Presenter Miss Pitreo outlines Boyertown Area SD's ELA curriculum review, pilot plan and timeline

Miss Pitreo, a presenter from the district's Office of Teaching and Learning, gave the Education & Student Services Committee an update on the Boyertown Area School District's review of K'12 English language arts (ELA) resources and the district's plan for teacher pilots and professional learning.

She told the committee the review is tied to the district's strategic goals, MTSS Tier 1 objectives and the Portrait of a Graduate, and stressed the need for teacher clarity in Tier 1 instruction. "Tonight's presentation is gonna give you an update really where we are in some of our strategic plan work," Miss Pitreo said, adding that the work focuses on "what our teachers need" and "using data to help drive those decisions." The presentation summarized May 1 grade-level review work using local and standardized assessments (IXL, PSSA, PVAS) and teacher 'digging deeper' questionnaires to identify trends and resource gaps.

Why it matters: The district is preparing pilots and implementation plans that would shape instruction across all grade levels and guide resource purchases that can include consumable student materials and multi-year digital platform contracts. Miss Pitreo said the district is seeking comparable, six-year price estimates so it can evaluate both up-front and recurring costs and maintain continuity through a 6-year adoption cycle.

Key details: Miss Pitreo said vendors provided samples for K'6 (Benchmark, CKLA, Arts and Letters) and secondary (Carnegie, Imagine Learning, CommonLit), and that the district has scheduled two curriculum workdays in June. June 8 is the workday to finalize reflections; the morning of June 9 will host vendors for direct teacher questions, with the afternoon reserved for district decision conversations. "On June 8 we are going to finalize the reflection," she said, and on June 9 the vendors will be available to "answer those specific questions." She emphasized the pilot's purpose: to identify implementation needs rather than to give an immediate like/dislike verdict.

Pilot plan and representation: The district plans to have two pilot teachers per grade level where possible, with elementary buildings each represented and middle school pilots split East/West, so pilot voices are spread across buildings. The curriculum review team currently includes nearly every elementary grade-level representative.

Digital platforms and assessments: Miss Pitreo said vendor digital platforms vary in assessment rigor; the district would have access to platform data in order to compare vendor measurements to existing systems. "If one of our resources has a platform they're using assessments... we would have access to that information to be able to make decisions on how we're supporting students," she said. The district is also vetting whether a vendor's assessment component would replace separate assessment purchases.

Tiered supports and professional learning: The presenter said teams are evaluating whether vendor resources include Tier 2/3 and ELL supports that align to classroom Tier 1. She reviewed teacher survey priorities for professional learning (lesson planning aligned to learning intentions, assessment and feedback, engagement strategies, differentiated Tier 1 instruction) and said the Office of Teaching and Learning and coaches are planning differentiated professional learning next year. The district has reserved an IU ELA specialist for secondary professional learning and outlined a PBIS/SEL rollout for Tier 1 behavior supports (elementary trained this year, middle next year, high school in 2027'28) as part of broader MTSS implementation aimed at completion by 2030.

Next steps and access to materials: Physical and digital resource samples are available in the hallway and in the presenter's office through May 21 for board members to review; board members may schedule time to view them. Miss Pitreo invited members to ask additional questions after they review the materials.

Process note: Committee members confirmed the vendor list began with state-provided recommendations from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and that districts are not required to select exclusively from that list. Miss Pitreo said she has asked vendors for standardized six-year estimates so the district can compare costs consistently; some vendors supplied 1-year estimates and others 6-year estimates, so the district is requesting consistent pricing information.

Meeting outcome: There were no public comments and no votes on curriculum decisions at the meeting. The committee recessed briefly so members could view materials and then voted to adjourn. The next Education & Student Services Committee meeting was announced for Oct. 13 at 6 p.m.

Authorities and references in the discussion included Act 135 (as cited by the presenter in relation to the 2027'28 adoption cycle), the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) list of vetted resources, the Intermediate Unit (IU) consultation, and assessments named in the presentation (PSSAs, PVAS, IXL). Vendor names mentioned during the review included Benchmark, CKLA, Arts and Letters, Carnegie, Imagine Learning and CommonLit.

Ending: The committee recessed to allow members to view materials and then adjourned without taking formal action on any purchase or adoption.