Chatham County Board adopts EL Education curriculum for kindergarten and first grade

The Chatham County Board of Education voted unanimously to approve purchasing the EL Education English language arts curriculum for kindergarten and first grade, the district’s academic team said.

Carla Murray, executive director of elementary education for Chatham County Schools, told the board the district has been implementing professional development tied to the science of reading and is required by the state to maintain a literacy instructional standards and literacy intervention plan. She said the district has materials aligned in grades 2–8 and is seeking to “beef up” kindergarten and first grade to create K–8 alignment.

Murray said literacy leaders from each school used a rubric developed by the district’s ACES team—drawing on guidance from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), LETRS, and the Institute of Education Sciences—to evaluate curricula. "The EL total is much higher than what we're currently doing in schools," she said, reporting that EL scored 306 on the rubric versus 43 for the district’s existing K–1 model and that EL was ranked first by literacy leaders from every school.

Mandy Evans, K–8 instructional program facilitator (part of the elementary education team), and other literacy leaders described pros and cons they considered, including training and learning new materials. Murray said the district will use curriculum coaches to support teachers and emphasized the district’s goal of 85% or higher proficiency on state assessments by third grade.

District staff told the board the planned purchase is a one-time acquisition rather than an ongoing subscription. The ACES team identified funding sources to cover the purchase, including state science-of-reading funds, digital learning/textbook funds, and local professional development funds.

A board member moved the adoption motion; the board seconded the motion and approved it by voice vote.

Board materials and presenters framed the adoption as intended to create consistency K–5 and to build on two years of science-of-reading professional development in the district.