Students & Families Adult Education
Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

Reading Standards ELA Curriculum Frameworks

October 30, 2009

Please share this important information with your staff.

Dear Directors:

As noted in recent ACLS Monthly Mailings and at the Director's Meeting's Plenary Session, the Reading Standards of the ABE English language Arts (ELA) Curriculum Framework have been revised. Revising the Reading Standards has been a multi-year effort which recognizes the important role that reading comprehension plays in supporting the ability of ABE learners to reach their goals. The Reading Standards were revised in order to:

• Respond to the field's request for more specificity within the Standards
• Incorporate research on reading instruction more fully
• Create a level 6 (High ASE and Bridge to College / GLE 11-12.9) to align the standards with the state's strategic goal of preparing students for success in their next steps in college and further training, at work, and in the community.

The Reading Standards were vetted by a 6 member committee of experienced practitioners, 4 experts in adult reading instruction, a facilitator skilled in helping states to develop their ABE Reading Standards, and reviewed by 23 ABE practitioners. The knowledge and experience of this group benefitted the breadth and depth of the standards and has enhanced their usefulness to practitioners.

The goals for the revision were to:

• Help programs plan for reading instruction that covers the full range of knowledge and skills that students need
• Support teachers and programs in being as intentional and focused as possible in addressing students needs in the limited amount of time they attend ABE classes
• Provide more effective guidance for assessing students both formally and informally so teachers/learners know where to start, what to teach/learn, and where the gaps are in a learner's education
• Support consistency in what is taught and learned across programs.
• Validate what many teachers are already doing

The overall focus of the Reading Strand has not changed. Teachers will recognize that much of the same knowledge and many of the same skills are in the revised standards but with more specificity and examples to guide instruction. Additionally, there is more emphasis on teaching word identification and decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies as the foundation for increased comprehension of literary and informational texts. Grounded in current reading research, we believe that this emphasis is the key that will help unlock reading comprehension for many adult learners.

In order to teach these areas effectively, practitioners may need to spend more time on diagnostic assessment to determine exactly where learners' strengths and needs lie. This may impact teachers and counselors' work, but we believe that the work will reward our learners with greater learning gains.

In order to better understand the impact of the revised standards on teaching, counseling and assessment, ACLS is supporting a pilot of the STAR Reading Program, which will provide 8 to 10 programs with comprehensive training and technical assistance designed to help teachers improve reading outcomes for intermediate level adult learners. Nineteen other states are currently using the STAR.

The revised Reading Standards will be rolled out in early 2010, accompanied by a great deal of professional development and supporting materials. ACLS urges Directors to become familiar with the revisions and to provide the needed educational leadership and support to staff as they implement the new standards. Programs are encouraged to approach the revisions as a team with counselors, directors and teachers having an important role to play in their success.

In particular, please make every effort to reserve 4-6 hours of professional development time for the practitioners who would be best suited to take part in an orientation on the revised standards and related materials.

Since the Standards are the connector in the alignment of curriculum, instruction and assessment, the MAPT for Reading is in the process of being aligned with the revised standards and identified gaps in test items will be filled for an effective fit.

While ACLS understands that it will take time for programs to adapt their instruction to the revised Standards, we hope that program staff will engage with the revisions, explore the types of professional development offered and begin to incorporate the revisions into their curriculum development and instruction. We believe that the revised standards together with professional development and the lessons we will learn from the STAR Reading Programs will help improve our learners' gains and enable more learners to reach their goals.

Please contact Jane Schwerdtfeger with any questions at (781) 338-3855 or at janes@doe.mass.edu. Thank you for your work in this important area.

With Literacy in Mind,
Anne Serino