structured literacy instruction improves school performance rating

at the start of the 2018–2019 school year, based on student performance on state assessments, dalton elementary school had a “priority improvement” rating under the colorado school performance framework. identified as low performing and not meeting or approaching expectations on most performance metrics, the school would be under observation until performance improved. in her first year as principal at the school, jessica abel-pype had a sense of urgency about increasing student literacy achievement. she had used 95 percent group’s literacy solutions in previous roles as a classroom teacher and assistant principal in other schools, and knew these resources worked well for teachers and students. one of abel-pype’s first bold moves as principal of dalton elementary school, therefore, was to purchase 95 phonics lesson library™—she knew that each lesson mapped back to specific skills assessed by 95 percent group’s diagnostic screeners, 95 phonemic awareness screener for intervention™ (pasitm) and 95 phonics screener for intervention™ (psitm).

educators at the school began using 95 phonics lesson library and soon started using multisyllable routine card package and 95 phonemic awareness suite as well during the newly created schoolwide intervention blocks. it was all hands on deck with classroom teachers and interventionists in order to provide focused phonics instruction to students who were grouped by both grade level bands (kindergarten, grades one and two, or grades three through five) and by the skill they were working to master.

“the goal,” abel-pype said, “was to ensure that students were getting explicit and targeted systematic literacy instruction.”

after one year of using several products from the one95 literacy ecosystem™, the school raised its rating and was designated as “improvement” during the 2019-2020 school year. they were making progress and meeting some performance metric expectations. but they still had some work to do. they were not yet meeting all of their expectations. as 2020 opened, teachers and interventionists at the school were focused on literacy instruction and were determined to accelerate students’ reading improvement. they set out to extend the use of 95 phonics lesson library across all grade levels—an expansion from the use in the intervention blocks during the first year. then the pandemic hit. students were mostly remote during the following school year, and abel-pype was unable to implement any new literacy initiatives. the school continued to provide literacy intervention as much as was possible in the remote learning landscape.

as they began to regroup with in-person learning in the fall of 2021, abel-pype purchased and implemented 95 phonics core program® for k-3 classrooms. it was an important purchase for fortifying their core instruction and would bring the turning point they needed. with a core tier 1 literacy program in place for kindergarten through 3rd grade, literacy improvement continued to be the overall focus and a point of excitement and pride for teachers and staff at dalton elementary school.

professional learning refines literacy instruction

abel-pype started to prioritize time and resources to help teachers build a deeper understanding of the instructional routines within 95 phonics lesson library, and aligned all foundational skill instruction to the 95 phonics skill continuum. colorado state requires 45 training hours in science of reading for k-3 teachers, so it was imperative that teachers and interventionists understood the foundation of the science of reading and what it means to have a structured literacy approach.

abel-pype also understood the importance of honoring the integrity of each resource, and knew that while they were already seeing improvement, they could increase the effectiveness of their lesson delivery with greater product knowledge. when covid elementary and secondary school emergency relief (esser) funds became available, abel-pype allocated some of dalton’s funds toward adding ongoing 95 percent group professional learning services.

in may 2022, judie caroleo, 95 percent group’s director of training and development, visited the school to assess strengths and gaps in the implementation of literacy ecosystem resources, and provided clear next steps for the elementary school.

the school subsequently implemented coaching during the 2022-23 school year, with half-day training sessions three times per year for each grade level team. during their time together, classroom teachers and interventionists, along with school leaders, refined their practices and deepened their understanding of the instructional routines for each of the resources.

“we were beginning to see a common instructional language across tiers of instruction for teachers and students,” said abel-pype. “we were growing together and putting the systems in place that support student learning and achievement.”

impacts of professional learning

abel-pype attributes the working relationship between caroleo and her team and the teachers at dalton as a key factor in the overall success of the program. caroleo’s approach and seamless support for the teachers and interventionists at dalton elementary was tailored to meet the specific needs of each grade level, making coaching sessions effective and supportive for teachers.

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95 percent group products in use

• 95 phonics core program
• 95 phonics lesson library
• multisyllable routine cards
• summer 世界杯2022夺冠热门

located in the historic city of franklin, about 30 miles south of nashville, tennessee, franklin special school district (fssd) serves a fairly diverse population. as its name suggests, it is truly a special place, having received a particular act of legislature in 1949 allowing the district to change its funding sources and approve its own budget—thus making it the first “special school district” in tennessee.”

the missing piece

teachers in fssd were spending extra time planning to ensure the lessons would be explicit and include the right components of foundational literacy. “we were already using 95 phonics lesson library®, but there had continuously been requests from teachers and staff for a few years to have more consistent phonemic awareness and phonics instruction for all students,” said district associate director of schools for teaching and learning, dr. mary decker.

the previous year, one of their elementary campuses had piloted 95 phonics core program® (new at the time) for kindergarten and had a lot of success. “although adapting to the new program was challenging for teachers—learning new routines, staying consistent with the fidelity of the different pieces and the language involved, etc.—by the end of the year the teachers had really embraced it,” added summer carlton, curriculum and professional learning supervisor for franklin special school district. it was at this point that they decided to look more closely at implementing this more structured, explicit program for k-2 districtwide.

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intervention alone wasn’t enough

despite working with products they loved, including multisyllable routine card package and the 95 phonics chip kit™, teachers were finding that student assessment data still revealed literacy gaps. district title i/lap specialists megan mccarthy and tory amos began introducing 95 phonics lesson library™ to reading interventionists in their learning assistance program (lap) high poverty elementary schools, and encouraged classroom teachers in those schools to utilize these resources to support their students. but they knew there were still missing pieces of the larger literacy picture, districtwide.

“we were heavily focused on intervention, but we were not yet moving the needle,” mccarthy said.

so what was missing? one critical element they needed was high-quality professional learning support to ensure their teachers received the best training and coaching possible and could implement their literacy ecosystem of resources with integrity. under the guidance of judie caroleo, 95 percent group’s director, professional learning, mccarthy and amos began to understand that their literacy challenges could not be fixed with intervention alone. they first needed to make a change in their instructional practices. next they need to add to their toolkit a core, supplemental curriculum that explicitly addressed phonics. and finally they needed to teach their teachers how to use this new program effectively.

edmonds school district expanded their structured literacy toolkit to a key product for core instruction from the one95 literacy ecosystem: 95 phonics core program®. change was on the horizon.

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ready to learn more about edmonds school district’s success story? read about their five recommended strategies to jumpstart professional learning and so much more. click the button below to download the full story in our exclusive download.

iso: systematic, foundational phonics instruction

texas legislative requirements now call for districts to adopt an evidence-aligned phonics instruction program. although southside isd had a phonics program for their spanish literacy instruction, they didn’t have one for english instruction. after consulting with a team of literacy experts, 95 phonics core program® was recommended due to its effectiveness in providing direct and systematic foundational phonics instruction.

slow and steady builds the foundation for systematic literacy change

that first year of implementation, teachers were a bit reluctant to switch gears after having started the year using different materials. trying something new when you’ve been teaching it one way for a long time isn’t an easy ask.

alejandra rameriz, southside isd’s elementary reading coordinator for all 4 campuses prek-5, spoke to this. “it wasn’t easy to jump right into new programming when the school year was already underway. once the teachers had some time with the resources, they really began to understand the benefits—both for their students and for their instruction.”

now, almost three years into using 95 phonics core program as their tier 1 curriculum, ramirez says the impact is loud and clear. “we’ve seen a noticeable increase in the amount of academic vocabulary among both teachers and students. students can name the skills they are learning—for example, when the written spelling patterns or graphemes are representing the spoken sounds or phonemes.”

additionally, teachers are feeling much more confident and comfortable with the user-friendly, scripted materials and assessments. it has minimized instructional errors and provided a structured framework for teaching these skills. “they feel good about the fact that they can move through the lessons with ease,” ramirez emphasized. “and there really isn’t any room for error. it helps teachers to know that they are maximizing instructional time for their students.”

before they had a solid phonics instruction program, teachers were often expected to piecemeal their curriculum together from what they could find. now, teachers have all the instructional pieces they need in one place; everything is right there for them. “95 phonics core program has really given us an improved foundation for phonics,” ramirez said. “it’s addressing a gap that we had in our english phonics skills instruction.”

systematic, direct literacy instruction leads to capable, confident readers

in the years since implementation, teachers know what to expect and how to work with the program. now that they are used to the program, hesitation is gone. there are a few areas where there has been a noticeable impact, ramirez says. “when it comes to using strategies that are usually reserved for students with reading disabilities, like dyslexia, we now know that all students can and do benefit from things like enhancing their awareness of syllable types and unfamiliar word decoding.”

real reading results for all students across grades 1-3

some of the key findings came in the form of the 2023 end-of-year 3rd grade iready! results. at the start of the year, almost half of the third graders (43%) started the year with kindergarten-level phonics skills (3+ years below). at the end of the year 66% of 3rd graders had advanced one grade level or more. their performance on the iready! showed significant improvement among all 3rd grade students—including ell students and most notably, among special education students who benefited significantly from whole-group phonics instruction. read the research brief here.

additionally, there is a tangible enhancement of understanding among 1st graders regarding letter and sound patterns and their significance in reading and writing. “the level of academic vocabulary among 1st grade students is sometimes surprising,” ramirez laughed. “it’s so impressive to hear them speak about their understanding of syllable types and why there is a long vowel sound in this word, but a short vowel sound in that word. it’s awesome.”

check out the full research report here.

the future is bright for literacy

ramirez has only been in her position for a year and a half, having taught kindergarten with the district previously. she recognized that the work had been happening for a few years before she arrived. “i’m just so excited to see how our students will do—to follow those that have been receiving this instruction since they were in kindergarten. this is how we will see whether progress is happening. it’s really changed the way we teach reading here.”

teachers at southside isd now have a starting point for teaching reading. they have the skill and materials they need to provide their students with a solid foundation for phonics instruction—a crucial building block for fluent reading and writing and deep comprehension. while lasting change doesn’t happen overnight, educators at southside are committed to their students, marking a true shift in literacy education in the district.

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interested in learning more? check out the year one success story on southside independent school district.

95 percent group brings over two decades of thought leadership in research on the science of reading and evidence-aligned assessment and instruction.

we have worked with school districts and educators across the country to unlock the power of literacy for every child. we look forward to sharing with you what we’ve learned, along with best practices and resources you can bring to the classroom. stay up to date on the latest research, insights, and resources in our field at thescienceofreading.com.

contact our team to learn how the one95™ literacy ecosystem™ can transform your reading instruction.

truth in literacy data

school leaders at fusd understood that their tier 1 literacy program did not have a strong phonics component. in addition to this, their aimswebplus scores (a combination benchmark and progress monitoring tool for teachers using the mtss/rti approach) were showing that their elementary students had some gaps in their phonics knowledge and skill level. they needed to supplement with additional phonics instruction.

the district knew they needed a phonics supplement that would empower teachers to provide students with evidence-based instruction that is explicit, sequential, systematic, and comprehensive. across the district, faculty began their training in the science of reading with the language essentials for teachers of reading and spelling® (letrs®) across all levels (teacher, coaches, and administrators). they knew they need best-in-class literacy tools to bring their knowledge into practice.

soon they formed a committee and evaluated several different possibilities for a supplementary phonics program. when all committee members landed on 95 phonics core program® for their k-3 classrooms, the district leaders decided to pilot the program in two schools during the 2022-23 school year.

although they were only piloting the k-3 program, one of the reasons products by 95 percent group rose to the top for fusd was because they knew they would have the option to extend with the 95 phonics core program® word study: grades 4&5 if they needed to.

and that made a huge difference.

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leaders and educators from flagstaff unified school district trusted the process when implementing 95 phonics core program®. ready to see their results?

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snapshot: fairless elementary school

• brewster, oh: 60 miles due south of cleveland
• total enrollment: 590
• preschool enrollment: 94
• students w/ free or reduced lunch: 250 (42%)
• students with disabilities: 110 (19%)
• average daily attendance: 94.5%

challenges lead to literacy change

once they had wrapped up training with the letrs® program, educators at fairless elementary in ohio did what everybody else would do: they found a starting point—and made the necessary adjustments.

they knew that when looking to adopt a new curriculum, the priority had to be the core instruction—the instruction all students would receive in the classroom. upon figuring out that they could use and extend into grades 2 and 3 what they already had for core instruction, they then turned to working out the best path for intervention.

“we had a lot of readers who were struggling,” amato stated. “in many cases, when you were looking at map or acadience data, half of our students were reading below grade level. and in some cases, we were still seeing below grade level scores in 4th and 5th grades.”

at first, they began piecing together materials they had already been using along with another product—one that they could print resources from online. they soon discovered that their teachers, as motivated and dedicated as they were, were getting frustrated.

“it was burning them out because there was so much prep time needed. they had to copy the stories. they had to make word cards, they had to create the games that were provided; they had to create all of their materials. and it was a struggle for them to keep up with the prep to be able to implement it. we needed something more comprehensive.”

a true phonics lesson plan

it was at this point that amato and his team heard about the 95 phonics lesson library™. “we saw that these were our weak points, and that this had everything needed for teaching and learning,” he continued.

that winter they purchased the 95 phonics lesson library and, by spring, began implementing the program as their tier 2 intervention resource in classrooms. “after seeing it in action for a few weeks with students, we realized what a true speech-to-print format and a true phonics lesson plan look like,” amato said excitedly. “we could see clearly that even though the curriculum we had been using had brought us a long way, and given us a lot of background knowledge, at this point it was falling short. it didn’t have what we needed.”

a phonics core curriculum comparison

amato knew 95 percent group had other resources, including a tier 1 curriculum: 95 core phonics program®.

this prompted the second-grade team to dive deeper into their existing reading curriculum to identify its shortcomings, and look for what they really need to understand if 95 phonics core program would better meet their tier 1 needs. they recognized the need for phonemic awareness, access to decodable text, and an evidence-aligned structure for teaching sounds and skills.

as they explored the program, they decided to pilot it with their high-performing first-grade students, who would be transitioning to second grade in the fall. convincing the school administration to fund this new program was a challenge, but they eventually secured the support. amato knew it wouldn’t be effective to just impose a new curriculum on his colleagues and teammates, but aimed to ensure buy-in and to show that they could enhance the existing teaching methods.

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are you ready to learn how 95 percent group has led to significant literacy acceleration for elementary students in ohio?

click the button below to download the full story and see for yourself the eye-popping evidence of reading skill acquisition fairless local schools in ohio have experienced with 95 percent group!

student literacy support needs a data-driven approach

when moving students from a student support team (sst) model into an response to intervention or rti (now referred to as multi-tier support system or mtss) model, the typical path at val verde unified school district—as with many other school systems—was to provide iep-determined accommodations and modifications within a teacher’s classroom and curriculum. these might have included things like preferential seating, proximity to teacher or the board, extra time for assessment or assignment, or modification of assignments depending on a student’s needs.

a few years ago, district leaders at val verde realized that perhaps what these students actually needed was a more data-driven approach to their learning support. they began using dibels, a universal literacy screener; but were at a loss for what to do with all of the data they collected.

when jessica warren, coordinator of elementary education at val verde, reached out to a colleague for resources, he gave her the influential book by susan l. hall, edd, implementing response to intervention: a principal’s guide (corwin, 2007). reading this book by dr. hall, cofounder of 95 percent group, led val verde right to 95 percent group and their literacy intervention products.

prevention + intervention lifts all students

as literacy leaders and teachers at some val verde schools began implementing tier 2 intervention solutions like the 95 phonics screener for intervention™ (95 psi),  95 phonics chip kit™ (pck™) and the 95 phonics lesson library™ (pll™) in more classrooms, it pulled back the curtain on some of the gaps they hadn’t seen before. they gained clarity on what was sitting underneath their students’ tier 2 challenges in reading. still the progress they were making with their struggling students was impressive, so they continued on that path.

“95 percent group was opening up possibilities,” aimee garcia, k-12 director of education services for the district, implored. “we realized: here’s this evidence-based practice where we’re seeing a lot of research. it’s very scripted, and very easy to use—let’s start being more targeted with these products.”

eventually as they watched their students make progress quickly with 95 percent group’s tier 2 products, they realized that they didn’t necessarily have an intervention problem. what they had was a literacy curriculum that hadn’t been implemented with fidelity and that wasn’t moving enough students toward grade-level success. they decided to step back and figure out what teachers needed in order to have equitable implementation of the tier 1 reading curriculum across classrooms and schools. “we had the 95 percent group products here already,” garcia explained. “but we needed to systemize it.”

while they acknowledged that this was a difficult decision to make, district leaders knew that in order to enact change within the whole system, they had to make sure their tier 1 curriculum instruction was their “first best instruction.” if students weren’t getting their first best instruction until they needed intervention, then something wasn’t right.

garcia said, “we started responding to the intervention data, but also asking the question: how does this connect back to tier 1? can we be responsive and preventative by doing two things at the same time?”

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leaders and educators at val verde unified school district were able to see that two things were true: 1) they needed to systemize tier 2 intervention, and 2) they needed to support their teachers with ongoing learning and coaching in order to ensure everyone was on the same page across all classrooms and all schools in the district. interesting in learning how they tackled both challenges?

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how did you get involved in the science of reading?

i’ve been working for fairfax school district a little over 10 years now. before that i was a math teacher so my background all comes from the math field. yet now i find myself loving the science of reading, specifically in early literacy.

i got my first principal job at a k-6 elementary site. when i started, i had the mindset that ‘we are going to take over the world with math.’ but i found out early on i had students who couldn’t read. and before i could teach math, especially with the common core state standards and the smarter balance assessments, i needed my students to read, so suddenly my priorities shifted.

we started looking closely at our programs. i had a site that was very, very particular in the way they taught reading. but from my approach as a former math teacher, there was really no data or rhyme or reason for why we were teaching reading that way. i always taught in a very systematic way. so i looked at what other schools were doing.

we took a year to put some feelers out there to help figure out what we were going to do. then in my second year we started doing acadience testing and we brought in 95 percent group. we used the whole tier 2 program. we were very, very, very successful with it and over a four-year span we saw the greatest growth in reading scores, specifically when you look at students that are low socioeconomic. we had the best growth in all of kern county for our demographics. and in fact, we actually became a title one model school. the title one federal program monitoring team came to showcase our school and our different programs.

the 95 percent group tier 2 model was very key along the way. we really got our tier 2 program going on, but we didn’t have a solid tier 1 phonics program of instruction initially. then 95 percent group came out with the tier 1 program and the first year that it came out, i ordered a couple of sets which i piloted in a kindergarten, first, second, and third grade classes. we saw a lot of success. teachers really enjoyed it and the next year we went district-wide with the tier 1 program—that was last year.

during this time, i was attending george fox university working on my doctorate. i knew i wanted to study something around early literacy. i did an improvement science approach and realized i wanted to look at a systematic way of implementation because in schools we’re constantly bringing in new programs. i wanted to make sure that we’re implementing programs so that when we get data from our students, we can say that that growth is due to that program. i wanted to make sure that when we’re evaluating programs’ effectiveness, we can say we’re seeing the improvement because we’ve implemented these programs with fidelity. my goal was to understand the root causes of when and why we’re not implementing this tier 1 phonics program with fidelity and to enhance the fidelity of implementation. i used the dane and schneider** framework for the five factors that affect implementation fidelity: adherence, exposure, quality of delivery, differentiation, and participant responsiveness. for the in-depth analysis, you can read the dissertation linked in the references below.

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considering a tier 1 phonics program? david mack, edd, shares research from his dissertation “improving fidelity of implementation of a tier 1 phonics program: an improvement science study” and 12 best practices from his district’s implementation. learn how to take these 12 steps toward literacy success by clicking the download button below.

situated in the “pocket” of weber county, utah, ogden city school district serves an inner-city population rich with multicultural diversity. when the utah state board of education (usbe) passed a mandated bill addressing low reading scores, and the approach educators use to teach reading, school leaders went in search of a solution that would help all students learn to read more effectively. they chose several products from the one95™ literacy ecosystem.

gearing up for student gains.

according to natalie dussol, elementary reading specialist at the district level, while there wasn’t an immediate spike in scores, student progress in this first year of implementation was clear and evident. “this was our learning year,” natalie said. “teachers needed some time to learn how to use the products and how to best help their students get up to speed. everyone is excited for students to start the school year more equipped for grade level work.”

teachers at ogden have been most enthusiastic about the ease of using the interconnected products. the school, which committed to tier 2 intervention, has leaned on the connection between the 95 phonological awareness screener for intervention™ (pasi™), the 95 phonics screener for intervention™ (psi™), and the 95 phonics lesson library™ (pll™).

“specifically,” dussol emphasized, “teachers really love the way they can use 95 percent group’s solutions in tandem with acadience pathways to really dig into what skills their students need most.”  a clear strength of the psi and pasi screeners is their direct interaction with the phonics lesson library. each screener evaluates on a series of skills which connect to a specific lesson in the phonics lesson library. with this knowledge, teachers can directly support each students’ needs based on what they already know and what skills still need to be developed. another important outcome is the reduced preparation time for teachers who already have a lot on their plates.

coaching is key: both teachers and students reap the benefits

95 percent group’s onsite coaching model provided a safe learning space for both teachers and their students. dussol noted that although there were some teachers that weren’t sure about the coaching program, their buy-in was quick after seeing how successful their students felt.

many teachers stated how happy they were that they were finally able to use what they had learned in letrs® (language essentials for teachers of reading and spelling), feeling like they had a clear application for the science of reading theory they had been studying.

dussol added, “there has been a definite increase in self efficacy in our teachers—they finally feel like they are getting through all the lessons successfully and instructing on the skills necessary for their students to have a solid foundation in reading.”

student spotlight

the onsite coaching model not only benefits educators with instruction, but can be the missing piece for students who have had difficulty learning to read.

a great example of this came out of a 95 percent group coaching session at liberty elementary school in ogden, when a third-grade student named noah improved his reading achievement drastically after participating in the session.

during a coaching demonstration of skill 10.1 (a closed-syllable skill) noah served in the role of teaching assistant, an approach which motivated him to engage in his own learning in a new way. this experience transformed how he and his teachers have chosen to approach his instruction.

following the demonstration, noah’s intervention was shifted to the multi-syllable level. the combined effect of the new intervention strategy and noah’s participation had a significant impact on his ownership and his progress: he swiftly advanced three levels in 95 phonics lesson library.

highlighting the importance of appropriate intervention and student agency in developing strong reading skills, noah showed his teachers that when he was more involved in his own learning, it stimulated growth in a new way.

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are you interested in learning about how you can bring an effective and efficient structured literacy approach, grounded in the science of reading, to your school or district? contact us today.

“i just got a message yesterday from a teacher who said, ‘my 95 phonics core program assessment data was at 63 percent mastery for assessment 1. and now i’m at 92 percent mastery at assessment 3.’ and our goal, like 95 percent group’s goal, is that 95 percent of our students will be on grade level. in this class, we’re already at 92 percent, and we still have three months of school left. so i feel really confident we’re going to hit that 95 percent target,” said jennifer burton, literacy director, fulton county schools.

watch their success story, and share it with your colleagues!

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are you interested in learning about how you can bring an effective and efficient structured literacy approach, grounded in the science of reading, to your school or district? contact us today.