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Teachers present plan to end 4th–5th grade ELA tracking; board asked for family communications and monitoring
Summary
Elementary teachers and principals presented a plan to the board to cease ELA leveling in fourth- and fifth-grade, citing research and classroom experience with heterogeneous groupings; administrators said they will notify families, provide professional development, and monitor impacts with MAP and other assessments.
District teachers and elementary principals on June 5 presented a multi-stakeholder plan to end ability-level grouping ("leveling") in fourth- and fifth-grade English language arts and to replace it with heterogeneous, mixed-ability classes supported by targeted interventions and the district’s WIN-time structure.
Why it matters: Presenters told the board that early leveling can create fixed academic identities for students and that heterogeneous grouping, paired with intentional differentiation and scaffolds, promotes academic self-efficacy and equity. The proposal would expand practices already in some earlier grades and build on the Wit & Wisdom ELA curriculum and the district’s MTSS/WIN intervention framework.
Who presented and what they said Teachers from multiple elementary schools described classroom experience with mixed-ability instruction and offered specific supports they use: graphic organizers, sentence stems, checklists, prerecorded passages and small-group scaffolds. Hannah Carroll, a third-grade teacher at Chestnutwold Elementary School, said heterogeneous classes produce deeper conversations and measurable growth in classroom and MAP assessments. Grace Giordano, a fourth-grade English language arts teacher at Linwood Elementary School, and Julie Parkinson, a fifth-grade special education teacher at Linwood, described how the Wit & Wisdom curriculum includes embedded scaffolds and enrichment opportunities that teachers can use to meet diverse student needs within a single classroom.
Gifted-support and intervention planning Sarah Shaman, the district’s gifted-support teacher at Chatham Park, said seminar/gifted support teachers and WIN-time will be used for targeted extension and remediation outside the core block, and she emphasized coaching and ongoing professional development to implement unleveling successfully.
Board questions and administration responses Board members asked about implementation challenges and how the district will track outcomes for high-achieving students and those receiving special services. Administrators said year-two curriculum implementation and ongoing professional development are expected to improve differentiation. They told the board they will communicate with families in affected grades, explain how Wit & Wisdom and WIN-time will meet a wide range of learners, and note that families can request IEP or GIEP meetings to discuss individual services. Administrators also said the district will monitor student outcomes through MAP, PBAs, and standards-based report cards.
Process, timing and follow-up Presenters said the team focused on ELA first to pilot broadly and learn from the rollout; board and administrators acknowledged math unleveling is also a likely next step and could be considered after the ELA pilot. Teachers and board members asked that progress for both struggling and high-achieving students be monitored; staff said existing MAP and PBA systems will be used for that tracking.
Public comment and transparency requests Members of the public who addressed the board urged clear, district-wide communications about placement criteria and access to assessment data so families can understand placement decisions; presenters and administrators agreed to distribute a parent communication and an FAQ and to solicit feedback as the plan moves forward.
