Today on the podcast we're taking a closer look at a recent study from the American Institutes for Research, also known as AIR, evaluating the effectiveness of Lucy Calkins' Units of Study, and unpacking the results. We're joined by Francie Alexander, chief research officer at HMH, and Dr. Pam Smith, Heinemann's Vice President of Sales and Customer Success. Francie is an industry leader in the fields of Early Childhood Education, Literacy, and Intensive Intervention for striving reading and math students. Prior to her time at HMH, Francie held key positions in both state and federal education agencies, including serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Education's research branch, where she led Department-sponsored standards efforts and campaigns in support of libraries and the arts. Her work is also grounded in the classroom, as she has taught students from kindergarten to college.Prior to joining Heinemann, Pam was an educator for 30 years, having taught grades 3-8 and served as a lead teacher, assistant principal, and principal. As an educator, she worked in districts implementing the Units of Study and has firsthand knowledge of the challenges and rewards of scaling up a new curriculum to transform teaching and learning in a building.Here now is Pam in conversation with Francie on the takeaways of the recent AIR report…