Board hears third-year update on Literacy Academy and Orton-Gillingham implementation
Summary
District staff updated the Buchanan Board of Education on the Literacy Academyan Orton-Gillinghambased program for students with reading disabilitiesreporting teacher training levels, student progress data, an application for OGA accreditation and plans for cautious expansion.
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 supervised practicum hours). Presenters said 89 percent of special-education teachers had completed the associate-level coursework districtwide, and the district reported a staffing distribution that includes multiple teachers at different certification levels.
Program leaders showed progress-monitoring data from PAST and single-word reading assessments for individual students, including multi-year trend charts the presenters said show upward improvement in decoding and accuracy. One example charted a student who began with low scores and, after two years in the academy, moved into more complex reading tasks; another fourth-grade example showed growth from CVC words to multi-syllabic grade-level text. The presenters also noted DIBELS and SBAC data points and said SBAC averages calculated for literacy-academy students in third and fourth grade were about a 3 on the district—s scale.
On program access, board members asked whether the district was able to enroll every student who meets the academy criteria and whether the program could expand. Tavello said the district has been able to place students who meet current criteria and that summer Extended School Year (ESY) services are provided when the student's planning team recommends them. She cautioned that any expansion of entry criteria would be "methodical," citing a program design that maintains small group sizes (presenters said groups aim to remain at four or fewer students) and individualized instruction to preserve effectiveness.
Board members asked about incentives and retention for teachers pursuing advanced OG certification. Presenters said the primary incentives cited by staff were professional satisfaction and observing student progress; there is not a district financial incentive program tied to OG certification, though staff noted the credential is professionally valuable outside the district.
Tavello announced the district has applied for accreditation through the Orton Gillingham Academy (OGA) and said the district is among the first public-school programs to apply. "We—ve applied for accreditation through the Orton Gillingham Academy," she said. Presenters described the OGA process: an initial application, assignment of a mentor from the accreditation committee, a yearlong mentorship and site visits, and then a committee decision on accreditation.
Presenters described other interventions the district uses to catch students earlier: the Heggerty phonological-awareness curriculum in kindergarten and first grade, Foundations and Hagerty programs in the primary grades, universal screening with DIBELS three times per year, and a referral pathway from classroom or special-education teachers into the Literacy Academy when response to intervention is insufficient.
Questions from board members touched on capacity, summer services and data patterns. Staff said some increases in enrollment to the academy reflected added staffing since the program began, and that the majority of students recommended for summer ESY historically attend. Presenters declined to give a precise, final count of expected exits from the program this year, saying the number was still being finalized and could change as data were updated.
The presentation concluded with board members praising the program and the on-site coaching model; presenters argued the district—s on-site OG fellow provides more continuous coaching than outside consultants and that on-site coaching both improves instruction and reduces the district—s reliance on intermittent, consultant-led professional development.
The board did not take formal action during the update; presenters said any expansion of enrollment or formal changes to program criteria would be considered methodically and would preserve small-group, individualized instruction.
