District reports midyear early-literacy gains, expands LETRS training and piloted 'Arts and Letters' curriculum

Red Clay Consolidated School District staff reported midyear movement toward stronger early-literacy outcomes and outlined plans to scale teacher training and a new curriculum pilot.

At the board's March 10 workshop, Kelly Harkins, supervisor of ELA, said Acadience screening results show increases in the proportion of kindergarten students in the green (low-risk) zone and a reduction in high-risk (red) students at midyear. "We've increased our green, which is good," Harkins said, adding that the Acadience subtests change across the year so benchmarks are not directly comparable between entry and end points.

Why it matters: district staff framed the developments as an early indicator that combined curriculum, focused phonics instruction and targeted intervention can shift risk-levels before high-stakes spring assessments.

Harkins and other staff emphasized implementation details. They said the district is piloting the knowledge-building and writing curriculum called "Arts and Letters" in 67 classrooms across 14 buildings, with five multilingual learner (MLL) teachers piloting the program because of supplemental supports for language learners. Staff described mixed early survey responses that have trended more positive with additional classroom visits and interaction. "The writing instruction and the writing output from students has been a large, positive feature so far," a staff presenter summarized.

Staff also described a Tier 1 flexible service-delivery pilot at Richardson Park (Park Elementary) that groups first-grade teachers across classrooms and uses additional educators to create smaller, skill-based phonics groups. The district reported that students identified as yellow or red at risk receive about 60 minutes per day of targeted instruction at their skill level.

On teacher training, staff said the district was awarded a state "bridge to practice" grant that supports Senate Bill 4 requirements; the grant funds district cohorts for LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training. According to staff, the district registered 117 educators for the initial cohorts, which the presenter said will begin next week. "We build these first 3 cohorts, and they're going to begin next week," Dr. Barnes said.

Staff noted caveats: Acadience is not always appropriate for all students (for example, students with IEP accommodations may be gray/not-reported) and the testing instruments change as students progress, so the district treats results as diagnostic snapshots rather than definitive proficiency counts.

What's next: staff said districtwide professional learning for the Arts and Letters curriculum will begin in April and continue into 2026, with publisher-partner support and embedded coaching in buildings. The board requested additional school-level breakdowns and follow-up on implementation supports.