Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Early Literacy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Stockton Unified presents SIPs early-literacy results; district sites show measurable gains
Summary
District leaders told trustees that systematic instruction (SIPs) and the Early Literacy Support Block grant produced measurable growth in K–3 reading indicators; presenters said participating sites and cohorts showed average gains and outlined plans to expand SIPs to tier‑1 instruction next year.
Casey Clappenback, Stockton Unified’s early-literacy lead, told the board that the district has substantially expanded use of SIPs (systematic instruction for phonological awareness, phonics and sight words) and is using it as a key performance indicator to monitor student growth.
“SIPs allows us to know which lessons our students should be on and where they should be at the end of each grade level,” Clappenback said, summarizing the program’s scope and sequence and how sites are using data to place and accelerate instruction. He reported the district added roughly 1,500 more student records into the Illuminate system this year and described grade-level movement: in first grade roughly 93% of participating students began the year at a beginning level and by spring about 65% were in the extension level and roughly 29% were at higher levels; second-grade students similarly moved out of beginning levels into higher tiers.
Tamara Pernaitis, who manages Stockton’s Early Literacy Support Block (ELSB) grant sites, told trustees the seven district ELSB schools awarded CDE funding were an exemplars cohort. “Our i‑Ready diagnostic reports show that our ELSB sites grew on average by 6.9 percentage points of students at grade level by the end of grant year 3,” Pernaitis said, and she highlighted site-level results: Taft reported about 9% growth during the grant, and Hamilton showed large gains across kindergarten through third grade (for example, incoming kindergarten proficiency rising from 15% to 79% at one site).
Both presenters stressed implementation supports: ongoing professional development in the science of reading, job‑embedded coaching, PLCs, and site-based plans so schools can sustain gains after grant funding ends. Pernaitis noted that the ELSB grant will end funding this year but that some sites are maintaining positions funded temporarily with grant dollars because they proved essential to student progress.
Board members asked how SIPs will be used for third grade and how many third-grade teachers had implemented SIPs this year; Clappenback said the district focused K–2 data this year and that third-grade implementation and data are increasing but not yet at the same scale. Pernaitis added that sites will have multiple implementation options next year to accommodate varied starting points.
The district did not propose a board action tied to the presentations; trustees received the update and proceeded to other agenda items.
