Elwood selects Magnetic Reading after yearlong K–5 literacy pilot

The Elwood Union Free School District on Wednesday recommended adopting Magnetic Reading as its K–5 literacy curriculum after a yearlong pilot of three programs, district administrators and teachers said.

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Sonia Hood told the Board of Education the district convened a pilot team and ‘‘conducted research and vetted several literacy programs’’ before narrowing to three choices and piloting all three during the 2024–25 school year. Director of Humanities Pam Fine presented assessment and survey results that administrators said shaped the recommendation.

The recommendation followed multiple data sources, Fine said. The district’s universal screener (i‑Ready), benchmark assessments and teacher rubrics showed ‘‘strong growth’’ across pilots, and district presenters said Magnetic Reading produced the highest percentages meeting criteria on their measures. The presentation said Magnetic showed about 90% of kindergarten students on or above benchmark for letters and sounds and roughly 90% proficiency in selected phonics and constructed‑response measures in upper elementary, figures district staff provided to the board.

Teachers on the pilot group and administrators emphasized implementation supports as a selection factor. Fine said Magnetic’s vendor was ‘‘very responsive’’ to teacher inquiries and provides an integrated instructional and assessment platform that aligns with the district’s i‑Ready progress monitoring. Teachers said the platform includes self‑paced online components for remediation and enrichment, graduated ‘red‑thread’ readers for higher‑order tasks, and flags when students click too quickly on assessments.

Resident and pilot committee member Beth Fasina told the board she appreciated the district’s move toward structured literacy but asked about transition effects of changing curricula multiple times. Board members raised similar concerns: how the district will support students who piloted other programs, how stronger readers will receive enrichment, and how parents—particularly those who did not respond to surveys—will be informed.

District leaders said all K–5 teachers will attend professional learning on March 31 (Superintendent’s Conference Day) to ‘‘level set’’ instruction and develop a district scope and sequence aligned to Magnetic Reading. Hood said the district will allow teachers to manually adjust student placements in the platform when classroom observations conflict with screener results and that the platform’s personal learning environment can be used over the summer; the administration said it can work with the vendor to provide licenses for summer access.

Administrators acknowledged limited parent survey participation—about 6%—but said parents had other opportunities for input via Parent University, parent‑teacher conferences and building‑level meetings. The district also said post‑selection communications and resources will be shared with families in multiple languages.

Board members praised the pilot’s breadth and the inclusion of student questionnaires. Fine and Hood credited classroom teachers and the pilot team for the ‘‘heavy lift’’ of piloting three programs and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to reach the recommendation.

The board did not vote on formal adoption at the meeting; the district presented next steps for implementation and parent outreach. District staff said they will return with progress updates after initial professional learning and as materials are distributed to teachers.

The presentation and discussion occurred during the Board of Education meeting; the literacy team and participating teachers remained available for questions at the end of the public comment period.