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Leah Steiner of Literacy Strategies Consulting

Jennifer Serravallo's Approved Literacy Specialist

Professional History

Education and Teaching


I'm an educator, literacy specialist, and lifelong learner. After graduating from Mount Holyoke College, I began my education career as an elementary school teacher in New York City's independent school system. During that time, I earned a Master of Education degree at the City University of New York, Hunter College, and collaborated with two progressive schools to develop literacy curricula.

I then transitioned to a public elementary school, where I taught general education and inclusion classes in kindergarten and second grade. There, I worked closely with Jennifer Serravallo, implementing strategy-based reading and writing instruction. 

Supporting and Coaching

Leah Steiner of Literacy Strategies Consulting Jennifer Serravallo's Approved Literacy Specialist

After spending years in the elementary classroom, I wanted a change. I moved into administration and became a Director of Middle School. In this role, I discovered a passion for coaching teachers in explicit and strategic literacy instruction. My experience as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, and administrator has enabled me to help numerous educators develop strong literacy practices in their classrooms.


Finding my love for coaching and supporting teachers and administrators led me to join Literacy Strategies Consulting. Now, I have the privilege of working in districts across the United States and Canada, coaching leaders, teachers, and instructional coaches and developing curricula in various school settings.

I recently had the honor of speaking at Rutgers University Center for Literacy Development and the Teach, Learn, GLOW Literacy Conference in Naperville, IL.

Personal


I currently live in New Jersey with my husband and daughter. When I'm not working in schools, I enjoy long-distance running, hiking, drinking iced coffee (even in the dead of winter), and spending time swimming and paddling on my lake.

Feedback from Participants

 

As an elementary instructional coach, working with Leah has been transformative for our school. Leah's expertise in literacy instruction and her ability to tailor professional development to our specific needs has greatly enhanced our teaching practices. Her guidance helped us implement effective small group strategies and differentiated instruction techniques, leading to noticeable improvements in student engagement and achievement. Leah's supportive approach empowered our teachers to set meaningful goals and provided them with practical tools to reach those objectives. Thanks to our collaboration, we've seen a significant shift in how our educators approach reading and writing instruction, resulting in more confident teachers and more proficient young readers and writers across our school.

 

Mark Osofsky

Elementary Instructional Coach

Ben Franklin Elementary School 

 

Research tells us that confidence in reading and writing are essential core skills that empower students for the duration of their learning journey and into their adult lives. Our partnership with Leah has helped our teachers to grow in their ability to support all students so they can actualize their potential as confident readers and writers. Her ability to share her expertise with teachers and model the effective implementation of impactful strategies with students has forged a relationship of trust and manifested a culture where teachers and students collectively support each other's success with excitement and consistency. Leah is the quintessential professional development partner, as she is the perfect combination of knowledge, passion, and relatability.

 

Charles Seipp, Ed. D.

Assistant Superintendent

Roxbury School District


We began looking into improving reading strategy work and student conferencing in order to improve our work with our K-5 readers. Reaching out to Jennifer Serravallo was the best decision we ever made! Our work with our Literacy Strategies consultant and utilizing the Reading Strategies book with our teachers and students was some of the best professional development work that our district has ever participated in. To have on-site work done with our students and teachers was invaluable to improving our teaching of reading. 


We have highly recommended this professional development to many districts around us and would highly recommend this work with Leah, our consultant, to any district looking to improve their reading practices. The ease of use of the Reading Strategies 2.0 book and the new charts that accompany this book have given us strategies at our fingertips that we can use at a moment's notice during student conferences. 


We highly recommend Jennifer Serravallo's resources and professional development opportunities, as they were a driving force in our district's reading growth.


Suzanne LoPresto and Mary Aledia

Montville Public Schools

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