• (214) 403-6787
  • mario1206@att.net
  • Houston, Texas

About Us

If you’re the kind of teacher who believes, as we do, that there is a reader in every child, you have landed on the right website. Welcome!

We know how difficult it is to find that reader in every child; and, we also know that teaching reading well for every student is rocket science.

For those reasons, it is our mission to improve the quality of life for all the students and teachers we serve. We do this because we know how difficult it is to teach students, especially those that struggle, to read.

Too frequently today’s teaching decisions are bounded by narrow interpretations of best practices promoting instruction that causes teacher
frustration, burn-out, and accompanied by limited or no improvement in student’s reading. That’s why we offer professional development that ignores the ‘One-Size-Fits-All” mentality that governs how teacher’s are trained to teach reading in today’s difficult teaching environment.

Too many staff developers offer many of the same services that we do, but they aren’t the same. The Literacy Group(TLG) is guided by the philosophy of “teachers helping teachers.” TLG offers honest, personalized professional development to make our teachers and student’s futures brighter, plus developing a life long passion to be a better reader and better teacher. The bottom line? We’re here to help you realize your teaching goals and dreams.

When you’re striving to reach your goals, The Literacy Group helps you achieve them as your partner. The Balanced Customized Literacy Fitness Program is designed to help you get ahead no matter where you are in your teaching life. TLG is committed to providing the products and services teachers need to strengthen their teaching capacity and improve their lives.

A lot has changed throughout the years for how to teach reading. What hasn’t changed is our dedication to our teachers, students, and our mission.

The Literacy Group was founded by Dr. Mario Campanaro in 2000 to provide staff development services to teachers of students who struggle to read. The group consists of likeminded reading experts and other educators who believe that there is a reader in every child, and that every child deserves a great teacher who has the precise teaching skill set needed to meet their needs. These professionals have deep experience teaching students who struggle to read. Moreover, they understand the challenges teachers of these students face everyday to provide the intentional support required for these students to become proficient readers and writers.

The Logo

The Literacy Group’s logo is an adaption of a historic structure mimicking the Light of Knowledge that comes from reading deeply. Much like the rays of sun in our logo, the logo is a reminder of our mission in practice: to shine on through our commitment to improving lives.

This timeless representation stands as a testament for all to see of a culture built on doing what’s right for teachers and students.
We have created a culture where everyone is treated with integrity, respect and empathy. This extends beyond our walls and into our schools. We remain deeply engaged in making certain that we serve teachers and children better everyday, month, year, and lifetime..

We recognize that we would not be the organization that we are today without the dedication and commitment of a wonderful and diverse group of men and women who further our mission to improve children’s reading and academic lives every day. We stand against the belief that some children can’t be strong readers.

 

“The Turn-Around Expert”

Dr. Campanaro is an author, researcher, and staff developer who is known as the turn-around expert because he has crafted and refined teaching and learning protocols that build teacher capacity to teach reading well. Schools that have engaged his services have experienced dramatic growth in student reading and academic performance. Many of the schools he has serviced received TEA Commendations for Reading.

The Literacy Group builds teacher capacity to increase studentsreading achievement and academic growth.

The Literacy Group’s professional development centers on building teacher competence for understanding and implementing the instructional structures and practices proven to teach students to become self-regulated learners-learners that think and problem solve. Moreover, through modeling, coaching, and interactive teaching, teacher capacity is built to enable all students to become self-regulated independent readers:

Readers Who Know, And Know, How They Know.

A Results Oriented Process

The Literacy Group™ provides teachers with training that is both intensive and sustainable over time, and furnishes the classroom with quality teaching ideas for using literacy materials. The result is transformational: a classroom where students thrive in an environment of support and challenge.

Schools involved in this type of Customized Professional Development consistently report gains in student achievement, motivation, and ability to think deeply about text. Last year, for example, a Houston ISD elementary school whose fifth grade student passing percentage on the STAAR Reading Test had been approximately 60% for several years improved to 84% passing. Other data and recommendations are available on request.

 

Building Teacher Capacity (THE PROCESS)

Dr. Campanaro has researched and developed effective training methods to increase teacher capacity to improve student academic and reading achievement. Student’s reading ability, as demonstrated on the STAAR test scores and other measures of student academic achievement, were shown to improve in schools that have engaged in the professional development training. Anecdotal results and scientific research has consistently documented increased student ability to comprehend text, increase metacognition, and thinking.

 

  1. The approach is to work with administrators and teachers to identify and isolate both teacher and student areas of need that require intervention to improve overall student reading and writing ability and increase STAAR reading and writing scores. Through a comprehensive audit that includes administrator and teacher interviews, classroom observations of instruction, and the analysis of student data, learning specialists identify both student areas of need and teacher training
  2. Customized training programs are developed that center on the researched-based best practices that target the nexus between teacher capabilities and student needs. Every teacher is seen as an individual with unique experiences. Unlike common staff development approaches that emphasize a program, or set of practices to improving student reading and writing performance, the approach considers how best to increase the teacher’s ability to meet the individual and diverse needs of Training is then tailored to increase teacher capability with focus on the instructional needs of students.

 

Throughout the process, the teachers observe exemplary instruction modeled by specialist, receive personal coaching, view videos featuring model teachers, and engage in study groups. Teachers regularly discuss and observe effective instruction modeled by reading specialists prior to implementing the practices.

Next, the teachers implement the practices that were previously modeled. In this phase, a coach will teach alongside the teachers to offer feedback. Teachers may also participate in peer observations at this stage, meet in teams to discuss implementation or new teaching strategies, examine student work, or determine next steps in instruction. When independence is reached, the teacher successfully integrates the new approach into his or her teaching. The Literacy Group specialist conducts classroom observations to support teacher growth during all stages of the professional development.