Agenda Item
a. Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling: LETRS – English Language Arts/Reading Initiative (Internal Capacity & Pedagogy Sustainability) – Year 2 of 2 (Not to exceed $397,100)
Summary: Presented by: Ms. Stacy Stepney, Chief Academic Officer, Division of Curriculum and Instruction
Request: It is requested that the Board of Education approve the second year of the Lexia Learning two-year agreement to offer LETRS professional development as a teacher resource providing the fundamentals of reading instruction - phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and language. LETRS is a professional learning course that provides in-depth knowledge and tools that can be used with any reading curriculum program. Additionally, LETRS is a professional learning program rooted in the Science of Reading.
Why: The DeKalb County School District is focused on building teacher capacity to provide strong, aligned reading instruction at the elementary level for kindergarten through grade 3. LETRS supports the District’s instructional framework for deep teaching and learning aligned to the instructional core. The professional development also supports the Georgia Early Literacy Act (HB538) which requires districts to require all public-school kindergarten through third grade teachers in Georgia to complete training in the science of reading, structured literacy, and foundational literacy skills.
Details: The Division of Curriculum and Instruction will partner with Lexia to provide LETRS professional development training for the second of two years to elementary educators. The LETRS professional development series will afford teachers with the skills to provide the high-quality literacy interactions that weave cognitive, social-emotional, and literacy and language skill development. Administrators participating in the LETRS professional learning opportunity will be able to create a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) and structures to improve literacy instruction.
Deliverables based on agreement:
LETRS Success Partnership Meetings
Manage implementation and support
Manage goal setting
Make effective data-based decisions
Teacher professional development
Unit 1: The Challenge of Learning to Read
Unit 2: The Speech Sounds of English
Unit 3: Teaching Beginning Phonics, Word Recognition, and Spelling
Unit 4: Advanced Decoding, Spelling, and. Word Recognition
Unit 5: The Mighty Wrd: Oral Language and Vocabulary
Unit 6: Digging fr Meaning: Understanding Reading Comprehension
Unit 7: Text-Driven Comprehension Instruction
Unit 8: The Reading-Writing Connection
Financial impact: $397,100.00 ESSER - 448.2213.530000.30521.7210.4190.8010.035.2022
Contact: Ms. Stacy Stepney, Chief Academic Officer, Division of Curriculum and Instruction, 678.676.0731
Dr. Lenisera Barnes-Bodison, Executive Director, Division of Curriculum and Instruction, 678.676.0137
Dr. Kimberlynn Weston, Director, Department of PreK-12 Curriculum and Instruction, 678.676.0144
Effective: September 2023 - May 2024
Status: Approved by General Counsel
LETRS YEAR I SUMMARY & Year II Projections
PROJECT SUMMARY
REPORT DATE PROJECT NAME PREPARED BY
9/11/23 LETRS Training Division of Curriculum & Instruction
During Year I of LETRS training and implementation, 387 teachers who began training in August, 2022 completed Units 1-4. An
additional cohort of teachers began in January, 2023 and 43 completed Units 1 and 2. Elementary principals participated in
Principal’s Primer training, Units 1-4 overview, and Units 5-8 overview.
During Year II, we anticipate that over 387 teachers will complete the full course. Teachers who began in Year I but did not finish
coursework will have the opportunity to complete it. Additionally, we have 153 sets of licenses + print materials that will be allocated to
teachers who have administrator recommendation and support.
CONTENT OVERVIEW
CATEGORY SESSION TITLES
LETRS Units 1 - 4 • The Challenge of Learning to Read
• The Speech Sounds of English
• Teaching Beginning Phonics, Word Recognition, and Spelling
• Advanced Decoding, Spelling, and Word Recognition
LETRS Units 5 - 8 • The Mighty Word: Oral Language and Vocabulary
• Digging for Meaning: Understanding Reading Comprehension
• Text-Driven Comprehension Instruction
• The Reading-Writing Connection
LETRS Administrator Training • A Principal’s Primer for Raising Reading Achievement
• LETRS Units 1-4 Content Overview
• LETRS Units 5-8 Content Overview
CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS
Continued support of LETRS will allow participants in progress to finish the course and will include training for up to 153 additional
participants with principal support.