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District details early-literacy grant and expansion of high-dose tutoring for K–3
Summary
Oregon City School District told the board it has enrolled 139 students in high-dose tutoring funded by the state Early Literacy Grant and adopted the UFLI foundational reading curriculum for K–2; staff reported early positive gains and coordination with Reading Results (53 students served by that partner).
The district reported progress on early-literacy work funded by Oregon’s noncompetitive Early Literacy Grant during the Dec. 8 board meeting, describing a combination of curriculum adoption, professional development and a “high-dose” tutoring model for K–3 students.
Candace Henkin, K–12 literacy specialist, said the district has adopted UFLI as a foundational-print phonics curriculum for K–2 and trained instructional assistants to deliver high-dose tutoring (groups of one to three students, at least three times a week; district typically schedules tutoring five days per week). She said 139 students are currently receiving tutoring through district staff; 13 have exited after meeting grade-level oral reading fluency criteria. The district also partners with a nonprofit, Reading Results, which serves 53 students in two schools and hires local tutors.
Henkin emphasized research on systematic phonics and repetition: lessons built into UFLI deliberately repeat target sounds many times across lessons (she described 41–59 practice instances for particular letters/sounds across lessons) and framed high-dose tutoring as targeted practice to accelerate students nearly at grade level. She said early data show an average growth of about 10 correct words per minute for students served so far, with individual growth up to 36 correct words per minute.
Board members asked where tutoring occurs (win-time or other scheduled intervention periods), whether funding is stable and how Reading Results tutors are recruited. Henkin said most tutoring occurs during the district’s “win” (what I need) time so students do not miss core instruction; the Early Literacy Grant is a state noncompetitive grant awarded to districts that apply and funding continuity cannot be guaranteed year to year. Reading Results hires tutors from the community and sometimes parents who can work the tutoring schedule.
District leaders said the grant has enabled experimentation with interventions and that some local schools are demonstration sites for statewide networks sharing best practices. The district will continue monitoring fluency and other literacy outcomes and report back to the board.
