Our Inspiration

Johnna O’Bryan spent years teaching in inner-city schools, and one thing became obvious very quickly: kids weren’t struggling to read because something was “wrong” with them. They were struggling because the system responsible for teaching them was overwhelmed, outdated, and broken. Too many students were taught with methods that research doesn’t support and handed "wait-and-see" support plans. Too many administrators—often with good intentions but misplaced priorities—made decisions that protected schedules, budgets, and appearances rather than the students sitting right in front of them.

But the moment that stayed with Johnna forever happened in a cramped conference room during a routine student support meeting to decide if a girl on her caseload should start receiving Special Education services.

Across the table sat a father in tears. His second-grade daughter struggled to simply name letters and recall their sounds. In Spanish, he told the team that he had always wanted to be a teacher and to help her with reading himself but had never been able to afford college. "Sólo quiero que aprenda a leer," he said. “I just want her to learn to read.”

Johnna knew this little girl well. She was bubbly, sweet and eager. Johnna had worked with her, seen her spark, and watched her make progress when given the right instruction. But at the end of the meeting, the team of “experts” looked at the data and determined—shockingly—that the child should receive fewer minutes of support from a teacher without specialized reading training.

She watched as a decision completely out of alignment with research, best practice, or basic common sense was stamped and approved. She watched a child who desperately needed structured, high-quality reading intervention get quietly shuffled to another caseload—one Johnna knew would not meet her needs. And she watched a father, who would have given anything for his daughter, walk out believing that the school’s decision must be right.

It wasn’t. And Johnna knew it.

After the meeting she approached the meeting coordinator and explained why the girl's prior placement was clearly better for her growth. The response was that since this student was going to receive Special Education services, by law this was the only option.

That moment lit a fire in her. She realized that real change wouldn’t come from inside the system—not quickly enough, and not widely enough. Parents, she realized, needed the knowledge, language, and confidence to understand what good reading instruction looks like, and the courage to advocate fiercely when their child wasn’t getting it.

A Parent's Advantage was born from that conviction.

Johnna built it for the parents in rooms like that conference room—for the ones who love their children deeply but feel outnumbered, out-talked, or out-informed in educational meetings. She built it to demystify reading research, to expose the gaps in common school practices, and to teach parents how to spot ineffective instruction and illogical decisions. And most of all, she built it to give families the one thing the system often fails to give them:

Power.

Today, A Parent’s Advantage exists so no child slips through the cracks simply because their parent didn’t speak the school’s language or know what questions to ask. It exists so that every parent can stand in those rooms—not intimidated, not unsure, but empowered.

Because when parents understand how reading actually works, everything changes.

By parents and literacy experts. For parents of struggling readers.

We are here for you, so you can be there for your child.

Empowering Parents.

We serve both homeschool parents and parents in the school system.

We teach parents the language and knowledge needed to support their struggling reader.

Guiding Growing Minds.

We review reading research and make it accessible and actionable for parents.

We create effective, multi-sensory reading activities to help struggling readers read.

Our Mission

Our Vision

That every parent is...

Highly involved in their child’s development.

Equipped to raise bright, clear-minded, critical thinkers who have the skills to make our world a better place!

Armed with just as much (or more) knowledge of reading research as public school personnel.

Motivated to strengthen family bonds and create positive, lasting memories around reading through fun and engaging activities.

Attentive and involved parents are the foremost experts on their own child, not educational "experts".

Well-informed parents should be the ones making decisions about their child’s education.

All children are uniquely created and can learn to read, and therefore deserve the proper individualized care, attention and instruction.

Healthy skepticism of the current state of educational and medical advice on learning disabilities is warranted and can gain us helpful insights.

Our Beliefs

Our Values

Child-Driven Decision Making

Many schools are turning to data-driven decision making. We encourage parents to make decisions based on the child themselves, not their data from an assessment.

Accuracy and Simplicity

We present only what we believe to be the most unbiased scientific and historically accurate conclusions in clear and straight-forward language.

Strong Family Bonds

Strong families are the key to creating healthy societies, systems and children.