Larkspur-Corte Madera School District

Dear LCMSD Community,

Happy New Year! In education we are fortunate to have two "New Years" each academic cycle. These come with reflection, inspiration, and goals to further our practice. A major reflection and area of study for me has been regarding our literacy program. Below are my thoughts, as well as plans to advance our district. I appreciate you taking the time to read this message.

On May 22, 2022, the New York Times published this article regarding Lucy Calkins and I followed up with this district-wide message. My goal was to clarify our practices in LCMSD, specifically citing our commitments to phonics, spelling, and word study in conjunction with readers and writers workshop.

Currently, there is an American Public Media podcast, Sold a Story, that is gaining national attention. It focuses on the science of reading, Marie Clay, Fountas and Pinnell, and Lucy Calkins. I listened to this over break and I would strongly recommend it. The core issue I gleaned from this podcast is how Reading Recovery, Fountas and Pinnell, and Lucy Calkins utilize(d) the three-cueing system rather than aligning curriculum with word recognition findings within the science of reading research. This is incredibly important for developing readers, as well as when providing intervention. 

Where this podcast falls short, in my opinion, is its celebration of districts abandoning Fountas and Pinnell and Calkins. This felt like the pendulum swing we experience all too much in education. There were core issues identified and they can be addressed without abandoning other practices that are successful in teaching literacy such as explicit mini lessons, conferring with students, small group instruction, interactive read alouds, and classroom libraries filled with high interest, authentic texts.

In 2018, LCMSD formally adopted Lucy Calkins Units of Study with a commitment to professional development provided by Momentum in Teaching. LCMSD selected Momentum over Columbia facilitators for several reasons. First, Momentum staff developers have practiced literacy instruction that involves reading workshop, writing workshop, and phonics, spelling, and word study. They were trained by Columbia, but put their own spin on literacy instruction to align with these practices. Momentum also made this work accessible to teachers in a way that provides the nuts and bolts while honoring teachers’ professional judgment. I looked back to our first professional development day with Momentum (August 2018), where the importance of phonics, spelling, and word study instruction were infused into the session with examples of explicit instruction. These core components of literacy instruction were also identified in our teachers guide for building the elementary schedule. 

After adopting Lucy Calkins Units of Study, the literacy leadership team then identified a phonics adoption for K-2 and phonics, spelling, and word study resources for grades 3 and above. Additionally, LCMSD has identified Fountas and Pinnell as our elementary reading assessment and Leveled Literacy Intervention as our base program to support struggling readers.

After listening to the podcast, you may be wondering, now what for LCMSD? Between the NYT article, Sold a Story, a number of other articles, and countless discussions with colleagues, I have been pondering the same question. However, it all goes back to a core belief - in education we never “arrive,” we are continually learning and evolving. This time is no different. Here are my initial thoughts for our next steps in response to the burning question - now what?

1. We will focus on professional development so that we can provide literacy instruction through three main structures: reading workshop, writing workshop, and the addition of word study workshop.
• Areas of strength:
• We have the workshop structure in place throughout the district, K-8.
• The practice of curriculum mapping is in place and provides a viable and guaranteed curriculum.
• Areas of growth:
• The addition of the word study workshop would be to provide explicit phonics, spelling, and word study instruction.
• Lucy Calkins has updated her K-2 curriculum to be in more alignment with the science of reading. We ordered it over the summer and anticipate it arriving shortly. When the units for grades 3+ are available, we will order those as well. 
• While K-2 will continue to use the adopted phonics curriculum, this winter/spring, we will look to solidify district word study resources that are aligned with the science of reading research for grades K-5.
2. We will re-examine our use of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System
• Areas of strength:
• Common assessments are an established district-wide practice where assessment windows and protected time have been identified.
• Teachers use these common assessments to inform instruction, whether that be whole class, small group, or individual student goals.
• K-2 teachers will continue to assess students' phonetic knowledge and monitor phonological awareness development using their current tools. 
• Areas of growth:
• Despite the research, Fountas and Pinnell have not updated their position regarding the three-cueing system. As a result, we will begin looking for different assessments that can track students' growth in fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.
• We will look to choose assessments that create a holistic picture of our students as readers that are consistently used at both sites.
• Note: For February 2023, we will use Fountas and Pinnell assessments as originally planned with the goal of making revisions to our reading assessment practices for the 2023-24 school year.
3. We continue to provide literacy interventions
• Areas of strength:
• While our base program is LLI, developed by Fountas and Pinnell, it is rarely used as scripted, but rather as a component of an intervention plan only when deemed appropriate for individual students.
• Kristie Martinez and the intervention team prescribe interventions for struggling students based on a variety of data points, including phonics assessments. The team creates prescriptive learning routines for intervention groups based on the data that include, but is not limited to:  explicit phonics instruction, phonological awareness oral exercises, comprehension development, and the use of multi-sensory approaches such as Orton-Gillingham. Our intervention team's plans are currently in alignment with the reading research. 
• Areas of growth:
• Examine and implement intervention strategies to support our middle school struggling readers. 

If you would like to learn more about these updates we will be holding a coffee chat at 8:30am on January 18 in the Cove Gallery. Additionally, we will be providing the Board with a literacy update the evening of January 18 at 6:00 in the Hall Library. We hope to see you there. 

I realize this email was packed with information and appreciate you taking the time to digest it. One of the major draws to the field of education is that it is always evolving. I appreciate being on this journey with our LCMSD team. Our goal is to continually refine practices to yield the greatest student outcomes. 

Dr. Brett Geithman

Superintendent

Board of Trustees

Annie Sherman, President

Eric Schmautz, Vice President

Amir Movafaghi, Clerk

Beth Blair

Natalie Medved