Westerly highlights structured literacy, coaching after midyear benchmark gains

Westerly — Westerly Public Schools officials on Feb. 5 reported midyear improvements in foundational reading skills after three years of systemwide curriculum adoption and new coaching supports, and outlined next steps to expand job‑embedded coaching and finish implementing a two‑hour ELA block in upper elementary grades.

The update came during a presentation to the Westerly School Committee by district staff including Carmela Samataro, the district ELA coordinator; Kate Leach, elementary ELA reading coach; and Steve Maroon (district administrator), who described the district’s structured‑literacy approach and midyear benchmark results.

District leaders said the K–2 curriculum, adopted in a multi‑year process that began in 2018, is now in its third full year of K–12 implementation. The district is using benchmark measures three times a year to place students in microphases of reading, then form small groups for differentiated phonics instruction. Samataro said teachers and specialists have completed science‑of‑reading professional learning and that staff are focusing on “systematic, cumulative, explicit, and diagnostic‑responsive” instruction.

Why it matters: School officials tied the instructional changes to concrete early‑grade gains and said sustained, in‑class coaching is required to translate curriculum into classroom practice and accelerate growth.

Midyear data and coaching effects Kate Leach, the district’s elementary reading coach hired with a one‑year RIDE grant, described early coaching cycles based on fall benchmark data. Leach said three teachers completed their first formal coaching cycle and were released from that cycle, and that two teachers who were new to the curriculum recorded the highest percentile growth on midyear AIMSweb scores among that coaching cohort.

Samataro reported that 68 percent of grade‑2 students scored in Tier 1 on the winter benchmark — a 14‑percentage‑point increase over last year — and that the district had seen an average increase of at least 10 percent in Tier‑1 placement since fall in the grades reviewed. Officials said the grade‑2 cohort is the first group to have the high‑quality curriculum for three consecutive years.

Schools are piloting revised schedule and small‑group models. At Dunn’s Corner Elementary, staff piloted a “walk to reading” model in which teachers rotate across classrooms to deliver targeted Tier‑1 small‑group instruction based on interim data; Samataro said the practice allows more efficient regrouping as students advance or need different supports.

Gaps and next steps District staff identified several priorities: expand formal coaching across K–5, ensure the majority of grade‑2 students leave the year as consolidated readers, and implement the second hour of the ELA block with fidelity across grades 3–5 so students engage with grade‑level, knowledge‑building material.

Samataro and Maroon said the district is applying for a state grant to increase the number of literacy coaches next year; they emphasized that coaching is job‑embedded professional development and that materials alone are insufficient without ongoing feedback and classroom support.

Committee and public reaction School Committee members and audience members asked whether teachers feel the approach is working and whether students are learning more effectively. Michael Obert, a committee member, asked whether “teachers feel that this is working in the classroom,” and staff responded that veteran teachers value the science‑of‑reading explanations and are adjusting practice and feedback to match the new materials. A parent who identified themself as the parent of a second grader said the approach had been rigorous but that their child was progressing noticeably faster this year.

Ending District leaders said they will share the presentation slides and continue midyear data reviews to guide coaching placements and any curricular adjustments for the spring benchmark window. They asked the committee to support efforts to extend coaching beyond the current one‑year grant.