Board hears third-year update on Literacy Academy and Orton-Gillingham implementation

The Buchanan Board of Education received a detailed third-year update on the district—s Literacy Academy during its April 21 meeting, where special-education staff described the program—s structured literacy approach, student progress and next steps including an application for Orton Gillingham Academy accreditation.

Jen Tavello, introduced by presenters as an Orton Gillingham fellow and special-education teacher, said the Literacy Academy is now fully implemented from a staffing perspective and described the structured literacy components the program uses: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, plus morphology and multisensory instruction. "Structured literacy is actually trademarked by the International Dyslexia, organization, the IDA," Tavello said, and the district uses Orton-Gillingham methods because the approach predates and aligns with structured literacy principles.

Tavello and colleagues walked the board through training and certification requirements for staff: a classroom-educator level (about 30 hours of coursework and 50 supervised practicum hours), an associate level (about 70 hours of coursework plus 100 supervised practicum hours) and a certified level (about 100 hours of coursework plus 200…