District outlines early‑literacy plan, sets kindergarten letter‑ID target at 90%

Schenectady City School District leaders presented the district’s early‑literacy strategy and the P‑3 attestation work required by New York State at the Nov. 19 board meeting, emphasizing curriculum alignment to the science of reading and a shift from adoption to systematic implementation.

Assistant Superintendent Anna Lee Cruz Pomey said the district anchored the plan in its vision for equitable access to research‑based reading instruction and reviewed national NAEP context and local spring assessment results. Jessica Valente and Rebecca Gleason outlined the district’s review process and said the district attested that its curriculum aligns with the five pillars of literacy (and oral language/writing components) called for in state guidance.

District staff described next steps to strengthen implementation: building a strategic, required professional‑development plan (moving beyond voluntary workshops), identifying model classrooms, developing curriculum‑specific rubrics for monitoring, conducting guided and routine walk‑throughs, and entering early‑literacy assessment data into the district’s eDoctrina platform to track trends and cohorts. Staff said some assessments will be collected three times per year while walk‑throughs and formative checks provide immediate feedback to teachers. Staff framed monitoring as both immediate (daily walk‑through feedback) and long‑term (trend analysis to drive professional development).

The presentation included supports for English language learners: state resources and translanguaging strategies that emphasize oral language and vocabulary development. Staff urged families to read, tell stories, and use library resources; the district will provide family letters and materials tied to grade‑level modules.

The presentation noted a district target of 90% kindergarten letter identification by 2026 (staff reported approximately 83–87% in spring 2025 for kindergarten letter ID). Staff also described progress in training teachers in Foundations (pre‑K–3 phonics) and other curriculum components, and said instructional coaches and study‑group PD will be deployed across buildings to sustain implementation.

Board members asked about monitoring cadence, whether gaps are addressed immediately or only at year‑end, how walk‑through indicators are communicated to teachers (staff said indicators are not a surprise and feedback is immediate), and whether high‑achieving students are offered acceleration or enrichment. Staff described examples including book studies at higher Lexile levels and inquiry‑based instruction for acceleration. One board member confirmed there are 46 phonemes in English as a conceptual check during the discussion.

Staff did not propose new policy changes in this session; the presentation was positioned as an operational update and an implementation‑stage action plan for the board to monitor.