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District elementary ELA committee recommends focusing first on phonics; aims to choose core phonics program for fall 2025
Summary
Elementary ELA committee recommended a staggered curriculum rollout that prioritizes a core, tier‑1 phonics and phonemic-awareness program to be implemented in fall 2025; current core resource (Wonders) would be retained for other components during the transition.
District elementary staff and teacher representatives reported a recommendation to prioritize a core phonics and phonemic-awareness program as the next step in an elementary ELA curriculum review.
Heather Wanner, a first-grade teacher at Hillandale Elementary, and Michelle Showalter, a third-grade teacher at Copson Elementary, told the Curriculum, Instruction and Technology Committee the district’s elementary ELA committee reviewed comprehensive programs and concluded that a focused, systematic, sequential and explicit phonics program would have the largest near-term impact on student outcomes. The presenters said many comprehensive materials reviewed lacked a sufficiently strong phonics component or did not present it in a systematic way for kindergarten through grade 5.
Mike Otterberg (committee presenter) and others said the committee voted to recommend a staggered approach: select and implement a district core tier-1 phonics program for fall 2025 and continue reviewing other tools for comprehension, vocabulary and written expression to be phased in later. The committee emphasized professional development and a careful rollout so the phonics resource is implemented well rather than rolled out quickly and ineffectively.
Presenters said they would maintain the current Wonders program for the other ELA components during the phased implementation and that several programs under consideration are already familiar to district staff. The recommendation reflected teacher input from all four elementary schools, reading specialists, special education and gifted teachers, building administrators and district curriculum staff.
Board members asked for a timetable; committee staff said they expect to present a recommendation to the board in April or May 2025 and are aiming for fall 2025 implementation of the tier-1 phonics program. No final contract or procurement was approved during the CIT meeting; the committee flagged professional development and classroom-level piloting as next steps.
