Institute News

AIM is proud to announce the appointment of Kristen Wynn, former State Literacy Director (K-12) for the Mississippi Department of Education, as the new Head of the AIM Institute for Learning & Research. This pivotal addition marks a significant milestone in AIM’s commitment to enhancing literacy education across the nation.

The Maine Department of Education recently announced a partnership with AIM to provide free professional literacy training to Maine educators working in Kindergarten–Grade 5 regular and special education settings. Eligible educators can enroll in AIM's Steps to Literacy modules as well as a specialized course for supporting English learners between June 12, 2024 and June 11, 2025. Educators enrolling in and completing course between now and August 23rd are eligible to receive DOE stipends for their work.

The AIM Institute for Learning & Research is excited to announce that AIM Pathways training to support leaders and literacy supervisors in Maryland is part of a newly announced $6.85 million philanthropic partnership with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and Ibis Group.

The partnership is detailed in the MSDE’s news release announcing the grant, which will support high-quality professional learning grounded in the Science of Reading to educators and leaders throughout the state.

An estimated $5.35 million of this four-year grant will support professional development for Maryland’s teachers and leaders including up to 6,000 school administrators, district literacy supervisors, and secondary educators through AIM Pathways training in Pathways to Literacy Leadership and Pathways to Proficient Reading: Secondary. The grant also includes teacher training provided by the State University of New York, New Paltz, through its Science of Reading Fundamentals Microcredential Program.

Curious how AIM Pathways training supports secondary educators with classroom instruction? At the Everyone Reading conference in New York City in January, Dian Frankson, a teacher at Brownsville Collaborative Middle School for Agriculture & Technology, shared some of the resources and tools she learned during her training through New York City's District 23 literacy training and described the transformation she has seen in her student learners.

AIM Pathways partner Lingelbach Elementary School was recently featured in an article, "Here’s how this Philly elementary school moved from bare-bones budget to statewide star," in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The article celebrates the School District of Philadelphia school's transformation and "reading pivot" which has led to strong gains on literacy assessments for 3rd graders. According to the article, the percentage of third graders passing state English exams jumped a stellar 173%, from 26% to 71%.

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently featured a story about pending legislation in Pennsylvania that would set curricula requirements and mandate reading competency screenings for K-3 students three times a year.

The article, "Pa. could become the latest state to mandate ‘evidence-based’ reading instruction," includes an interview with Megan Gierka, senior content developer at AIM Institute explaining the need for evidence-based reading instruction.