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Portland reports early gains and implementation challenges for CKLA and EL literacy curricula
Summary
District staff told the Curriculum & Policy Committee on Feb. 12 that implementation of CKLA (K–2) and Expeditionary Learning ELA (K–8) is district‑wide; walkthroughs and interim assessments show growth in decoding/accuracy at lower grades and ongoing work on pacing and fluency, especially in middle school.
Portland Public Schools presented an update on districtwide implementation of new literacy curricula — CKLA for foundational skills (K–2) and Expeditionary Learning (EL) for comprehension (K–8) — to the Curriculum and Policy Committee on Feb. 12, reporting classroom walkthroughs and interim assessment data that show early gains alongside continuing challenges with pacing and fluency.
District staff said all district classrooms now teach the adopted curricula and that three district walkthroughs plus school‑level checks were used to monitor fidelity. “We have 100% of classrooms implementing K through 8,” said a district presenter describing this academic year’s rollout.
What the district tested and what it found
- Implementation monitoring: District walkthrough teams (principals, instructional coaches and network staff) visited about 30% of classrooms in a January round of observations and spent an average of 10 minutes per classroom. Walkthrough measures tracked lesson pacing, teachers’ adherence to lesson structure, and whether students were carrying the cognitive load.
- Early literacy (K–2): Kindergarten showed strong foundational results on the early‑literacy screeners cited by staff; letter‑sound mastery was reported at about 84% for kindergarten. Kindergarten and early‑grade assessments showed movement from beginning‑of‑year to middle‑of‑year benchmarks, which district leaders described as promising.
- Grades 2–5 and middle grades: Interim assessments (district‑aligned Amplify/DIBELS and EL curriculum unit checks) showed some gains in reading accuracy (students correctly decoding words) across grades 3–5, but slower progress in fluency (reading quickly and with expression). For middle school (grades 6–8), district data showed a movement of cohorts from not meeting toward meeting standards year over year, but staff said overall performance remains below district goals and that the middle‑school assessment is more rigorous and standards‑heavy.
- Areas of concern: Pacing emerged as a consistent implementation challenge, particularly for EL, which district staff described as a dense curriculum that takes time for teachers to internalize. District staff said pacing problems can mean teachers do not always get to the end‑of‑lesson reading tasks, reducing student practice time and affecting foundational skill development.
How the district is responding
District leaders outlined a multi‑level response: providing train‑the‑trainer professional development to instructional coaches, who in turn deliver targeted PD to teachers; asking schools to create data‑informed action plans; and using interim assessment data to identify students for small‑group intervention.
The district noted specific interventions and supports already in use: Orton‑Gillingham structured literacy training for interventionists, Lexia software for targeted foundational practice in upper elementary, and scheduled small‑group time for Tier‑2 supports. District leaders said the structure of coaching and school‑level data teams helps match interventions to student needs.
Board discussion and feedback
Board members praised the level of data monitoring and asked for more detail on persistent gaps. Board member Cheryl Lentz said she was encouraged by the data and asked where implementation still felt hard; staff replied that EL’s density and the time required for teachers to master it were primary friction points. Several board members raised the transition between elementary and middle school, asking about the common dip that can occur in early secondary grades and how increased Tier‑1 quality plus targeted interventions can reduce that effect.
Ending
District leaders said the program will continue to use walkthroughs, interim assessments and coaching cycles to improve pacing, increase student at‑bats for reading, and expand targeted interventions. They said they expect to continue adjusting professional development and scheduling to ensure students receive both high‑quality core instruction and timely interventions.
