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Rockford board adopts CKLA elementary literacy curriculum, plans summer training
Summary
After a year-long review that included teacher input and site visits, the Rockford Public School District board unanimously approved adopting the CKLA elementary literacy curriculum and authorized district purchase of materials and professional development under a six-year contract.
The Rockford Public School District Board of Education voted unanimously April 21 to adopt the CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) literacy curriculum for elementary grades and to purchase the program materials under a six-year contract.
The adoption followed a district-led review that included PLC work, teacher rubrics, and site visits to schools using both CKLA and Wit & Wisdom. Presenters told the board CKLA earned a higher average score on the district rubric (2.55 out of 3) compared with Wit & Wisdom (2.06). "We wanted the purpose to be to adopt curriculum that's high quality and grade evidence based, student centered, teacher centered, and financially responsible," the lead presenter said during the discussion.
Board members pressed the team on phonics and differentiation. Teachers and principals said the district will retain structured-phonics practices (for example, IMSE/Gillingham techniques) while aligning scope and sequence to CKLA so students moving among schools can be tracked on the same progression. Implementation planning includes summer curriculum-writing time, an initial professional-development session proposed June 6, and follow-up training tentatively scheduled in October and February of the first year.
Administrators told the board the six-year contract includes consumable materials, teacher and student digital components, and professional development. District staff said schedule adjustments (a common block for foundational skills and knowledge-building, for example) will be made to provide the recommended instructional minutes and collaborative planning time for grade-level teams.
"This is an example of how BILT is manifesting itself — shared leadership and partnership — and we have incredibly smart teachers who dug in and said here's what we think," the superintendent said during remarks acknowledging the teacher-led process.
The board approved the motion to adopt CKLA and purchase associated materials by voice vote; district leaders said the next steps are finalizing vendor contracts, confirming PD dates, and working with principals to build master schedules that preserve common planning and required instructional blocks.
