Building literacy for a lifetime of learning

The Upward Spiral of Literacy: The Dirigo Literacy Framework

Educators and leaders today find themselves at a defining crossroads, with literacy development at a critical turning point. A student’s ability to read and write effectively shapes reading achievement and academic success. Yet low literacy rates persist, leaving many struggling readers without the tools they need to thrive.

The good news: Research shows these outcomes can be changed. To move beyond stagnant results and cycles of academic failure, we must shift our focus from "fixing" students to building an upward spiral of success. When school and district leaders embrace evidence-based literacy practices, they can accelerate reading growth and improve comprehension.

This booklet—The Upward Spiral of Literacy: The Dirigo Literacy Framework by Molly Ness—offers a framework for accelerating student reading and writing outcomes, empowering every student to become a purposeful, lifelong reader.

It explores:

• Foundational literacy skills that fuel comprehension and reading fluency
• The role of motivation and executive function as essential drivers of sustained growth
• How literacy is an upward spiral, not a checklist, in which skills, word knowledge, and engagement continuously reinforce one another
• Mastery of reading and writing mechanics—from phonological awareness and phonics to sentence construction—unlocking the cognitive capacity for deep comprehension
• Literacy leadership strategies to disrupt the status quo, including robust screening, evidence-based professional development, and literacy-rich school cultures
• Why a recursive, compounding approach accelerates reading growth and breaks cycles of stagnant reading achievement

Ignite the passion for reading and writing in your students

Students who become literate at high levels do so with sustainable, schoolwide literacy practices. The Dirigo Literacy Framework bridges the gap between research and the classroom, empowering your educators to master evidence-based literacy instructional strategies and turn every student into a confident, lifelong communicator.

Through Dirigo Literacy Professional Development, your school or district will:

• UNDERSTAND how to strengthen oral language development
• IMPLEMENT essential foundational literacy instruction
• FOSTER self-regulated text engagement
• DEMONSTRATE courageous literacy leadership

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About Dr. Molly Ness

Molly Ness, PhD, is a former classroom teacher, a reading researcher, and a teacher educator. She spent 16 years as an associate professor of childhood education at Fordham University. She has extensive experience in reading clinics, guiding school districts, leading professional development, and advising school systems on research-based reading instruction. She is currently a board member of the World Literacy Foundation.

About Solution Tree

Solution Tree, a longtime leader in K-12 professional development, recently acquired Dirigo Literacy, the literacy-focused organization founded by Dr. Molly Ness. This acquisition boosts Solution Tree’s position as a premier provider of collaborative, comprehensive, evidence-based literacy solutions for schools, districts, and states, encompassing professional development, coaching, and systemwide support.