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Board approves literacy-grant purchases for progress monitoring and whole-class texts
Summary
Using Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant funds, the board approved a multiyear Amplify MClass progress-monitoring contract (year-one payment approved) and the purchase of whole-class HMH chapter-book sets for K–5 classrooms.
Queen Anne's County Public Schools moved forward on literacy investments funded through a competitive state grant, approving a progress-monitoring system and whole-class text purchases designed to support striving readers in early grades.
Bridget Passen, English-language arts supervisor for grades 3–12, and Angela Gieber, supervisor of instruction for early childhood and READING (Pre-K–2), presented two grant-funded purchases. The district won its requested allocation for elementary grades through the competitive grant and asked the board to approve year-one spending.
The board approved a multiyear purchase of Amplify MClass to provide progress monitoring and professional development for Tier 2 and Tier 3 reading instruction. Staff said they negotiated the contract so payments are spread across three years to protect the district if later grant installments are not released; the presentation listed the year-one cost as $83,746.60, while the motion language later cited $86,746.60. Staff said the vendor agreed to an indemnity rider making later-year payments contingent on grant funding.
Separately, the board approved $60,769.92 for whole-class sets of adopted chapter books and related professional development, to begin implementation in classrooms this month. Staff said training and volunteer teacher participation will support rollout; 30 teacher training slots were filled for the initial PD session on Aug. 21.
Board members asked about teacher workload, training cadence, and how the data from the progress-monitoring tool will integrate with existing screeners such as i-Ready. Staff said MClass assessments will be brief (a six-minute assessment cited) and will provide more frequent monitoring (every 4–6 weeks) than the district’s i-Ready screener (three times per year), mapping immediate lessons for intervention delivery.
Next steps: PD sessions and instructional materials will be distributed in time for the start of the school year; staff said they will bring a comprehensive literacy policy for board review during the next school year.
