Academic Quarterly
An increasing number of resources are available to help determine how well your current elementary reading/ELA curriculum, or one you’re considering adopting, aligns with the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy. In this edition of the Leadership Corner, we share a few recommendations to help guide your evaluation.
As the Science of Reading (SoR) and Structured Literacy gains prominence across the country, educators may be searching for resources that can help them better understand what to look for regarding alignment to the SoR in their current elementary reading/ELA curriculum or new curriculum being considered. Some educators who may be utilizing instructional resources and practices that are associated with Balanced Literacy may not be sure how to navigate the differences. A few resources may be useful in helping educators better understand how their current or potential Reading/ELA curriculums are aligned to SoR and the standards.
The first resource is an overview of the SoR by Jan Hasbrouck. This video is less than one hour and highlights what the SoR is. The video also provides examples and non-examples of SoR instructional practices.
Another resource that may be helpful is the Reading League’s Curriculum Evaluation Tool. This resource provides examples and non-examples of SoR instructional practices for reading/ELA.
Below are examples of programs that were highly rated by Ed Reports. Reviews for Wonders 2020 and 2017 are both referenced below because there is a Student Achievement Partners report for Wonders 2017 that Ed Reports rated differently than Wonders 2020
The purpose of including these reports is to understand what the challenges are with the instruction in these two curricula. Ed Reports gave the two programs below a poor rating. The Student Achievement Partners report also provided details about the problems with the Units of Study curriculum.
