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Carmel Clay Schools outlines "science of reading" rollout, shows classroom demos and early evaluation plans
Summary
District leaders presented the research base for the "science of reading," demonstrated lessons with third graders, and said they have adopted Wit and Wisdom alongside Fundations and GEODES; officials said it is early to judge outcomes but some grade-level gains appeared in initial NWEA checks.
Carmel Clay Schools leaders presented a workshop on the "science of reading" during the board meeting, describing the research foundation and showing how the district is applying those principles in K–5 classrooms.
Anne Arroyo, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, framed the field using The Reading League's definition, saying the science of reading is "a vast interdisciplinary body of scientifically based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing." She told the board Indiana's Department of Education has issued guidance and the state enacted a legislative definition that narrowed the district's list of recommended K–5 core reading programs.
Megan Shoaf, the district's K–12 literacy specialist, led a classroom demonstration to show how readers build a "mental model" from text details plus long‑term memory. "The goal of reading comprehension is to build a mental model," Shoaf said during the exercise with student volunteers.
Arroyo ran adult exercises illustrating the Simple View of Reading — that reading comprehension is a product of word recognition and language comprehension. "There's no comprehension strategy powerful enough to compensate for the inability to read the words," she said, using masked passages to show how reduced decoding accuracy sharply reduces understanding.
District staff described how three programs work together in Carmel Clay Schools: Fundations for K–3 phonics and decoding, Wit and Wisdom (adopted this year) for knowledge and vocabulary building, and GEODES small‑group decodable texts that bridge phonics and knowledge instruction.
When board members asked how the district will evaluate impact, Arroyo said it is early in year one and warned of a common initial implementation dip. "Typically, in a year 1 implementation, you will see an implementation dip," she said, while noting the district's fall‑to‑winter NWEA checks showed some strong growth in kindergarten and second grade and mostly comparable results elsewhere. Staff said the district will continue monitoring iRead, iLearn and NWEA results over the next one to two years.
Presenters described targeted supports for English learners, including explicit syntax instruction, vocabulary scaffolds and unit‑specific language supports built into Wit and Wisdom. Teachers and board members praised student engagement and noted the elementary implementation emphasizes paper‑and‑pencil reading and writing rather than exclusive Chromebook use.
District leaders said the new approach aims to integrate decoding and knowledge instruction so students who still need phonics support receive intensified intervention while all students engage with complex texts and knowledge building.
The presentation closed with a student‑led sampling of third‑grade activities (recounting events, story elements and subject‑verb agreement) to illustrate how lessons look in a classroom setting. Board members thanked the teachers and students for the demonstration and the district said it will return with ongoing data updates as the implementation proceeds.
