Aurora West begins year one of HMH literacy rollout; district cites early gains and technology hurdles

District instructional leaders told the Aurora West USD 129 board on Oct. 20 that the district is in the first year of implementing the HMH elementary literacy curriculum (InterReading and Arriba La Lectura) across all 10 elementary buildings. They said the program emphasizes structured foundational skills, grade-level text, daily writing and small-group instruction and that it was chosen because it aligns with the Illinois State Literacy Plan and provides a bilingual equivalent to the English materials.

Dr. Vasquez said the district selected HMH after a multi-year process that included a literacy committee and instructional minutes committee. "We used the Illinois literacy plan to ground our thinking," Vasquez said, and the district added 15 minutes to the school day and moved to a common district schedule so classrooms could implement the program consistently across buildings.

Dr. Waddell and other presenters described specific classroom components: explicit phonics routines, scaffolded small-group work, a systematic progression of lessons, daily writing tasks and instructional materials for both English and Spanish classrooms. Presenters showed classroom video clips and writing samples to illustrate how lessons are sequenced and how students engage with texts and writing across grades.

A major technology element of the rollout is Amira, a digital reading coach that listens to students read and gives real-time feedback. Presenters said Amira is used two to three times per week in small-group instruction and that it supplies teachers and reading specialists with audio and progress data that can inform targeted intervention. A district reading specialist quoted during the presentation said the ability to "listen to a student read while viewing the text" and review Amira's reports was "phenomenal" for diagnosing needs and advising teachers.

Presenters also acknowledged implementation challenges. Dr. Waddell said this is a difficult first year because the HMH materials include a new combined manual and new technology components such as ClassCraft and Amira. She said the program raises classroom rigor to grade level, which was an intended outcome but has required additional coaching and schedule adjustments. Building administrators and department administrators are conducting coaching sessions and updating pacing guides daily, the presentation said.

Professional learning activities include HMH-led sessions and district coaching. The board was told each classroom teacher receives about 90 minutes with an HMH consultant focused on small-group instruction, and district staff have added optional common-plan time to preview upcoming curriculum modules. The presentation listed leading indicators the district will monitor this year (instructional practice fidelity, student engagement with grade-level text, student discussion and writing) and said large-scale achievement gains remain a lagging indicator that will take more time to materialize.

Board members asked about the Spanish program, supports for students above grade level and whether professional development is sufficient. Presenters said the Spanish materials are not a regional "Spain Spanish" variant but are intended to be accessible to the district's bilingual students; small groups are generally organized by similar skill level to provide targeted instruction and intervention, and the district continues to pace professional learning so teachers receive repeated, anchored coaching over the year rather than a single one-time session.

The district said HMH consultants report one of the strongest early implementations they have seen nationally, while also noting that Amira and other technology components still produce occasional "bumps" that staff are troubleshooting. District leaders emphasized they will continue to monitor classroom practice, assessment data (including Amira, weekly and module assessments) and system coherence from pre-K through grade 12.

Speakers quoted in this account include Dr. Vasquez and Dr. Waddell, who led the presentation; Dr. Mike Smith, who introduced the topic; Shannon Walsh, the district professional learning administrator who introduced the parent-mentor recognition earlier in the meeting; and a named reading specialist who commented on Amira.