Primary school adopts updated reading curriculum

by Laura Bednar

Independence Primary School will implement a new English Language Arts curriculum for grades K-4 starting next school year.

Director of Curriculum and Technology Mike Pennington said the Ohio Department of Workforce and Education announced a new initiative last year to support literacy in schools. This included a new list of approved ELA curriculums.

“For Independence it was perfect timing because our previous [ELA curriculum] contract was coming to a conclusion at the end of the 2022-2023 school year,” said Pennington. “I was able to work with our vendor to extend our contract for a year while we waited for the state to compile their list of approved curriculums.”

Starting in spring of 2023, Pennington, IPS Principal TJ Ebert, Jamie Smith from the Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio, Independence district tutor Lynn Metzger and a teacher from each primary school grade formed a curriculum adoption committee.

The group reviewed six curriculums and spoke to four vendors. Pennington said the committee talked with teachers, principals and curriculum directors from districts that adopted curriculum material Independence was considering. They also visited Revere Local Schools.

Pennington said it was important for the group to understand the goals for the new material. This includes aligning teaching with Science of Reading practices. The Science of Reading, according to the ODEW:

• Informs how students learn to read and write proficiently.
• Explains why some students have difficulty reading.
• Indicates that students benefit from instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, writing and comprehension.
• Does not rely on any model of teaching students to read based on meaning, structure, syntax and visual cues.

The district chose McGraw Hill Wonders as the new curriculum. Independence was using McGraw Hill, but the version was from 2015-2016, according to Pennington. The new version is two edits beyond what they had been using.

“So much more goes into how students learn to read,” said Pennington. “Curriculum adoption is the vehicle for us to reflect and improve.”

He added that the curriculum committee would examine the implementation quarterly. One of the biggest differences in the curriculum is breaking down texts to determine why students struggle with reading. Pennington said the ultimate goal is to have one digital hub to see how each grade level is progressing.

The cost of the curriculum is $95,000; the district was awarded a $59,000 grant to help defray the cost.

Independence Board of Education members approved a five-year contract with McGraw Hill Wonders, which Pennington said provides free curriculum updates as circumstances change.

Independence earned three out of five stars in early literacy on the 2023 state report card. The early literacy category measures students’ reading improvement from kindergarten through third grade. Those who lag behind are put on a reading improvement plan.

Pennington said school districts are starting to see gains using LETRS, or Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, which instructs teachers what literacy skills need to be taught and how to teach them, according to news organization Education Week.

The district will continue using supplementary programs such as LETRS to reinforce the new curriculum. ∞