Tuesday Mar 17, 2026

S4E2 /// The Adults in the Middle

In this episode of My Child Can’t Read: A Heartland Crisis, we move up the ladder of responsibility to examine the adults caught in the middle of the literacy crisis. Teachers, administrators, and community members care deeply and take action—but knowledge gaps, systemic limits, and bureaucratic obstacles often stop even the most well-intentioned efforts. From classroom struggles to a privately funded structured literacy pilot that transformed students’ reading outcomes, we explore how adult action can help—and how the system can still block progress. By the end of the episode, we ask the hard question: Then who is actually holding the power?

Neal Zoglmann – Middle school SPED teacher; shares the challenge of learning evidence-based literacy while university programs continue to teach outdated methods.
Jaime Alford – Former principal and director of graduate workshops; discusses the emotional burden teachers carry, the “knowing-doing gap,” and the story of the Downing Project.
Michelle Schmidt – Teacher; highlights student growth and self-advocacy through structured literacy.
Joyce Temanson – Teacher; shares how professional development transformed her understanding of the Science of Reading.
Bunny Hill – Administrator; reflects on systemic friction and the limits of teacher agency.
Dana Hensley – Administrator; demonstrates how even knowledgeable teachers struggle to implement practices without structural support.
Analyssa Noe – Founder of Cardinal Academy; describes how discovering the science of reading transformed a rural micro-school where most students entered behind in reading.
Heather Mora – Parent; illustrates how gaps in adult preparation directly impact students and families.

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