CPSD to Roll Out New Reading Materials for K-5

It’s a new frontier for the —one paved with books.

The district will implement fresh instructional materials for reading at the K-5 grade level starting in the 2011-12 school year. The last adoption of such materials was in 2003, and the curriculum is reviewed every seven years.

It is a multi-year process, said Brian Laubach, the district’s director of teaching and learning, in a presentation on the plan to the School Board last week.

“They need to be independent readers, out there voraciously reading,” he said. “We have a students of varying abilities and we need to meet them.”

From May 2009 to March 2011, pilot materials for the program were selected based on a “deep alignment study” and Washington state standards. During the current school year, 75 teachers across five elementary schools have participated in a pilot program with the materials, and a recommendation was made in early March.

That decision was based on information gleaned from teacher evaluation forms, data and feedback. Laubach said that CPSD is ahead of many school districts in purchasing these materials; Bellevue and Stanwood are also implementing them.

“K-5 Journeys,” published by Houghton Mufflin Harcourt, and “Read Well,” produced by Sopris West, were approved for use in CPSD on March 17. The district has budgeted $1.5 million for the core materials, but there are also interventional and supplementary materials to purchase.

Kindergarten through second grade will use the “Read Well” series, which has an option for each grade, as well as “Read Well 1 Plus” for first graders reading above grade level and as remediation for second and third graders.

Second through fifth grade will use “Journeys” materials. Laubach explained that there is an overlap for second graders; those who master the “Read Well” series will be able to move on and start streamlining into the next reading materials.

The recommendation states that both programs meet the needs of all students, as well as have strong home-connection components.

Laubach said that “Read Well” books are good for early readers and feature animal characters, while “Journeys” are about making more connections.

“So far, every teacher has liked everything that has been presented,” he said.

The “Journeys” readers are hard copy, but can be viewed online in a digitized format so parents can read at home with their children.

Among the strengths of “Read Well” are that the books are mastery-based and have multiple entry points for placement students into small groups.

In addition, the series is compatible with VPORT, which allows teachers to input unit-based data into a database so student progress will be visible.

“Journeys” comes with varied texts, including fiction, nonfiction and “reader’s theater” selections, and the standards spiral, meaning that when a student sees a vocabulary word in one book, he or she will see it again.

“We want to have kids have multiple exposures to those vocabulary words to they will retail them,” Laubach said.

There is an English Language Learners component for Spanish in the “Journeys” series, but the district is not purchasing that at this time.

Superintendent Debbie LeBeau emphasized that the textbook is not the curriculum.

“They will be a resource,” she said, “but not all that they do.”

Laubach said that elementary schools in CPSD will continue to “Walk to Read” within their grade level, where students go to another class to read with other students.

Board vice president Carole Jacobs was glad to hear that.

“We’re looking at successes we have had,” she said, “and we have had some success with 'Walk to Read.'”

Board members also inquired about where the current reading materials would go. They may be sent to a clearinghouse in King County, but the district also may hold on to some.

“I just don’t want our kids to lose any books,” Jacobs said.

Board president Walt Kellcy Jr. said that having a district-wide textbook adoption is a new adventure for CPSD, but a welcomed one.

“We certainly want all children to achieve,” he said.