Tell us about your company and the problem it solves, or its benefit to learners or educators.
At its core, Lexia is a literacy company. Everything we do is grounded in one goal: helping educators deliver effective literacy instruction based on the Science of Reading.
What makes our approach different is that we don’t think of curriculum, professional learning, and technology as separate solutions. They all have to work together. Teachers need access to evidence-based instructional materials, meaningful professional learning, and actionable data that helps them understand what each student needs next. When those pieces are aligned, educators spend less time navigating multiple systems and more time doing what they do best—teaching.
The reality is that schools don’t need another disconnected program or another dashboard. They need coherent systems that support teachers throughout the instructional process. That’s where I believe technology can make its greatest contribution—not by replacing teacher expertise, but by making it easier for educators to translate research into daily classroom practice.
Ultimately, our work at Lexia is about helping teachers feel confident in the decisions they make every day, because when teachers are well supported, students benefit.
What is the challenge educators face today that is fixable?
The biggest challenge is not that educators don’t know what good instruction looks like. I think the real challenge is bridging the gap between knowing what works and implementing it consistently every day. I often describe that as a “knowledge-to-practice” challenge.
Teachers are expected to synthesize research, differentiate instruction for students with diverse needs, analyze assessment data, monitor progress, and make hundreds of instructional decisions in real time—all while managing a classroom full of learners. That’s an extraordinary cognitive load, and it’s one that continues throughout every school day.
The encouraging part is that this challenge is fixable.
Technology shouldn’t replace great teaching. It should make great instruction easier to deliver. When thoughtfully designed, technology can reduce administrative burdens, surface meaningful instructional insights, and help teachers quickly identify what each student needs to meet their academic potential. Instead of spending valuable time searching through reports or trying to connect multiple sources of information, teachers can spend more time interacting with students, asking thoughtful questions, and responding to individual learning needs.
I recently spoke with a retired teacher who told me the hardest part of her final years in the classroom wasn’t the learning needs she saw in her students—it was feeling like there were so many competing expectations that she had less freedom to sit with students and discuss a book with any depth. That conversation stayed with me because I think it’s a reminder of what technology should do: give teachers more capacity to teach, not more systems to manage.
What is the challenge educators face today that will persist?
I believe that educators will continue to face the challenge of navigating an increasingly crowded landscape of instructional tools.
Schools have more choices than ever before, and innovation is happening at an incredible pace. That’s exciting, but it also creates a new complexity. More technology doesn’t automatically translate into better instruction. In fact, too many disconnected tools can actually increase complexity for teachers.
The question districts should be asking isn’t, “Which product has the most features?” It’s, “Which solution will genuinely improve teaching and learning for our students?”
That means looking for technology that is grounded in research, supported by a clear implementation model, and capable of providing data that teachers can actually use to inform instruction. Professional learning matters just as much as the technology itself because even the strongest instructional tools require thoughtful implementation to make a meaningful difference.
I think the conversation over the next several years will become less about adopting the newest technology and more about distinguishing between innovation and impact. The best solutions won’t ask teachers to change how they teach—they’ll make excellent teaching easier to sustain.
What are the areas of education, training, and workforce development that are being overlooked?
One idea I come back to often is this: literacy isn’t the destination—it’s the foundation.
Sometimes we become so focused on teaching individual skills or meeting individual standards that we lose sight of the bigger question: What kind of graduates are we trying to develop?
Reading proficiency is incredibly important, but ultimately, we’re preparing students to think critically, communicate effectively, evaluate information, collaborate with others, and participate meaningfully in their communities and future careers. Literacy makes all of those things possible.
That requires a much more coherent approach to education than treating reading, writing, content knowledge, technology, and communication as separate initiatives. Students experience learning as one continuous journey, so our instructional systems should reflect that same coherence.
I also think we sometimes underestimate the importance of helping educators see those connections. The strongest instructional programs don’t simply improve performance in one subject area, they build the knowledge, confidence, and habits of thinking that allow students to succeed well beyond school.
When we start by asking, “What do we want students to be able to do when they leave us?” it becomes much easier to design learning experiences that prepare them not just for assessments, but for life.
What do you foresee will be a challenge in education in three to five years?
One of the most important challenges over the next several years will be sustaining effective literacy instruction as the educator workforce continues to evolve.
We’ve made tremendous progress in building awareness around the Science of Reading and providing professional learning for educators already in the field. States, districts, and schools have invested significant time and resources in helping experienced teachers strengthen literacy instruction.
The next opportunity is ensuring that evidence-based literacy instruction is supported through continuous professional learning.
We’ve learned that meaningful instructional change requires continuous support. Teachers benefit most when professional learning is embedded into their daily practice through coaching, collaboration, classroom resources, and timely guidance—not delivered as a standalone event. The real challenge isn’t introducing the Science of Reading—it’s helping educators translate decades of research into consistent, effective classroom practice. That requires systems that support ongoing instructional growth long after the initial training is complete.
That same mindset should extend to how we prepare the next generation of educators. Teacher preparation programs have an important opportunity to equip future teachers with evidence-based instructional practices before they ever step into their own classrooms. When new educators begin their careers with strong instructional foundations—and continue receiving meaningful support throughout their careers—they’re better positioned to meet the diverse needs of today’s students.
At the same time, schools will continue to face challenges attracting and retaining talented educators. Supporting teachers can’t begin on their first day of work. It has to begin during preparation, continue through professional learning, and be reinforced with instructional systems that help educators continuously strengthen their practice throughout their careers.
That’s where I believe the next chapter of education improvement lies—not simply asking teachers to do more, but creating systems that enable them to grow, adapt, and thrive so they can focus on what matters most: helping every student succeed.