Jenkintown staff say Bookworms, MTSS and LinkIt data show early reading gains

District staff presented a multi‑year implementation of Bookworms curriculum, the Multi‑Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework and a new LinkIt data platform and said early indicators show student reading gains.

At the May 19 Jenkintown School District business meeting, a presenter described how MTSS and Bookworms were introduced starting in 2021 and integrated with a district data‑team approach. The presenter said teachers and volunteer staff met weekly, adopted AIMSweb screening and used LinkIt to aggregate progress monitoring and intervention records. “We implemented effective support plans and interventions,” the presenter said, and showed LinkIt student profiles that combine attendance, benchmarks and intervention notes.

Why it matters: Board members and staff said the combined approach gives the district a single place to track student growth and helps target interventions. The presentation framed Bookworms as a knowledge‑based, science‑of‑reading curriculum with three blocks — differentiated instruction (diff groups), ELA (read‑alouds and writing) and shared reading — that staff said drove consistent classroom practice.

Data and claims presented: Presenters cited spring‑term graphs and assessment summaries. In one summary the presenter said 87% of the current first‑grade cohort is projected to begin second grade on or above grade level. The presentation also cited a kindergarten projection of about 79% moving to grade‑level benchmarks and a cited cohort improvement from roughly 69% to 87% in Tier‑1 placement in a single year. Presenters emphasized that some figures remain preliminary and that full cohort reporting is still being finalized.

Board response and next steps: Board members praised teachers’ work and asked whether the LinkIt outputs could be posted for public review. Staff said they will prepare a shareable summary and noted that some underlying data are still being finalized. Several trustees urged that initial public releases be accompanied by explanatory text and that additional teacher training and communications for families be scheduled.

What was not decided: The board did not take action to change curriculum policy at the meeting; members only discussed publishing a summary of the LinkIt data and continuing rollout and training.

Speakers referenced in this article are drawn from the meeting’s presenter and staff speakers who delivered the Bookworms/MTSS/LinkIt presentation and from board members who asked questions and requested publication of the data.