District staff recommend adopting UFLI phonics program after K–2 pilot; benchmark program to become Tier 2 intervention

Liz Rivera presented the results of a year-long pilot of two early-literacy phonics programs and recommended UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) as the district’s core K–2 early literacy program.

Rivera said K–2 teachers piloted UFLI and Benchmark; "The results were 73% overall total K 2 majority was, in favor of YouFLY," she reported (transcript wording). She said kindergarten alone split roughly 50–50, but across K–2 the majority preferred UFLI. Rivera said the plan is to use the winning program as Tier 1 core instruction and repurpose the other program—Benchmark—as Tier 2 intervention materials for students who need additional decoding or phonics practice.

Rivera described teacher feedback: the program was "super easy," routines were consistent, teachers saw growth in student work and students could articulate spelling patterns rather than rely on memorization. The teaching-and-learning team purchased materials such as blending boards, magnetic letters and "whisper phones" to support instruction; Rivera said ESSER grant funds were used to cover some materials and professional development.

On cost, Rivera said most program resources are available free from the University of Florida Literacy Institute website and that the only district purchase required is the spiral-bound teacher manual at about $50–$56 per teacher. She said K–2 teacher manuals are bundled and provide grade-level sequences so teachers can differentiate for students who need to drop down or move ahead in the curriculum.

When asked about formal comparative data from the pilot, Rivera said there was no previous program baseline to compare against but that teachers recorded informal classroom formative assessments and student work samples showing growth. She said the district will collect CBM (curriculum-based measurement) and i-Ready data going forward to quantify student progress.

Rivera outlined next steps: organize and distribute materials before the 2025–26 school year, provide optional summer training for teachers and multiple in-district trainings after staff return in August, and use ESSER funds to pay for initial professional development pending approval.

The recommendation to adopt UFLI was presented for board consideration; the transcript does not record a board vote on the adoption during the May 19 meeting.