Natomas Unified launches early literacy year 1, plans expansion to 3rd grade after mixed DIBELS results

Associate Superintendent Tanya Jerrell and Director Amanda Garcia told trustees that the early literacy initiative is in its first year and will expand instruction and coaching to 3rd grade next year: "This is our 1st year of the early literacy initiative launched in fall," Jerrell said, and presenters said they will add 3rd grade to coaching cycles for 2026–27.

The presentation described a program built around coaching cycles, in-class coaching, teacher-created video lesson models, a resource bank, and professional development with partners including Amplify. Amanda Garcia described teacher-facing materials (video lessons with coaching annotations) and said the district is building internal capacity by documenting model teachers and classroom practice.

Presenters reviewed DIBELS (the district's chosen reading difficulty screener) results and said the data show site-level variation: speakers cited site improvements and gave an example with American Lakes showing a majority of students making average or better growth on the district's windowed comparison. Jerrell emphasized that DIBELS is nationally normed and helpful for identifying tiered supports and progress-monitoring.

Trustees pressed for comparable California-level data and for qualitative teacher feedback. Jerrell said teacher surveys and focus groups will be presented later and that administrators are being included in coaching conversations so feedback is two-way. The presenters said they will report May DIBELS results and continue to use multiple measures (including i-Ready) to monitor progress.

The board did not vote on policy here; the presentation closed with plans for a May 15 reading event and additional updates after the next assessment window.