1. English Language Arts Program Update
Cambrian School District
Dec 2008

2. Goal of English Language Arts Update
Provide program information
Review student performance
Plan next steps
Prepare for Adoption Process

3. K-8 English Language Arts Program
Reading
Word Analysis
Fluency
Systematic Vocabulary Development
Reading Comprehension
Shift to Informational Text as grades increase
Literary Response & Analysis
Writing
Strategies
Applications
Written & Oral English Language Conventions
Listening & Speaking
Applications – Genres

4. Elementary English Language Arts Program
Houghton-Mifflin is the authorized program
Explicit whole group skills-based instruction
Menu-driven learning centers
Language activities integrated across the curriculum
Homework help and before school tutoring available

5. Centers are integrated with Lesson
Menu-driven topics/tasks may include the following examples:
Parts of speech
Phonics review
Comprehension builders
Differentiation
Activities that appeal to different learning modalities

6. Literacy activities occur throughout the day
Writing activities integrated into
math to describe thinking and write own problems
science to describe observations and do “notebooking”
Reading comprehension integrated into social studies
Support for English Learners using “push-in” model
Accelerated Reader encourages students to read at their personal challenge level.
Special Projects and Themes feature poetry and other avenues for teaching reading and writing skills

7. Price Middle School English Language Arts Program
McDougal Littell is the authorized program
Program includes novel study, focus on writing, poetry, non-fiction, and The Language of Literature
All students receive 2 periods/day
Step-Up-To-Writing is integrated across all subject areas and grades
English Learners (EL) are placed in a 2 period core supplemented with Social Studies for EL
Intervention Reading uses regular assessments to ensure appropriate placement for struggling readers.

8. ExCEL / RtI / RtI2
IDEA (2004) authorizes RtI to provide early intervention services to struggling students
Addresses diverse student needs by providing enrichment, remediation, English Learner support, and on-grade-level instruction
Cambrian has adopted the Excellence: A Commitment to Every Learner, or ExCEL model of RtI to target instruction in reading

9. RtI Tiers of Instruction
All Students
Core Curriculum
Differentiated Instruction
Select interventions
for
Struggling Students
Intensive
Interventions
Sp.
Ed.
Tier 4
Tier 3
Tier 2
Tier 1 2% 5%
20%
100%
The RTI Tier Model
Multi-tiered instruction & intervention that provides targeted teaching & learning

10. ExCEL’s components include
Universal Screening for all students
Tiered instruction during a portion of the day to provide targeted instruction
Placement in the tiers that is flexible and fluid based on ongoing agreed-upon assessments.
Staff work as a collaborative team to coordinate tiered instruction at each grade level
Strategic use of support staff within the tiers of instruction.

11. Implementing ExCEL & RtI
Bagby (2007) & Fammatre (2008) are currently implementing ExCEL
Farnham & Sartorette to be trained in May 2009
Price offers RtI through differentiated programming such as Intervention Reading, ELD Language Arts & Social Studies, and Accelerated Language Arts

12. How are our students doing?
Assessments occur annually with California Standards Tests, and more frequently with district benchmarks, running records, and other informal assessments.
The state writing rubric is used on formative writing assessments at the middle school
The district writing rubric supports grade-level performance reporting and planning

16. Summary of Performance Assessment
Outperform County and state
Incremental growth to 68% proficient
Significant growth in Gr 4 Writing (60%)
Last year’s significant growth in Gr 7 Writing sustained
Special Ed growth in ELA by 6 points to 25% proficient
Performance gap persists
1 of 7 Cambrian students are English Learners
1 of 5 are Socioeconomically Disadvantaged
Performance declined in
‘Written Strategies’
‘Reading Comprehension’

17. Professional Development
Step-Up-To-Writing training in August for
Beginning & Intermediate level teachers
All K-5 teachers
K-5 Inservices on “Writing Performance Calibration” and “Using Assessment Data in ELA” in October
ExCEL
Initial training at Fammatre & Tier II training at Bagby completed
Tier I training for Farnham & Sartorette planned for May 2009
English Language Development training planned for January & February

18. What’s next for English Language Arts?
Prepare for future adoption by beginning district-wide discussion on ELA in February 2009
8 programs incorporating English Language Development currently recommended to State Board of Education
Establish performance goals for writing applications based on CST’s and district writing tasks.
Use benchmark data to:
improve performance in writing strategies
target interventions for underperforming students
Continue to develop how common reading assessments are used to support K & 1 instruction