the early 1990s and that the course developed from applying reading science research and structuring it into sequenced units for educators.\"}]","Creating Confident Readers - How LETRS Supports Teachers—and Their Students | PDF",1792071341]