Frederick County Public Schools details new literacy plan, expands screening and teacher training
Loading...
Summary
FCPS staff told a curriculum committee the district has adopted high-quality ELA materials across grade spans, trained hundreds of educators in LETRS and related programs, and will screen K–3 students three times next year with required Student Reading Improvement Plans for flagging interventions.
Frederick County Public Schools presented an update to its curriculum committee on Thursday outlining the district’s new elementary integrated literacy team and expanded secondary English language arts supports, the district’s staff said.
Megan Stein, supervisor of Elementary Integrated Literacy for Frederick County Public Schools, said the team—formed last July—has focused on aligning curriculum, strengthening Tier 1 instruction and expanding professional learning. “We have an unwavering focus on our tier 1 instruction,” Stein said, describing the district’s adoption of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) across grade bands and systems for monitoring implementation.
The presentation placed FCPS’s work in the context of statewide changes. Speaker 2 told the committee the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and MSDE’s comprehensive literacy policy have driven a statewide shift to the “science of reading,” with particular emphasis on pre-K through third grade. FCPS staff said the district has implemented HQIM at pre-K–2 and grades 3–5 and adopted a common secondary literature program in middle schools and grades 9–11.
District officials provided counts tied to professional development: Stein reported about 700 teachers have completed LETRS units (transcript uses variant “Lehi”), 328 teachers have completed LETRS 1–4, 255 teachers are currently enrolled in LETRS courses, and 24 administrators completed an administrators’ LETRS course; MSDE participation totals cited by staff were 465 FCPS staff in state-provided programs. Officials said district staff also offer SUNY Reading Fundamentals, AIM Pathways offerings, and other training to support implementation.
School-level testimony described how the materials and coaching are used in classrooms. Josh Wort, principal at TJ Middle School, described creating common planning time, co-teaching, and tiered interventions (Tier 1/2/3), and reported steady gains in ELA achievement at his school. A classroom teacher said HQIM has reduced variation between classrooms and eased transitions for students moving between schools.
On assessment and parent communication, staff announced changes required by the Maryland pre-K–3 literacy policy: beginning next school year, FCPS will screen kindergarten through third-grade students three times annually and, for any student flagged as at-risk, the district will create a Student Reading Improvement Plan (SRIP) within 30 days and hold a meeting that must include the parent. Stein said the district is building a SRIP template that will include diagnostic assessment results and the planned intervention, and that plans will be revisited annually.
When an attendee asked which screener would be used, staff confirmed FCPS will use DIBELS for the screening assessments. The committee wrestled with family communication: an attendee (unnamed in the transcript) said parents often receive optimistic letters that “bury the lead” and asked for clearer, earlier warnings and practical home supports. The district’s response was procedural: SRIP meetings must include parents and teachers will receive templates and coaching to help them contact families proactively.
Staff also discussed handwriting, the role of consumable workbooks and the balance between print and digital instruction. FCPS staff said handwriting instruction is included in HQIM for K–2, student workbooks are an anchor at the secondary level and teachers retain discretion to blend print and digital resources to meet students’ needs; presenters acknowledged the recurring operational cost of ordering large numbers of consumable materials.
Looking ahead, staff said a draft adolescent literacy policy (grades 4–12) has been shared with districts and will go to public comment at MSDE in the spring; FCPS expects to brief the board on local approval processes in March. The committee scheduled future meetings on math and science next month and social studies thereafter.
The committee did not take formal votes on curricular adoption during the meeting; presenters framed the session as an informational update and next steps include finalizing SRIP templates and continuing professional learning.
