District Reading Plan

Describe how reading assessment and instruction for all students in the district includes oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension to aid in the comprehension of texts to meet grade‑level English/Language Arts standards.

Reading assessment and instruction for all students in Dorchester School District Two includes a comprehensive, systematic approach that addresses multiple components of literacy development. These components—oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension—are essential for aiding students in understanding and mastering grade-level SC CCR English Language Arts (ELA) standards. Here’s how these areas are be addressed in assessment and instruction:

1. Oral Language: Teachers incorporate activities like group discussions, storytelling, and read-aloud sessions, where students practice speaking, listening, and understanding language. This builds a strong vocabulary and sentence structure knowledge that supports reading comprehension. Our district adopted high-quality instructional materials from HMH Into Reading provides daily opportunities to build oral language.
2. Phonological Awareness: Phonological awareness involves recognizing and manipulating sounds in words. Instruction focuses on skills such as rhyming, blending sounds, segmenting words into phonemes, and understanding syllable structures. Phonological awareness is the first step in UFLI Foundations, which has been adopted district-wide from kindergarten through second grade.
3. Phonics: Phonics instruction teaches the relationship between letters and sounds, allowing students to decode written words. Systematic phonics programs focus on teaching letter-sound correspondence, word patterns, and the rules for spelling. Our DDTwo Literacy Model has dedicated time for phonics instruction and small group instruction to support using decodables to attend to code and use phonics knowledge to decode words. Students practice through reading and writing exercises that involve decoding unfamiliar words. UFLI is our district-adopted phonics curriculum in kindergarten through second grade. HMH Into Reading Structured Literacy is our district-adopted phonics curriculum for third grade.
4. Fluency: Fluency is the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and with appropriate expression. Teachers use repeated readings of familiar text, paired reading, and performance-based reading activities like reader’s theater. The goal is for students to read smoothly and at an appropriate pace to support comprehension. Fluency is often measured by the number of words read correctly per minute. Teachers listen to students read aloud and track progress, looking for improvements in speed, accuracy, and prosody (reading with expression). Weekly fluency conferences also take place.

5. Vocabulary: Vocabulary instruction includes both direct and indirect methods. Direct instruction focuses on teaching specific word meanings, while indirect instruction occurs through reading, conversation, and exposure to new words. Teachers use word walls, vocabulary notebooks, and interactive read-alouds to develop students' vocabulary.

6. Comprehension: Comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading. Instruction in this area involves teaching strategies like making predictions, asking questions, summarizing, and making inferences. Teachers model these strategies using both fiction and non-fiction texts, and students practice them in guided reading sessions, discussions, and writing activities. HMH Into Reading is our district adopted high-quality curriculum. Daily reading lessons in HMH Into Reading explicitly teach a particular skill or strategy before reading, which children immediately apply to help them comprehend a read-aloud or grade-level text. The skills repeat often throughout the school year in increasingly complex text. By continually spiraling through skills that are in service of texts, rather than focusing on a weekly skill, students will gradually learn to draw from many skills and strategies to comprehend what they read.

   Finally, these components do not exist in isolation; they build on each other. For example, phonological awareness and phonics support fluency, which in turn aids comprehension. Vocabulary development enhances both oral language and comprehension. Effective instruction involves integrating these areas to create well-rounded, proficient readers who meet grade-level ELA indicators.

Document how reading instruction and assessment for all students in the district are further aligned to the science of reading, structured literacy and foundational literacy skills.

To ensure reading instruction and assessment are aligned with the science of reading, structured literacy, and foundational literacy skills, DDTwo has a structured literacy model. Each of the five pillars of reading is represented within our Literacy Model. Our Literacy Model provides guidance for teachers and dedicated time for phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, oral language, and comprehension. Further, HMH Into Reading and UFLI Foundations have been adopted as our high-quality curriculum and instructional materials. Each of these together ensures evidence-based practices that reflect the cognitive processes involved in learning to read are happening in the classroom. Our approach is grounded in research and targets the essential components of reading instruction. Here’s how alignment is being achieved:

The science of reading is a body of research that encompasses how the brain learns to read. It emphasizes the need for systematic, explicit instruction in phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Instruction in these areas supports the development of skilled reading by recognizing the importance of decoding and language comprehension. The DDTwo Literacy Model is structured in that it is systematic, cumulative, 

explicit, and diagnostic. We also have a PK-5th ELA Instructional Planning Guides to support teachers with intentional and sequential instruction in all areas of reading. Instruction follows a structured sequence, ensuring that skills are taught in an ordered way that builds on previous learning. For example, phonics instruction begins with simple sound-letter correspondences and progressively moves to more complex patterns, such as digraphs and blends. Teachers deliver clear, direct instruction, often using a “I do, we do, you do” model, where they first model a skill, practice it with students, and then allow independent practice. Instruction is cumulative, meaning that each new skill is built on prior knowledge. Students continually practice previously learned skills, reinforcing them while acquiring new ones. We believe in continuous assessment of student progress through formative assessments, allowing teachers to monitor whether students are mastering each skill before moving on. These assessments help tailor instruction to meet the needs of each learner.

Teachers differentiate instruction based on individual assessments, providing targeted interventions for students who struggle in specific areas. For students who are on or above grade level, enrichment activities can challenge them to deepen their reading comprehension and analytical skills.

By systematically addressing these key literacy components through both instruction and assessment, DDTwo can ensure that all students progress toward meeting the grade-level ELA indicators. Assessments include:

• Phonological Awareness and Phonics: Phonological awareness is assessed through tasks like identifying rhyming words, segmenting words into sounds, or blending sounds to form words. In addition to teacher created assessments, phonological awareness is assessed using the Really Great Reading Foundational Skills Surveys in K-2nd grade. Phonics is assessed through reading exercises where students are asked to decode words or read passages aloud. Teachers monitor how well students apply their phonics knowledge to reading unfamiliar text, providing targeted interventions when necessary. This year, we have implemented the Really Great Reading Foundational Skills Survey assessments in grades K-2nd to monitor student progress with grade-level indicators four times a year.
• Fluency: Fluency is assessed through AIMSWeb, UFLI Foundations Fluency Checks, and weekly fluency conferences with students.
• Vocabulary and Comprehension: Vocabulary knowledge is assessed through various methods, including asking students to define words, use them in sentences, word sorts, and through application. Vocabulary is also assessed through using context clues to infer meanings of unfamiliar words in texts. Comprehension is assessed through both written and verbal responses to texts. DDTwo utilized district common assessments in grades 2-5. These common assessments are given routinely throughout the year to assess standards mastery. Assessments also include standardized tests aligned with grade-level ELA indicators.

Document how the district uses universal and interim assessment data, in conjunction with diagnostic assessment data to assist schools in determining pathways of intervention for students who have failed to demonstrate grade‑level reading proficiency.

Dorchester District 2 uses Pearson’s AIMSweb Early Literacy Benchmarks and NWEA Map Growth Reading as Universal Screeners to identify students failing to demonstrate grade-level reading proficiency. Once these universal screener assessments provide preliminary data, schools use a variety of diagnostic assessments, such as the Foundational Skills Assessment, to identify specific skill deficits and needs for intervention. Schools provide targeted, skills-based interventions to students not showing Grade Level Reading Proficiency through a variety of instructional models including in-class interventions, school-based interventions, special education instruction, and multi-lingual instruction. To assess the intervention’s effectiveness and track student progress, a series of progress monitoring tools are available to teachers such as AIMSweb. Formative and summative assessments such as our District Common Assessments and HMH Module Assessments are used to further identify areas of need and areas of success for all students. All of these assessments work in conjunction to identify, place, and determine pathways for intervention for any student demonstrating a need for reading intervention.

Describe the system in place to help all parents throughout the district understand how they can support the student as a reader at home.

Our school district has established systems to support parents in fostering their children's literacy at home. We offer a range of resources designed to enhance parent engagement in their child's literacy development. Title I facilitators in our schools conduct workshops focusing on Reading Science, helping parents understand how to support their children with foundational reading skills and comprehension. Our Parent & Family Resource Centers provide dedicated spaces where families can access valuable support and educational materials. Parents can also stay informed through Schoology, which offers easy access to course materials, syllabi, and information about their child’s classes. Additionally, we utilize ParentSquare for effective communication, ensuring families receive important announcements and updates in their preferred language. Quarterly report cards keep parents updated on their child’s academic performance. Finally, we provide parents access to family-friendly standards that outline expectations for student learning.

Document how the district provides for progress monitoring of reading achievement and growth at the district level with decisions about intervention based on all available data to ensure grade-level proficiency in reading.

Dorchester School District Two Implements Read 180, a researched-based comprehensive literacy approach grounded in the science of reading for grades 3-5. The district provides guidance on eligibility, placement, and routine progress monitoring of students. The program utilizes multiple universal screeners to appropriately place students within the program. The district uses instructional technology to collect real-time performance data to track and monitor reading growth, digitally diagnose learning needs to allow schools to plan and provide targeted differentiated literacy instruction to create a pathway for grade-level proficiency in reading. Progress monitoring and placement tools include NWEA MAP Growth, Code Placement Assessment, student application, independent reading, oral fluency reading assessments, Real Book formative and summative assessments. In our primary grades, where we know that intervention is crucial, we provide tier 2 and tier 3 early literacy interventions based on the science of reading. After assessing students with the Foundational Skills Survey, our primary teachers use the data to provide targeted small group interventions that are progress monitored using assessments such as AIMSweb, EasyCBM, 95Percent Group, and more.

Explain how the district will provide teacher training based in the science of reading, structured literacy, and foundational literacy skills to support reading achievement for all students.

Dorchester School District Two is committed to enhancing reading achievement for all students by implementing teacher training grounded in the science of reading, structured literacy, and foundational literacy skills. A key component of this initiative is the LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) program, which provides educators with a deep understanding of the principles of effective reading instruction. Key Components of the Initiative:

• LETRS Training:
  • Teachers will undergo comprehensive training through the LETRS program, which focuses on the cognitive and linguistic foundations of reading. This training equips educators with strategies to teach phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension.
• Structured Literacy Approach:
  • The district will adopt a structured literacy framework that emphasizes systematic and explicit instruction. This approach is particularly effective for all students, including those with dyslexia and other reading difficulties. Teachers will learn to implement instructional techniques that support diverse learners.
• Foundational Literacy Skills:
  • Training will cover essential foundational literacy skills, ensuring that teachers can effectively assess and support students at various reading levels. This includes understanding how to build strong phonological awareness and decoding skills.
• Ongoing Professional Development:
  • Continuous professional development will be provided to reinforce and expand on LETRS training. This will include workshops, coaching, and collaborative planning sessions to foster a community of practice among educators.
• Data-Driven Instruction:
  • Educators will be trained to use data effectively to inform instruction. By analyzing student performance and progress, teachers can tailor their approaches to meet individual needs, ensuring that all students receive the support they require.
• Family and Community Engagement:
  • The district will promote family and community involvement in literacy development. Workshops and resources will be offered to parents and caregivers to help them support their children’s reading at home.
• Monitoring and Evaluation:
  • The district will implement a system for monitoring the effectiveness of the training and instructional strategies. This includes regular assessments to evaluate student progress and the impact of teacher training on reading outcomes.

By integrating LETRS training and a structured literacy framework into their professional development programs, Dorchester School District Two aims to create a robust system for improving reading achievement across all grades. This comprehensive approach ensures that educators are well-prepared to support the literacy needs of every student, ultimately fostering a culture of reading success in the district.

Analysis of Data

Previous School Year SMART Goals and Progress Toward Those Goals

• Please provide your previous district goals from last school year and the progress your district has made towards these goals. Utilize quantitative and qualitative data to determine progress toward the goal (s). As a reminder, all districts serving third grade were required to use Goal #1 (below).

Current SMART Goals and Action Steps Based on Analysis of Data

• All districts serving students in third grade MUST respond to the third-grade reading proficiency goal. Districts that do not serve third grade students may choose a different goal. Districts may continue to use the same SMART goals from previous years or choose new goals. Goals should be academically measurable. The Reflection Tool may be helpful in determining action steps to reach an academic goal. Districts are strongly encouraged to incorporate goals from the strategic plan. Utilize a triangulation of appropriate and available data (i.e. SC READY, screeners, MTSS processes, benchmark assessments, and observational data) to set reasonable goal(s) for the current school year.