Wakefield reading specialists report early gains after districtwide literacy overhaul

Wakefield Public Schools reading specialists presented the School Committee on May 13 with a multi-year, districtwide effort to align early literacy instruction, screening and interventions and reported early signs of student growth after two years of implementation.

The presentation explained why the work matters: a July 2023 DESE early-literacy screening regulation requires universal screening, and the district has built a system that screens three times a year and layers targeted interventions, progress monitoring and coaching. "It's taken a while for us to land on this, but it's working quite well. We feel," said Maria Morgan, reading specialist, summarizing the team's view of the current system.

Specialists described how tiered instruction is organized. All elementary students receive core instruction (tier 1) using the EL Education core curriculum for language-comprehension work and a foundations curriculum for systematic phonics instruction. Supplemental tools include Heggerty (phonemic-awareness curriculum for K–2), Geodes (decodable or mostly-decodable texts) and the Boost Reading digital program. When screening or diagnostic assessment shows a student is at-risk, reading specialists and school-based teams plan small-group interventions using a district-adopted 10-step lesson template developed with Hill for Literacy coaching.

"It's a screener that all…