District reports early literacy gains after third year of ECRI coaching; program expanded into grades 3–5
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Summary
District coaches and teachers reported rising foundational‑skills scores and described an “ECRI overlay” of routines for third to fifth grades. Staff highlighted trainer‑of‑trainers work, lab classrooms and measurable midyear gains on phonemic awareness and accuracy.
David Douglas School District literacy leaders told the board Thursday that early‑literacy investments are producing measurable midyear gains and that the district has begun expanding core ECRI routines into third through fifth grades.
Elise Hawley, assistant director of title programs, said the district’s ECRI implementation in K–2 is entering its third year and coaches are now overlaying ECRI routines on the intermediate HMH curriculum so older elementary students receive explicit foundational skills instruction. “We have seen upward trends in phonemic awareness and word‑reading accuracy,” Hawley said, citing midyear assessment data.
Early literacy coaches Julia Traylor and Ashley East described how the intermediate overlay emphasizes morphology, prefixes, suffixes and multisyllabic routines so that students move from phonemic awareness to automatic recognition of multisyllabic words. Traylor said the work helps students understand word meaning as well as form: she described a recent case in which a student correctly inferred the meaning of “dehumanizing” using morphological knowledge practiced in class.
Ashley East described a district trainer‑of‑trainers initiative funded by the early literacy grant: 20 teachers and coaches have begun a vetting process with Metis Consulting and partner universities to establish lab classrooms and build internal capacity. “We’re well on our way to having 20 vetted trainers by year‑end,” East said. Those lab classrooms host teacher teams who observe model lessons and bring coaching back to their schools.
Teachers in the program gave classroom examples. Fourth‑grade teacher Ally Bright said ECRI has given her students predictable routines that support phonics, fluency and dictation, and that students now voluntarily rehearse ECRI activities during free time. Second‑grade teacher Madison Adrian said many of her students have had ECRI for multiple years and that the routines have measurably improved engagement and assessment scores.
Coaches and teachers said the district is also creating family‑facing materials, including short videos and QR codes, so caregivers who do not read English can still practice foundational routines with students at home. District staff said they will continue to share data with the board as midyear results are finalized.
