"Joan Sedita is obviously a leader in her field. Her knowledge and ability to convey the content using personal experiences and examples made it real for us. What an excellent workshop!"
—Teacher Ohio Valley IDA State Conference
History of Keys to Literacy
In 1975 I graduated from Boston College, traveled a few miles north to Beverly, MA and joined the faculty of Landmark School, a pioneer in the field of students with learning disabilities. For the next 23 years I had the opportunity to work with the best and brightest teachers, administrators and thinkers in the field of adolescent literacy intervention programs. While at Landmark I earned my Masters in Reading at Harvard and had the opportunity to be a classroom teacher, principal and program administrator. In the process, I developed a life-long passion to help students learn the joy of reading and dedicated myself to improving adolescent literacy.
Reading comprehension was a major challenge for Landmark students, and my faculty peers and I developed comprehension strategies to help these seriously struggling readers. These strategies worked so well that they are still part of Landmark's reading comprehension program to this day. It was amazing to see how well the program improved students' understanding of classroom materials! Good news about effective teaching practices spreads fast, and other schools regularly approached us about our reading comprehension strategies and study skills instructional methods. As a result, I directed the Landmark Outreach Program to train both classroom and special education teachers to improve students' reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, and study skills.
In 1998 I left Landmark and for the next few years developed and piloted The Key Comprehension Routine, my comprehension strategies program that drew upon best classroom practices and research. It has been fine-tuned for use by both struggling readers and all students and implemented by hundreds of teachers and thousands of students in schools throughout the United States.
My work and expertise in the area of reading comprehension in the content classroom opened many doors. In 2002, I was selected by the Massachusetts Department of Education to be one of three lead trainers for the state's Reading First initiative. Starting in 2003, I worked with the Massachusetts D.O.E. to develop the consulting model and professional development materials used for the state's secondary literacy planning initiative. In 2005, I co-authored "Writing: A Road to Reading Comprehension" with Louisa Moats, one of the modules in the nationally acclaimed LETRS teacher training program (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). The Key Comprehension Routine is the cornerstone of this professional development module. In 2006, I was asked to serve on the ETS Praxis National Reading Advisory Committee.
I have had the opportunity and privilege to provide professional development in adolescent literacy to thousands of teachers across the United States. It is this experience that I draw on to develop research-based training programs and workshops and to mentor Keys to Literacy associates.
Joan Sedita
Founding Partner, Keys to Literacy