ADE K-12 ELA News

National Family Literacy Month is celebrated during the month of November. National Family Literacy Month is an opportunity for families to learn and read together. It also celebrates the work literacy programs do to empower families.

Share these activities with teachers and families to help them celebrate this important month!

• Read Write Think activities and lesson plans
• Ten Ways to Celebrate!

As required by ARS 15-211, the Dyslexia Training Designee (DTD) can be any Kindergarten through Third Grade teacher on a given campus. Any campus that serves K-3 students must identify at least one DTD for that campus. This document provides guidance to schools and districts for implementing this position on their campus, as well as the approved list of dyslexia trainings.

Please reach out to Maggie Velazquez with any questions.

UPDATE!- The Governor allocated funds in this year's budget to help schools pay for training required for their Dyslexia Training Designee. The funds will be granted through GME on a first come first served basis, once the funds are secured and ready to deliver. Please be on the lookout for more information.

Please join us in a collegial space where we share information and ask and answer questions related to ELA across the K-12 literacy continuum. During November and December, we will have Katie DiTullio and Candis Middlebrook from the ADE Assessment Team join us with information about the ELA state assessments including the stand alone field test for writing, the ORF field test and ASPIRE. Come join us and learn what is happening in the literacy landscape! Register now for sessions.

Missed previous sessions and want to know what was covered? Check out our Padlet of meeting notes.

The ELA team is joining forces with the Assessment team to provide educators information about the AASA assessment and stand alone field tests (SAFT) scheduled for the spring. We will provide two sessions for information about the Writing SAFT scheduled for January and the 3rd grade ORF field test in April. Sessions are scheduled for 11/8/2021 (ORF) and 11/9/2021 (Writing). Register now for these sessions.

Secondary:

Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties- Ends 11/18. See Book Study Flyer for more information.

Future planning - We will be offering a Spring Secondary ELA Book Study as well, on the book Fundamentals of Literacy Instruction and Assessment, 6-12. More information and discount code to come!

Kinder-12th Grades:

Overcoming Dyslexia- Ends 11/10. See Book Study Flyer for more information.

Future planning - We will be offering a Spring Dyslexia Book Study on this same text! More details to come.

Review Process:

Our team is feverishly reviewing the 460 literacy plans and literacy assessment data submissions that were due October 1 this year. Please be patient as we work to provide feedback and coaching. Part of our review process this year is to highlight standout models and exemplars for what we see happening in schools. Each month, we will post a new Spotlight on our Administrators Webpage (scroll to the bottom). Check out the professional development narratives from Lake Havasu this month!

Screening:

We hope your beginning-of-the-year universal screening went smoothly. Keep in mind, mid-year data is due February 1st and will be available to access in the portal after December 1st.

Dr. Amy Boza, Director of English Language Arts and Move On When Reading

Sarah Bondy, K-3 Early Literacy Specialist

Lauren Spenceley, Secondary ELA Specialist

Maggie Velazquez, Dyslexia and Literacy Intervention Specialist