ADE Summit 2026

Explore why syntax is a powerful but often overlooked key to comprehension and writing success. This session will highlight how teaching sentence-level skills in the elementary grades supports both reading and writing development. Participants will walk away with practical, ready-to-use strategies that can be integrated into existing curriculum materials to strengthen students’ sentence construction and literacy proficiency.

This session will support district leaders and educators in strengthening family engagement to successfully implement 3^rd-Grade Promotion. Participants will explore effective practices, hear from a district demonstrating strong implementation, and reflect on Year 1 wins and challenges. The session will also focus on planning for Beginning-of-Year (BOY) rollout. Key topics include building trust with families and sharing literacy data effectively—such as communicating screener results, supporting Individual Reading Plans (IRPs), and using family-facing resources. Participants will leave with practical strategies and tools to support strong family partnerships and successful 3rd grade promotion outcomes.

The science of reading is not just for younger learners­—all adolescents in grades five to twelve, especially those who struggle with foundational skills, benefit from explicit literacy instruction. Drawing on current research, the first part of this session provides an overview to help secondary educators understand the unique aspects of adolescent literacy. Topics include the three levels of instruction (content literacy, disciplinary literacy, and intervention for basic skills), ways to integrate literacy into all subjects, the importance of connecting reading and writing, and the reasons some adolescents struggle with literacy. The second part of the session offers practical instructional suggestions for key components of literacy: vocabulary, comprehension, text structure, writing, discussion, advanced word study, and fluency.

This session is designed for classroom teachers, intervention specialists, and administrators who want to learn effective strategies for helping students in grades five to twelve strengthen their reading and writing skills.

A Writing Revolution is underway in Arkansas! DESE is continuing its partnership with The Writing Revolution (TWR) for a fifth year, offering Advancing Thinking Through Writing I to K–12 educators across all content areas. This session introduces the Hochman Method—a research-based approach to strengthening student writing through content-rich instruction. Participants will explore practical strategies to elevate writing in any classroom and learn how districts can access this free, year-long professional learning opportunity.

Join us for an engaging educational summit introducing the new ATLAS Assessment Writing Rubric—a shared framework designed to bring clarity, consistency, and rigor to student writing. Together, we’ll explore how the rubric can strengthens instruction, support meaningful feedback, and elevates expectations across classrooms.

Training is just the beginning. This session focuses on how schools and districts can get the most out of Writing Revolution training through intentional implementation. Participants will explore how to embed TWR strategies within HQIM, leverage AI-supported tools in the TWR digital library, and use the administrator dashboard to monitor progress and support teachers. The session also features insights from schools sharing real implementation experiences, lessons learned, and strategies for scaling writing instruction campus-wide.