Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
What curriculum/early literacy programs are currently being used?
Earlimart
FirebaughLas Deltas
Fowler
Kingsburg
Mendota
Sanger
 Rigby readers
 Guided Reading
 Treasures decodables (kinder)
The only assessment we currently give outside of classrooms assessments and
common assessments are DIBELS fluency testing at least 3 times per year and
KSEP in first 4 weeks of kindergarten.
We use Open Court as our ELA program for all elementary grades. This
curriculum is very outdated. We are currently awaiting the new state adoption
list for ELA. We have an RTI system for students K-2 and most of those students
needing intervention use Reading Mastery. We are looking at infusing multiple
research-based reading intervention programs for K-2. Some programs we are
considering include Phonics for Reading and/or Levels of Comprehension.
 “We Can” curriculum for TK
 HM Pre-K Program for Preschool
 Houghton Mifflin
 Rowland Reading
 K-2 Waterford
 Leveled Readers- A Guided Rdg
 Language for Learning
 STAR Rdg Assessment from Renaissance
 COP/Phonemic Awareness
 Fountis & Pinnell (F&P)
 Imagine Learning
 Migrant (k-6)
 Accelerated Reading (STAR Rdg)
 License for Accelerated Rdg
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Orton Gillingham
Some Guided Reading
Beginning ELA CCSS Units
Houghton Mifflin Reading
Rowland Reading (TK)
Imagine Learning
Site discretion on intervention programs
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
What early literacy assessments are being used?
Earlimart
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Mendota
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Rigby assessments
Multiple Measures
DIBELS
Unit formative assessments
DIBELS for K-2
KSEP for Kindergarten
District Benchmarks aligned for common core
Preschool – DRDP and Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
DIBELS
KSEP
Benchmarks
K intake
DIBELS
DRA
Intervention Bright Start Level 1 and Level 2 based on assessment.
LiPPS and Barton based on assessment.
DIBELS (RTI)
F&P
District Summer benchmark- purchased thru Amplify
Sanger
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Fountas and Pinnell
Benchmark Assessment System
DIBELS Next
District Progress Assessment
FirebaughLas Deltas
Fowler
Kingsburg
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
How is data from assessments being used and reported?
Earlimart
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Rigby assessments are used for guided reading groups
Multiple Measures and Unit Formatives—guided reading instruction
FirebaughData is used mainly to make decisions regarding RTI/Enrichment. Data is
Las Deltas
also used during grade level-level PLCs
 Data is especially used during SSTs, 504s, and ILPs
Fowler
 Preschool - to report child's progress to parents and to differentiate
instructional activities
 K-2 Report cards
 K-2 RtI groups data
Kingsburg DIBELS is used to assess student’s needs and provides benchmark data. Three
benchmarks are given throughout the year to
show student progress. Progress monitoring through DIBELS will be used for
specific students determined by their benchmark
results. Other assessments given include: ELA benchmark assessments, and an end
of the year school-wide writing assessment. All data from these assessments is
stored on the district data base. Data is also made available to teachers via the
internet. Teachers are given access to the district datebase and DIBELS websites to
frequently monitor the progress of their students based on assessments. DRA is
used to determine at risk students’ reading levels.
Mendota
Transitional Kindergarten - All students will be assessed using District Pre-K
assessment, Get Ready to Read, !DRDP-SR, DIBELS,
and district benchmarks.
Pre-school - All students will be assessed using District Pre-K assessment, and
Desired Results Developmental Profile
 Data Director(used for promotion/retention)- summative used for
intervention/school accountability report card and RTI Deployment
 CELDT – not timely to make instructional decisions
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
Sanger
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No formative assessment for ELs
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Trend analysis of DIBELS for RtI (Placement, Problem Solving, Progress
Monitoring)
BAS will determine leveled reading for Guided Reading
Literacy gap analysis
Individual Language Plans (ILP) for LTEL (Long Term EL)
Principal summits to review patterns in the system
Parent/teacher conferences in November
Standards based report cards
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Is there time set aside for teacher collaboration around literacy?
Earlimart
Yes—we have early release Wednesdays. Some grade levels also chose to meet
during their prep time.
Firebaugh- Teachers meet in grade levels one time a week for approximately 1 hour. These
Las Deltas PLCs revolve around math and literacy.
Fowler
Preschool - twice monthly staff meetings
AAA days
Grade Level meetings
Kingsburg Teachers and support staff meet in weekly PLCs.
Mendota
Yes, time to collaborate – Every Wednesday minimum day, but how much time is
spent on literacy collaboration TBD – it’s been weak
Sanger
 PLCs every other Wednesday may include literacy
 2 district-wide PD days for grade levels to focus on literacy
 Early Literacy Task Force
 RTI PLCs for problem-solving
Who leads the collaboration and who participates?
Earlimart
Teachers and support staff meet in weekly PLCs.
Firebaugh- Teachers lead their own PLC and grade level teachers participate. This occurs
Las Deltas weekly. Once a week the entire school staff will have a PLC to look at site data and
trends. During the once a month PLCs leadership will facilitate.
Fowler
 PK site supervisor and/or ECE coordinator (leads); PK staff (participates)
 Grade level chair
 Academic Coaches- some district wide & some by site
Kingsburg
 Lead teachers and sometimes the principals lead PLCs.
 All teachers, administrators and support staff participate in PLCs.
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
Mendota
Sanger
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Administrative team and teachers – VP and lead teachers
Grade level reps
Academic coaches and GS’s
PLCs- lead by site leaders
District-led by AA and District Instructional Specialists (DIS)
ELTF-AA and DIS
RTI-RTI coordinator and school psych
Any other early literacy professional development or supports for
teachers?
Earlimart
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Tulare County Office of Education is providing us with 10 days of consultant
support in early literacy and ELD strategies.
Firebaugh- Our district is part of a Birth to 3rd grade grant through First 5 and FCOE. This
Las Deltas grant focuses on grade level literacy by 3rd grade, and this starts with parent
outreach and language development that begins as early as the birth of a child in
our community.
Fowler
 ECE coordinator
 Academic coaches
 Conferences - K conf.; CSUF TK Bootcamp
 FCOE TK consortium
 Subject specific trainings - FCOE/TCOE
Kingsburg
Mendota
 District wide EL strategies, ELDP
 New teachers, how do they get trained once hired
 PD for specific programs
 Special Ed – Rdg Mastery,
 DIBELS, Language for Learning
Sanger
 Money for resources from LCAP
 DIS visits at sites
 Training in guided reading
 Read aloud project
 Basal alignment project
 ELD as a pathway to reading comprehension
Any parent and community engagement early literacy outreach
efforts? If so, what?
Earlimart
We are planning to have the Latino Family Literacy Project come to our district and
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
train staff members later this fall. Information is going home to parents during
Back to School Night with tips and suggestions about how to help their children
with literacy at home.
Firebaugh- We are beginning our first funded year of our B3 grant that focuses on early
Las Deltas literacy. Parent outreach is a large part of the B3 effort in that we can get into the
community and teach parents of the importance of health, early education,
language development and reading. Through the grant we have hired an outreach
liaison. This liaison assists our early ed coordinator with outreach opportunities
and professional development for preschool, TK, kindergarten teachers.
Fowler
 Parent Involvement workshops
 Latino Literacy Project
 Kindergarten Transition
 Sessions w/ Preschool Parents
Kingsburg
 Washington School (grades Preschool, TK and K) articulate several times
per year with the local preschools in Kingsburg. The Washington principals
works with the local preschools to align pre-k assessments and curriculum.
The Kingsburg Elementary School District has developed in collaboration
with local preschools, child care providers, and Fresno County Office of
Education
 A preschool articulation plan is given to all parents of 4 year old children to
ensure that the
 Transition to kindergarten is smooth. Annually, preschool teachers or
directors meet with kindergarten teachers to discuss the transition of
students via the Preschool Provider Network
 All schools have PTO and parent advisory groups.
 The district offers a parent literacy component of its parent workshops.
Mendota
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Monthly parent meetings focus on literacy
Parenting Partners
Parent University
DELAC, ELAC
Migrant Council – focus on literacy
Latino Family Literacy Project- Literacy
Sanger
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Adult Latino Literacy Class at some sites
Read Anywhere, Any Time (in the community)
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
Any other priorities/efforts/inputs for early literacy?
Earlimart
We are in the process of developing an RtI process at our K-2 school. That includes
a designated intervention time and an explicit phonics time.
Firebaugh- We are working on refining our RTI/Enrichment system at the K-2 level. This effort
Las Deltas is much stronger at the 3rd -8th grade level. We are taking a close look at how we
can improve these efforts starting in Kindergarten (or sooner).
Fowler
 New ECE coordinator
 PK Staff training
Kingsburg
 All teachers were trained by Nuemours in Bright Start intervention
milestones for Literacy development.
Mendota
 Newcomer students – home visits to families from district
 Identify and monitor students new to the country – affects literacy
Sanger
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Participant in STRIVE
How do you define school readiness for early literacy? What do you
want to be true for every child?
Earlimart
Students are school ready if they understand that print contains meaning, that
stories have a beginning, middle and an end, and have a positive attitude about
books and reading. They are also ready if they have a large vocabulary in either
English or Spanish. This can be accomplished by families reading and talking
extensively with children before they enter school.
Firebaugh- Early literacy goes hand in hand with language development and the social
Las Deltas emotional aspects of a child. We are working on increasing language opportunities
in our classrooms as well as literacy opportunities. The KSEP assessment, which is
an observation tool, allows us to gauge our kindergarten readiness. Techniques
like stand and deliver, sentence frames, and collaborative strategies help prepare
our students for readiness at every grade. We want every child to come to
kindergarten with a preschool experience. We want every child to come to us
ready for kindergarten according to KSEP. And we want every child reading at
grade level by 3rd grade according to state/national assessments.
Fowler
Having Phonemic knowledge
able to manipulate / play with words sounds, rhymes,
chants songs
Kingsburg Children need to be successful in the following areas: Phonemic awareness,
alphabetic principal, accuracy and fluency with text, vocabulary and
comprehension. This is why we do the assessments we have so we know where
students are in these areas and how to provide instruction and intervention as
needed. We want all students to leave kindergarten ready to read and write
before entering first grade. In order to do this parents, preschools, TK, and K
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
Mendota
Sanger
teachers need to work in collaboration focusing on the above five areas.
 Kids reading and knowing sounds, with intervention
 Using assessments to inform instruction/interventions
 Gaps being filled
 Not just reading at grade level, but comprehending, oral communication
 Listening comp
 strong oral language development
 SEL
 some attention to print
 attend to tasks
 ready to come and learn
What are you K-2 success metrics for literacy? What do you want to
be true for every student?
Earlimart
Kindergarten students should end the year with mastery of all letter names,
sounds, and a bank of at least 60 high-frequency words. They should be able to
decode CVC words and explain what they read. They should be reading Rigby
books at level 6. They should also be able to retell key details from a story that
has been read aloud to them.
First grade students should be able to read fluently using all 3 cueing systems to
help them solve new words. They should use story meaning and picture cues,
syntax to hear if it “sounds right,” and visual cues such as letters, digraphs,
diphthongs and blends. They should be reading at a Rigby level 16. They should
continue to build their bank of high-frequency words to 200 by the end of the
year and they should be able to explain what they read.
FirebaughLas Deltas
Fowler
Second grade students should be fluent readers and should be reading level 24
Rigby books by the end of the year, and many should be exiting Rigby altogether
since the books end at level 30. Mastering high-frequency words should be
replaced by word-solving skills that are a result of students applying the reading
strategies that they have learned.
DIBELS is our largest predictor as well as Accelerated Reader/STAR testing. For
DIBELS we primarily use the fluency testing. This is done at least 3 times a year,
and sometimes more often for tier 2 and tier 3 students. What we want to be
true for every student is that they are English proficient, reading at grade –level,
and socially emotionally adapted to the school setting.
Students know all letters sounds, 50 SW & basic CVE words read write skills by K.
Reading skills applied reading writing at grade level basic text ,
100 SW 1st.
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
Kingsburg
Mendota
Sanger
300 SW by
by 2nd
 For the past four years KES has been using DIBELS as an indicator of the
projection of success at third grade reading level.
 All students will read on grade level and not have a literacy gap
 By 3rd grader students can read at grade level or above (to be discussed)
 Whatever data is used, it has to be trusted and usable – maybe F&P and
DIBELS
 BAS - at grade level
 Writing
 listening
 speaking
 44 Sight Words kinder
 100 Sight Words 1st Grade
What are your third grade success metrics for literacy? What do you
want to be true for every student?
Earlimart
FirebaughLas Deltas
Fowler
Kingsburg
Mendota
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I want every third grade student to be able to read at the level of
complexity that is called for in the CCSS.
 I want the text exemplars in Appendix B of the ELA standards to be easy
for our third grade students to decode and understand.
rd
3 grade uses DIBELS and Accelerated Reader. We plan to have district
benchmarks implemented again soon. For EL students we use ELLA data to get
another point of data for decision-making. What we want to be true for every
student is that they are English proficient, reading at grade-level, and socially
emotionally adapted to the school setting.
 Student reading and writing at grade level or beyond with varied text &
varied purposes
 Increased Reading proficiency scores
 Student and parent engagement
 Increased Vocabulary development
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We want all students to read fluently and enjoy reading.
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Use a range of strategies when drawing meaning from the text.
Use of identification strategies appropriately and automatically when
encountering unknown words
Make critical connections between texts and to self.
By 3rd grade, that students can read at grade level or above (to be
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Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
Sanger
discussed)
 Whatever data is used, it has to be trusted and usable – maybe F&P and
DIBELS
A literate student leaves third grade…
 Reading and writing across content
 Reading fluently
 Having applicable strategies for different text types
 Knowing how to tackle unknown words
 Having decoding skills at all levels
 Comprehending complex text
 Understanding purposes of reading
 Using all domains (LSRW) to effectively communicate
 Reading with correct intonation and prosody
 Reading for enjoyment
Other vision/goals/ways to define early literacy?
Earlimart
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FirebaughLas Deltas
Fowler
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Kingsburg
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Mendota
Sanger
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Student writing should be commensurate with their reading and mirror the
exemplars that are in Common Core Standards Appendix C.
Reading and writing are reciprocal processes and students should apply
their knowledge of sounds, grammar and conventions to write on grade
level.
Train Parents as first teachers with reading skills so able to teach prereading skills to own children
How young children interact with books and when reading and writing,
even though they can’t read or write in the conventional sense.
Awareness of the sounds of language, awareness of print and the
relationship between letters and sounds
(Includes vocabulary)
Students use all four areas of language (L/S/R/W) to effectively
communicate by producing and receiving information that enables them to
be critical thinkers.
Other districts thoughts/questions/contributions
Mendota – What is the correlation between Fountas & Pinnell and CELDT
Sanger
In order to achieve the vision f a balanced program, we need…
Early Literacy Current State Combined Answers
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Clear articulated goals and skills for each grade level (aligned to CCSS)
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Research-based Assessment(s) that measures the five components of reading –
both diagnostic and monitoring
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Proven effective strategies to teach Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency,
Vocabulary, and Comprehension
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Oral literacy development
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Reading to, with, and by children using a variety of text types
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One-on-one, small group, and whole class explicit instruction
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Guided Reading
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Read-Alouds
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Writing to, with, and by children
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Student engagement in academic conversations about text
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A print rich environment
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Language Development
Parent and Community Involvement