Students today are being asked to navigate increasingly complex texts, communicate their thinking clearly, and write for a wide range of purposes. At the same time, educators are being asked to support these skills across every discipline—not just in English language arts.
Summer offers something increasingly rare in education: time to step back, reflect on practice, and invest in learning that can shape the year ahead.
For more than 30 years, Reading Apprenticeship® has helped educators create classrooms where students engage more deeply with complex texts, make their thinking visible, and develop the confidence and strategies needed to become independent learners. Today, that work continues as part of a broader vision for disciplinary literacy—one that recognizes students need opportunities to both read and write in ways that reflect the authentic work of historians, scientists, mathematicians, literary critics, and other disciplinary experts.
That’s why this summer, WestEd’s Disciplinary Literacy team is offering professional learning opportunities centered on both Reading Apprenticeship and Writing Apprenticeship.
Reading and Writing as Disciplinary Practices
Students don’t encounter literacy as a separate skill in school. They encounter it through the work of interpreting historical sources, evaluating scientific evidence, solving mathematical problems, constructing arguments, and communicating ideas. Strong literacy instruction helps students participate more fully in those disciplinary ways of thinking.
Reading Apprenticeship and Writing Apprenticeship share a common foundation: making expert thinking visible so students can develop the habits, strategies, and confidence needed to engage with increasingly complex learning.
While Reading Apprenticeship focuses on helping students make sense of challenging texts, Writing Apprenticeship extends that work by helping students develop as purposeful, independent writers who can communicate effectively for authentic audiences and discipline-specific purposes.
Together, these approaches help educators create classrooms where literacy supports deeper learning—not as an add-on, but as an essential part of disciplinary teaching and learning.
Opportunities for Summer Learning
Update: Registration for 2026 summer learning opportunities have closed. For 2026-2027 school year opportunities, keep an eye on our upcoming courses page, and stay tuned for summer 2027 dates to be posted later this year.
Learning Beyond the Summer
Throughout the year, WestEd’s literacy team will also offer free introductory webinars designed to help educators and leaders explore Reading Apprenticeship and Writing Apprenticeship in action. These sessions provide practical insights into each framework, opportunities to connect with literacy experts, and a low-barrier way to learn more about how disciplinary literacy can support local goals.
Whether you’re exploring these approaches for the first time or considering how they might fit within broader school or district literacy efforts, these webinars offer a starting point for continued learning and conversation.
Looking Ahead
Sustainable literacy improvement is built through educator learning, collaboration, and reflection. When educators have opportunities to deepen their practice, students benefit from richer learning experiences that help them read more strategically, write more purposefully, and engage more fully in disciplinary thinking.
As you plan for the coming school year, we invite you to explore how Reading Apprenticeship and Writing Apprenticeship can support your goals for teaching, learning, and literacy achievement.
Post Date
May 28, 2026