A new literacy law can feel like a fire hose, especially when the deadlines are real and the details are easy to misunderstand. We sit down with Georgia literacy leaders, including Dr. Fran Dundore and Stacey Lutz, to translate House Bill 1193 into plain, usable guidance for district teams who have to approve and implement a Unified Literacy Plan without turning it into “one more thing.”

We walk through what’s truly required versus what’s flexible, then zoom in on the coaching system that anchors the whole approach: school-based literacy coaches, regional literacy coaches, and regional literacy leadership coaches. We talk about why protecting the coach role matters, what the 70% direct instructional support expectation looks like on the ground, and how a tiered support plan and district self-audit will shape the kind of help each district receives. If you’ve been wondering how part-time coaches, split funding, or hiring timelines affect support, we address those questions head-on.

Then we get practical with the new Unified Literacy Plan template: short narrative fields, required components, and how districts can connect literacy goals, universal screening, dyslexia-related supports, science of reading aligned instructional materials, and readiness and retention policies into one coherent system. We also explore what “birth to five engagement” can look like in different communities, from partnerships with Head Start and daycare providers to libraries, health systems, and educator prep programs.

If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a district teammate, and leave a review so more literacy leaders can find it. What part of Unified Literacy Plan work do you want clearer examples of next?