MPS Expands Literacy Training for Teachers Ahead of New School Year
1,000 Milwaukee Educators to Attend the Expect Great Things Instructional Summit; Sessions Also Will Support Mathematics
(MILWAUKEE) — More than 1,000 Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) teachers and support staff will take part in expanded literacy professional development ahead of the new school year, as MPS moves to accelerate reading proficiency for students across all grade levels. MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius has made reading proficiency a top priority for the district since being appointed last year.
“Learning to read with confidence can change the trajectory of a child’s life,” Superintendent Cassellius said. “The Expect Great Things Instructional Summit reflects our belief that if our educators have access to the tools, training and resources to help our students read, we can change outcomes for students. This is our most important work and will ensure we are meeting the high expectations we have set.”
MPS’s literacy plan included new textbooks and curricular materials for kindergarten through grade 5, rolled out during the 2025-26 school year. High-quality instructional materials have been secured for English Language Arts, grades 9 to 12, starting this fall.
The literacy plan is aligned to the science of reading, the leading research that informs how children learn to read. It also reflects the requirements of Wisconsin Act 20, the state law that aims to have all children reading on grade level by the third grade.
The MPS Instructional Summit, being held on August 10 and 11, is hosted by MPS and free for MPS educators. Educators from charter and private schools can attend for a fee. The Summit is open to teachers from kindergarten through grade 12 and is designed to strengthen instruction of literacy and biliteracy as well as mathematics.
For the MPS Instructional Summit, the district is partnering with two education organizations: CORE Learning for reading and language instruction, and UnboundEd for math instruction.
CORE Learning is leading the literacy strand of the partnership — building teacher and leader knowledge of the science of reading and language development, and giving educators a shared, systematic understanding of how students learn to read and how that knowledge translates into daily instruction.
UnboundEd is leading the mathematics strand, supporting teachers and instructional leaders across the district with professional learning that strengthens grade-level math instruction and builds the coherence teachers need to move students confidently through the K–12 math sequence.
Together, the two strands give Milwaukee teachers and school leaders a single, connected professional learning experience across both content areas this year, supported by the same enterprise and grounded in the same commitment to every student.
“Our teachers are stepping into this school year supported in both literacy and mathematics, and our commitment is to ensure that support will be felt in every classroom,” said Ana Gabriela Bell Jiménez, MPS deputy chief academic officer.
Jennifer Mims-Howell, MPS’s chief academic officer, said the summit will have a deliberate focus on meeting the needs of the district’s diverse student body, including English learners and students with individualized education plans (IEPs).
“It is a meaningful investment in the instructional excellence we want for every MPS classroom,” she said.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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