Leaders in Literacy
Mandy Melville, founder and director of the nonprofit foundation, Creative Language-based Learning (CLBL), discusses her foundation’s partnership with Jamaica’s schools in providing professional development for teachers since 2017. This episode also features Yvette Richards-Thompson, principal of Denham Town High School in Kingston, Jamaica. In 2021, the school was identified as the worst-performing school in its parish. The school faced numerous obstacles including high levels of crime and violence and had very low literacy rates. Yvette and Mandy share the results of a collaborative, year-long effort that sought to transform their desperately challenged inner-city school.
Mandy also discusses their future plans to scale an integrated literacy and life skills program across 272 public schools in Jamaica— 204 primary and 68 secondary schools—sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Youth for the country and in partnership with Lindamood-Bell and the International Youth Foundation (IYF), a global youth-serving organization.
This presentation is appropriate for State, District, and School Administrators, Staff Development Coordinators, and Lead Teachers. This presentation is suitable for addressing the needs of various populations, including Special Education, Regular Education, and English Language Learners.
The Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) has endorsed the Seeing Stars® program and the Visualizing and Verbalizing® program, which were authored by Lindamood-Bell’s founders.
