Literacy Partners - Los Angeles, California

Susan Mun

Dahlia, I wanted to take some time to share a note of acknowledgement for the work Melinda has been doing with us and how truly valuable it has been. Specifically, from my perspective as a teacher on special assignment and how she has been such a leader role model for me in the work we are doing as partners in growing, strengthening, and enhancing literacy.

Today, with Melinda's masterful guidance and support from our last meeting together, I was able to schedule and engage our 4th grade team in preparing materials for the testing season. During this time, with a few "coaching" moves Melinda modeled and taught, we continued our conversation about some of the highlights of our last meeting with Melinda, continuously building our practice that was student centered and collaborative as a team.

I truly felt like a partner in literacy, due to the work we have done with your organization and the work with Melinda!

Andrea Luce

Dahlia has been AMAZING. Dahlia breaks down everything you need to know in manageable pieces, encourages throughout the process, and gives timely feedback. I feel more confident and prepared for Writer's Workshop! I highly recommend Dahlia and Literacy Partners. The presentations are engaging, resources are abundant and meetings are productive. Follow-up emails and observations keeps the process active.

Mary Denny

I was a classroom teacher in a local public school for 10 years, and I received training with Literacy Partners for 7 of those years. I felt particularly successful with the writing program. With every training, I felt like there was information that I could go back in to the classroom to teach immediately. Other pieces took time to get the hang of, but once I got there, I was incredibly amazed with what seven year old children could do with writing with the right guidance. Once the pandemic hit and teachers were required to Zoom teach, I felt like I had enough tools in my tool belt to be able to teach writing even from home! And the children enjoyed Writer’s Workshop as well, which is the most important part. I highly recommend Literacy Partners. If your school is at all interested in immersing themselves in effective and sustainable reading and writing training, I highly suggest you get in touch with Dahlia today!

Anthony Granado

Literacy Partners was transformative for my staff. We use the Units of Study for Reading and Writing and this year we revisited practices for writing that were in place prior to the pandemic. Their Staff Developers are energetic, knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with. They work one on one with teachers, run lab sites, helped teachers create toolkits. Dahlia is responsive and great to work with throughout the year. Looking forward to working with her again.

Chloe Baker

I highly recommend Literacy Partners and Dahlia Dallal, she has been incredibly helpful as we have dove into writer's workshop with our staff and students. The level of expertise and information is unlike any other. We are so grateful to have had her teach us at our school over the last couple years and are looking forward to continuing this work in the coming years. Yay Literacy Partners and a big thank you!

Kimberly Lopez

I’ve really enjoyed our work with Literacy Partners over the past year. Dahlia is down-to-earth in her work with teachers, giving them practical and realistic strategies that they’ve enthusiastically embraced. Seeing students’ writing growth in the workshop model has been wonderful. They’re excited about being writers and sharing their work!

Nicole Hill

Literacy Partners offers top-notch professional development in Balanced Literacy. Our teachers have absolutely loved working with our staff developer, Erin. She is deeply knowledgable and passionate about Balanced Literacy. The approach that Literacy Partners takes is so effective-- live demonstration lessons with debriefs, interactive planning sessions, observation and coaching. The variety of approaches Erin is able to take ensures that she's meeting the variety of our teachers' needs. This is not a sit-and-get approach to adult learning; it is highly interactive and meaningful, and our teachers leave each session feeling energized and inspired! Dahlia is also a dream to work with--she helped tailor our package to our needs and has been flexible with all the operational challenges that we've faced during the pandemic. Can't recommend them more highly!

Me Here

PLEASE READ FULL REVIEW! BUYER BEWARE!
Dahlia Dallal the founder of Literacy Partners trained our staff at my elementary school in Writer's Workshop many years ago. I am now retired and can share my experiences honestly. Teachers did not have a choice and had to use her version of the program. It is unfortunate to admit that student writing quality plummeted. For the good of all children please stay away from this version of the program. I am still feeling guilty about having my students use this method.

I just read the owner's reply (Dahlia's) and will respond here. I also have attended some of Dahlia's district wide workshops and observed numerous teachers that attempted to make suggestions, which were never considered by Dahlia. I tried to make suggestions and was ignored just like every other teacher. Someone who owns a company that is created to train teachers, needs to be able to adjust to the needs of the students and teachers. Dahlia refused to improve and listen during workshops. How interesting with a single star rating she is finally offering to listen. I feel that it is an insincere gesture.

Please look for a program that encourages many types of writing, strong essays and quality writing in general. The elementary schools that have used her program have created a challenge for Middle Schools to try to correct.
Strange that after my honest review and first review of this company, the following reviews are all positive. At least from the schools that I know people who were trained by Literacy Partners, positive reviews would not have been posted. As of today, January 20th, 2021, the other reviewers only have placed this single Google review for this company and are not regular google contributors. I am happy that I just randomly checked on my reviews and saw these FAKE REVIEWS that followed my review.This company has been around so many years and now it gets positive reviews after my initial honest and sincere 1 star review. Five positive reviews after years of not having a single review on Google seems very suspect. I really doubt that Literacy Partners has improved their program. They did not ever address suggestions or change anything in order to help students. We had them training us over multiple years. BUYER BEWARE! Hurting children just in order to earn a living as an incompetent consultant is just wrong.

I am long retired and just hope that educational leaders research programs with care and stay away from hype that does not help kids. Please ask to see a school that has used their method and visit a class that has had this version of Writer's workshop over many years. Los Angeles Unified schools in Huntington Park, Walnut Park, and South Gate were the first schools in LAUSD to use this flawed version of Writer's Workshop. Ask to see random student writing at either 5th or 6th grade and you will be able to witness how this version of the program just does not promote quality writing! You may observe quantity, but very likely poor quality.

May 5th, 2023
I just read the reply from the owner! While still teaching I brought up my issues and the last thing Dahlia did is listen or adjust for the well being of students. I am not hiding, but feel like it would be fruitless to discuss the failings of this company. The damage has already been done. The edu-speak does not help kids! If you want to hire this company ask to visit Title 1 schools using the methods espoused by this company and you will realize the truth.

Again, I have long retired and feel guilty that I followed my administrator’s edicts and used the very flawed methods espoused by this company.

I publish many reviews and try to help other consumers make good decisions. This company does harm to children and that is morally wrong. I feel that the reviewers are friends of the owner and do not reflect the opinion of educators who have had the misfortune to go through a training that harms student learning.

July 2024:Please notice how many reviews these 5 star raters have written. Clearly fake. Buyer beware.