Kindergarten - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that materials contain full, adult-level explanations and examples of the foundational skills concepts included in the program so teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

The Teacher’s Guidebook summarizes what foundational skills concepts are included in the program. There are adult-level explanations of some foundational skill concepts and a few examples of the concepts, such as CVC word practice and practice with uppercase and lowercase letters. However, some definitions are limited in scope and do not provide enough information for teachers to understand the concept. There is a page in the “I am Ready” lesson plan book and in Steps 1-5 Teacher Guide books with some adult explanations of the foundational skills concepts, but the explanations are minimal and are provided in relation to how to present the skills to students. The explanations do not include information to help teachers improve their own base of knowledge on the subject.

Some detailed adult-level explanations are provided for each foundational skill taught at the grade level. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Days 111-115, Whole Class Lesson, The Alphabet Book, Specific Instructions for the Second Page, the directions explain that the word “and” is considered a sight word until students learn sounds for /a/, /n/, and /d/.
• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” program, Days 76-80, the instructions state that teachers should leave one second between each sound or phoneme.
• In Teacher’s guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, pages 209-215, there are definitions that are written for teachers for CVC words, sight words, phonemes, phonological awareness, rime and medial vowel sounds, and blending.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2-3, pages 73-75, Whole Class Lesson, Day 2, the lesson provides explicit directions for finding Sticky Words, Slow Down Sounds, and comprehension questions along with fluency practice. There are suggestions for extensions, accommodations, modifications, and alternative activity ideas.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, page 213, Definitions by a Teacher, Definitions of terms, foundational skills, and Express Readers specific words are provided for teachers. For example, “onsets” is defined as the sound before the middle vowel. The definition goes on to say that not all words have onsets.

Some detailed examples of the grade level foundational skill concepts are provided for the teacher. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, page 286, the teacher reviews the words “that”, “to”, and “for” and explains that these words are Sticky Words, words that are easy to get stuck on.
• In “Ready, Set, Go!” Teacher’s Guidebook, page 8, the directions explain that /kn/, /wh/, and /wr/ are not digraphs by definition and that the letters do not combine to make a new sound.
• In “Ready, Set, Go!” Teacher’s Guidebook, pages 54-61, it provides routines for introducing rhyming words, listening for beginning, middle, or ending sounds, switching sounds, and blending words.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5, page 251, it defines blends as 2-3 consonants that are next to one another and each phoneme can still be heard. Examples provided include: bl, cr, tr, spr.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that foundational skills lessons are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. Content can reasonably be completed within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

The scope and sequence includes mini-lessons, whole-class lessons, and center activities with suggested instructional time frames. This provides for teacher choice and flexibility within a five-day instructional sequence. Daily lessons are flexible and manageable for a variety of teacher schedules. However, the program lacks effective guidance for teachers in terms of pacing and delivering explicit lessons. Although time guidelines are provided for each activity, there is no indication of how lessons should be paced in order to cover all grade-level standards over the course of the school year. While materials provide lessons in five-day increments, there is no established number of lessons that would be completed in a school year, as students work at their own pace and begin work at their current level. Many of the lessons that include grade-level standards are included in center lessons and will not necessarily be completed by all students. It is not clear if students will complete enough lessons to master standards for the grade level, especially if a student starts with materials below grade level.

The lesson design structure includes both whole group and small group instruction. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Days 41-45, the planner contains directions for a whole group or small group lesson, based on what the teacher thinks the class needs.
• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Days 61-65, the lesson focuses on the letters Jj and Kk. A scope and sequence for the five-day course of instruction is included prior to the lesson plans and includes a suggested time frame to be spent on each component. Five mini-lessons are presented first, followed by whole class lessons, and then center activities.
• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Days 66-70, during the whole group lesson, the teacher’s and students’ tongues lightly touch their teeth when they say letter L. Then the teacher displays the L sentence page.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 31-35, during whole group instruction, the teacher introduces the skill of isolating and pronouncing medial sounds.

The pacing of each component of daily lesson plans is partially clear and appropriate. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Days 36-40, the planner recommends that the mini lesson should take 5-10 minutes.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, pages 3-7 contains the scope and sequence for 95 instructional days. Focus lessons are presented in a five-day teaching sequence. Each five-day sequence includes mini-lessons, whole class lessons, and centers. Page 5 explains how the centers overlap between Teacher Planners in order to individualize instruction.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, page 178, Days 36-40, the planner suggests that the whole class lesson should take 20-25 minutes.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, page 323, Days 71-75, the planner states that the whole group/small group activity should take 15-25 minutes.

The suggested amount of time and expectations for maximum student understanding of all foundational skill content (i.e. phonological awareness, print concepts, letters, phonics, HFW, word analysis, decoding) can partially be completed in one school year and should not require modifications. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready" Program, pages 9-17, the guidebook states that students should take roughly 125 days to complete the letter recognition activities for sound recognition.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready" Program, page 15, Days 131-150, students work on activities learning medial short vowel sounds /e/, /o/, and /a/.
• In “Ready, Set, Go!” Steps 1-5, Days 46-95 focus on CVC words, which is 10 weeks of practice with CVC words.
• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, pages 3-11, contain the scope and sequence for 175 days of instruction. Each five-day teaching sequence includes mini-lessons, whole class lessons, and center/small group activities. Letter names and letter sounds are introduced in the order of the alphabet.

For those materials on the borderline (e.g. approximately 130 days on the low end or 200 days on the high end), evidence does not clearly explain how students would be able to master ALL the grade level standards within one school year. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready" Program, page 9-17, the guidebook has a scope and sequence with 175 days of activities.
• In “Ready, Set, Go!” Teacher’s Guidebook, pages 9-13, presents a scope and sequence for 125 lessons, including introducing beginning sounds, medial short vowels, CVC words, spelling, and writing sentences.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that the Scope and Sequence clearly delineate an intentional sequence in which phonics skills are to be taught, with a clear explanation for the order of the sequence.

The Kindergarten materials reviewed in the “I am Ready” Program include a delineated scope and sequence beginning with teaching the letters of the alphabet and their most common sound. This is followed by a focus on short medial vowels in CVC words. In Step 1, the letters of the alphabet and their most common sounds are retaught at a faster pace, followed again by instruction on short medial vowels. In Step 2, consonant blends are taught, but there is not a specific sequence to how these blends are taught. There is no clear, research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence. Although single grapheme letter sounds are introduced in the order that they occur in the alphabet, there is an absence of evidence that the sequence introduced was built upon a research-based explanation.

Materials delineate a Scope and Sequence. Materials include a limited cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction and practice to build toward application of skills. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I Am Ready” Program, each letter is broken down into which days to teach along with Main Focus Class Lessons (ex. Consonant Play Book, Class Picture Find, Sound Card Sort, etc) and five centers (ex. Rainbow Letters, Find 8, Mini Book, etc)
• In the Ready to Read, Teacher’s Guidebook, page 9, the author states, “[A]ll consonants are practiced first, short vowels second and CVC words last.” Each letter receives five days of instruction.
• In Ready, Set, GO!, Teacher’s Guidebook, page 14–15, there is a scope and sequence for Green Planner, Sections 1–3. In Section 1–3, this is the scope and sequence:
• Days 1–5: Consonants b, c, d, f, g, h
• Days 6–10: Consonants j, k, l, m, n, p
• Days 11–15: Consonants qu, r, s, t
• Days 16–20: Consonants v, w, x, y, z
• Days 21–25: Short a
• Days 26–30: Short i
• Days 31–35: Short o
• Days 36–40: Short u
• Days 41–45: Short e
• Days 46–60: Short vowel and consonant review
• Days 51–85: CVC words

Materials have a clear research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence.

• No evidence found

Phonics instruction is based in high utility patterns and/or common phonics generalizations. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, the common sounds are taught for A-Z in alphabetical order.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Scope and Sequence, page 3, students work on short /a/, /e/, /o/, and /u/ on Days 1-20.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Scope and Sequence, page 4, students work on medial sounds in words featuring the short vowel sounds /a/, /i/, /o/, /u/, and /e/.

Patterns and generalizations are carefully selected to provide a meaningful and manageable number of phonics patterns and common generalizations for students to learn deeply. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, "I am Ready" Program, the Scope and Sequence explains that each five-day instructional cycle covers one to two alphabet letters and sounds. Instruction then progresses to decoding CVC words.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Scope and Sequence, the Scope and Sequence lays out the sequence of reviewing one to five beginning sounds over a five-day instructional cycle, progressing to covering one to two medial short vowels over an additional five-day instructional cycle.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that materials include decodable texts with high-frequency words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

Kindergarten materials contain a scope and sequence for instruction using decodable readers; however, the high-frequency words are not mentioned in the scope and sequence, and some of the decodable books have different high-frequency words than the words taught that week. Instruction of "Sticky Words" builds upon previous lessons, and “Sticky Words” are practiced in multiple books over the course of the "I am Ready" and Step 1 Program. Students have opportunities to reread the decodable books, but these opportunities are not guaranteed to occur, as the books are reread primarily in optional centers or at home. There is no evidence that there is explicit instruction of all high-frequency words before students encounter them in text. The Scope and Sequence does not provide a list of "Sticky Words" that will be taught. Materials do not include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings to secure knowledge of high-frequency or irregularly spelled words.

Materials include decodable texts that utilize high-frequency/irregularly spelled words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Days 151-155, students read the story, I am Bug, and they learn the words I and a in the beginning of the book.
• Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 51-55, page 241, the decodable book, Pig is Sad, practice pages 241-248, the "Sticky Words" contained in the decodable book include the and a.
• Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 56-60, students receive the decodable book Bug Gets Wet. The "Sticky Words" contained in the decodable include the and go.
• Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 61-65 ,Whole Class Lesson, page 283, students receive the book Bug has a Hut. The "Sticky Words" include the words the and for.

Decodable texts at times contain grade-level high-frequency/irregularly spelled words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Teacher’s Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, the Express Reader’s Book Layout, page 5, indicates the sequence in which the high-frequency, or "Sticky Words", are introduced. In the "I am Ready" Program, the words I,a, go, to, too, from, the, was,and of are introduced between four decodable books. In Step 1, the additional words he ,be, was,and from are introduced in addition to practicing words from the "I am Ready" Program.
• Yellow Teacher Planner, "I am Ready" Program, Days 171-175, Whole Class Lesson, introduced the, was, and from. Lessons from the decodable book Cat’s Hat, contain the words go, to, too, from, and the.
• Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 76-80, page 352, the Sticky Words in the book Dog Gets a Van are of, does, see, sees, put, puts, come, like, and have.
• Green Teacher Planner, The Step 1 Tool Kit contains the decodable book, Dog and the Gum. The sight words for that book are from, he, and the.
• In the Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days, 91-95, students read the decodable Cub and the Nap, and they learn the Sticky Words the, to, too, for, and he.

Materials include do not include lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing high-frequency words/irregularly spelled words in context. Lessons are general and do not provide detailed information for repeated readings. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days, 91-95, page 419, students read the book Cat Got Wet to themselves first and then are organized into partners and read by switching off sentences. The Sticky Words to, be,and from are in the decodable text.
• Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 56-60, students read the decodable book Bug Gets Wet. Center 6, an optional center, details one objective as practicing “reading a text multiple times to work towards accuracy and automaticity.” Students reread the book either with an adult, a stuffed animal, or a classmate.
• Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 61-65, page 283, students read the book Bug has a Hut. The Sticky Words are the and for. Students read the book a second time with peers.
• Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 61-65, Center 6, page 289, students reread the book Bug has a Hut either with an adult, a stuffed animal, or a classmate. Directions include, “Teachers facilitate the reading of the book one more time with the students” and “Teachers remind students to read with expression,” “read with accuracy,” and “read with the proper rate.”

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress through mastery of print concepts (Kindergarten-Grade 1), letter recognition (Kindergarten only), and printing letters (as indicated by the program scope and sequence) (Kindergarten-Grade 1).

Express Readers provides multiple opportunities for assessing letter recognition and printing of letters, but there is no evidence of an assessment on print concepts. The guidebook directions do indicate that, based on assessment results, teachers should reflect on lessons that were effective. However, the directions do not elaborate further on the steps that should be taken next for print concepts. While the online website has directions for the assessment management system, lack of access to the website prevented observations of what reports or next steps might be available for teachers and students.

Materials provide some assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of print concepts, letter recognition, and letter formation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Days 76-80, 131-135, 161-165, the teacher uses the provided assessment to have the students name all 26 letters.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, page 117, it contains a student assessment record for some concepts of print such as reading from left to write and tracking with finger/hand.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, the assessment tab provides the scope and sequence for assessing each letter throughout the program. Pages 121-136 provide checks for student understanding of uppercase and lowercase formation as students are consistently asked to “write each letter, starting where you have learned to start a letter.” Uppercase and lowercase letters are pre-printed on the pages and students must form the letters inside of the font.
• In Yellow Teacher Planner, Whole Class-Formal Assessment, Days 16-20, the teacher assesses students individually on letter names and letter sounds. This assessment is repeated three times throughout the year.
• In Yellow Teacher Planner, “I am Ready” Program, Small Group-Formal Assessment, Days 16-20, the teacher assesses students in small groups of 2-4 students in order to observe each student’s formation of each letter. This assessment includes both uppercase and lowercase letters. Materials include a Handwriting Assessment Notes Sheet for teachers to indicate which letters were formed incorrectly either in shape or directionality. This assessment is repeated three times throughout the year.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with some information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of print concepts, letter recognition, and letter formation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Express Readers Online Assessment, Assessment Guide, the online assessment provides several reports including singular student assessment report, class assessment report, student error report, and singular student comparison report. The reports can be printed to share information or notes that you have taken about a student's work on an assessment, and an error report can be printed to show any of the incorrect responses that a student submitted on an assessment.
• In Express Readers Online Assessment, Home Page, in the third paragraph, it states that the online assessment assists the teacher by placing children within the Express Readers Program, giving record of the current skills of students, and organizing all data automatically.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5, page 50, it contains the teacher recording sheet for handwriting assessment. The recording sheet has each uppercase and lowercase letter for teachers to “circle any of the letters that students formed incorrectly” as well as a space for observational notes.

Materials support teachers with some instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in print concepts, letter recognition, and letter formation. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• The Teacher Guidebook, Steps 1-5, page 157, provides a program correlation to assessments.The guide indicates what lesson a student should begin at according to their assessment results.
• The Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, page 72, provides general considerations for teacher reflection. It indicates that the purpose of assessment is “to identify which lessons taught were effective.”

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that genuinely measure student progress of phonological awareness (as indicated by the program scope and sequence).

The Teacher’s Guidebook provides formal assessments and refers to lessons for informal assessments throughout the program. Although assessments are provided, the materials do not provide teachers with next steps for addressing the needs of students who are unable to demonstrate mastery on any given assessment. The instructions indicate that teachers should use the assessments to determine possible areas of review but there is no further explanation or guidance. The program includes teacher observation and one formal auditory discirmination and rhyming assessment. The assessment lacks a corresponding explanation of next steps based on assessment results. No materials were found that support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students progress toward mastery in phonological awareness.

Materials provide some assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence in phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In “Ready to Read” Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, page 118–119, during the Auditory Discrimination and Rhyming Assessment, the teacher orally assesses students on rhyming, beginning sounds, ending sounds, and middle vowel sounds.
• In “Ready to Read” Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, page 71, teachers may access the assessment schedule for the program. Phonological awareness check-ups begin at Check-up 5 with rhyming. The teacher gives the student two opportunities to circle or cross out a picture that rhymes with a spoken word. Similar assessments occur with Check-ups 6, 7, 8, and 9.
• In “Ready, Set, Go!” Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 105–106, the materials provide guidance on administering an auditory discrimination and rhyming assessment. The assessment has four to five questions for auditory rhyming, beginning sounds, ending sounds, and middle vowel sounds. In all four categories, the teacher orally presents a word and three choices that rhyme or have the same beginning, ending, or middle vowel sound as the given word.
• In “Ready, Set, Go!” Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 245–249, the materials provide an alignment for formal and informal assessment of skills. Phonological awareness is informally assessed through “Word Family Flip,” “Rhyming Lists,” “Wonder Words,” and Gray Space Activities located throughout the Teacher Planners.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with limited information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In “Ready, Set, Go!” Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 104, teachers may access a general observation assessment checklist used to note the student’s level of proficiency. Teacher guidance points out occurrences such as, “child skips/omits letters when saying sounds or names” and “child skips/omits sounds when blending.” The proficiency levels are “always,” “often,” “sometimes,” “rarely,” or “never.” The Teacher’s Guidebook does not address how the teacher should use the information gathered from the assessments to guide future instruction.
• In “Ready to Read” Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, pages 118–119, the materials provide guidance on administering an auditory discrimination and rhyming assessment of four to five questions in each of the four categories of rhyming, beginning sounds, ending sounds, and middle vowel sounds. The teacher documents the correct number in each category and the correct number out of a total of 18 questions on the record sheet provided.

Materials do not support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in phonological awareness. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In “Ready to Read” Teacher’s Guidebook, “I am Ready” Program, page 72, the materials provide definitions, such as “to ensure students are developing and growing as readers, while advancing through the material,” for the use of formal assessments.
• In “Ready, Set, Go!” Teacher’s Guidebook Steps 1–5, page 107, the materials provide assessment instructions, such as “for the purpose of teacher reflection, to guide student placement evaluation, to inform home-to-school discussions, and to use as a general teacher awareness of possible areas for review,” for check-ups.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonics (as indicated by the program Scope and Sequence).

Materials provide Check-Up assessments of discrete phonics skills; however, support regarding the teacher’s instructional adjustments is lacking. Recommendations for reteaching and instructional support are limited to a general suggestion stating, “Teachers decide how to redirect lessons and plan activities to further support students’ areas of need,” without any indication of how to redirect the lessons within the program or how to align activities to assessed deficits. Students have resources and tools for some assessments. There are no regular, systematic assessments in phonics except for the spelling assessments. There are short Check-Ups scattered throughout the program; the teacher may administer the Check-Ups as a quick check of students’ proficiency on specific skills. All nine Check-Ups are part of the “I am Ready” Program. There are two Check-Ups in Step 1 and one Check-Up in Step 2. There are some suggestions on where to start students in the program; however, if students’ skills are beyond those guidelines, there is not another benchmark in which to compare students’ skills until the students reach the next Step. With the exception of the weekly spelling assessments, there are not multiple opportunities for regular, systematic methods of assessment. There is minimal evidence of instructional guidelines for students once the spelling assessment has been completed.

Materials provide some resources and tools to collect ongoing data about students’ progress in phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, page 71, the Assessment Schedule and Options outlines the schedule for collecting ongoing data about student progress. Days 31–35 begin with a Check-Up of letter sounds /a/, /b/, and /c/, and progresses through the alphabet through Days 135.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 99 and 101–103, teacher resources include recording sheets for assessing letter sounds, CVC words, words with blends, digraphs, Sneaky e, and vowel teams.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 111–127, teacher resources include blackline master copies for student Check-Ups assessing letter sounds, digraphs, and decoding words. Pages 128–130 include answer keys for the Check-Up assessments.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 131, students read sentences and draw pictures to go along with the sentences.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 136, students read the following sentences: “The sled is black.” and “The duck has a nest.” Students read the sentences and add to the picture to make the sentence true.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 51–55, page 242, students take a spelling test on the short vowel /a/. Students write the words in sentences.

Materials offer limited assessment opportunities to determine students’ progress in phonics that are implemented systematically. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Ready, Set, Go Teacher’s Guide, Steps 1–5, pages 67–68, the materials provide the assessment schedule for the program. Ten Check-Up assessments are spread throughout Days 46-260
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 114–115, students complete Check-Up #4. The teacher says a word, and the students identify which word is correct.
• In Yellow Teacher Planner, "I am Ready" Program, Days 31–35, the Focus page refers to Check-Up #1 found on pages 121–122 in the Teacher’s Guidebook. During Check-Up #1, students circle an object that “begins with the letter a and the sound /a/.” Additionally students cross out an object that begins with /b/ and draw a line under an object that begins with /k/. The assessment checks for understanding of the three letters and letter sounds introduced prior to Days 31–35.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Whole Class Lesson, Formal Assessment, the Formal Assessment on letter names and sounds is given at the end of Step 1 as a progress report of how far students have come and if they should move on to Step 2 or higher. It assesses student knowledge of letter sounds for 21 consonants, short and long sounds for the five vowels, blending real CVC words, blending nonsense CVC words, and reading simple sentences with CVC words.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Center #1, Formal Assessment Step 1, this Step Assessment is given at the end of Step 1 to create a written record of student understanding and ability with the given material. The assessment pieces in Step 1 include Read and Draw, Add to the Picture, Missing Letter, and Rhyming Words.

Limited assessment opportunities are provided regularly for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence with phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Yellow Teacher Planner, "I am Ready" Program, Scope and Sequence, a formal assessment of letter names and sounds is given during Days 16–20 as a baseline. It is given again during Days 76–80, 131–135, and 161–165. A formal assessment of CVC words is given during Days 171–175. The CVC assessment includes blending real and nonsense words.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Scope and Sequence, students complete the spelling tests each week.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with some information about students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 99–103, the materials provide record pages for use when assessing letter sounds and students’ ability to decode additional phonics patterns throughout Step 1. Additional phonics patterns include CVC words, nonsense words, words with blends, digraphs, vowel teams, and Sneaky e words. The record sheet includes a score out of the total number of items in each category.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 157, teacher guidance states that if students correctly decode the sentences in each section, students will begin instruction at Day 96, Step 2.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Whole Class Lesson, Formal Assessment, the Formal Assessment on letter names and sounds is given at the end of Step 1 as a progress report of how far students have come and if they should move on to Step 2 or higher.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Step 2, Center #5, Formal Assessment Step 2, this Step Assessment is given at the end of Step 2 to create a written record of student understanding and ability with the given material. The Step Assessments should be used along with the Express Readers Assessment to decide if students need more practice before moving on to the next Step in the program. By finding errors, the teacher can assess what types of practice students need as well. The Step 2 Assessment includes Read and Draw, Add to the Picture, Missing Letter, Rhyming Words, and Pick the Sentence.

Materials do not genuinely measure students’ progress to support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Ready To Read Teacher’s Guide, "I am Ready" Program, page 143, the materials include the following teacher guidance, “Mistakes will help teachers decide how to redirect lessons and plan activities to further support students’ areas of need.”
• In Ready To Read Teacher’s Guide, "I am Ready" Program, page 145, the materials offer this teacher guidance, “Teachers would always place students in a prior Step or program if there is any question of mastery of a concept.” The placement requirements include the following:
• “0–50% letter names or letter sounds—’I am Ready’ Program”
• “75–100% letter names, 0–50% letter sounds—’I am Ready’ Program”
• "90–100% letter names and letter sounds—Step 1, Days 126–175.”

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of word recognition and analysis (as indicated by the program scope and sequence).

Assessments provide some opportunities throughout Steps 1–3 to assess Sticky Words and CVC words. Although assessments are provided throughout the program, explicit information regarding instructional next steps based on assessment results is absent. The materials provide information regarding a starting point for placement into the program and provide general directions that students should be “placed in a prior Step or program” if students are unable to demonstrate mastery. A formal assessment is completed at the end of Step 1 to evaluate students’ knowledge of Sticky Words. A student error report is generated after each administration of the formal assessment, but the report does not explain what is included in this report and how much information it provides concerning students’ current skills and levels of understanding of word recognition and word analysis.

Materials provide limited assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition (high-frequency words or irregularly spelled words) and analysis. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, there is a formal assessment for Sticky Words. The high-frequency words being assessed are as follows: the, to, was, go, he, for, too, from, be.
• In Blue Teacher Planner, Steps 2 and 3, there is an assessment for Sticky Words. The high-frequency words assessed include: like, of, have, come, see, puts, does, she, good, all, are, where.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition and word analysis. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence found.

Materials do not support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. Example is limited to the following:

• In Ready to Read Teacher’s Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, page 145, teacher guidance indicates that students should be placed in a prior Step or program if there is any question of mastery of a concept.
• No other evidence was found.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that assessment materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment and assessment materials clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

The Kindergarten materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed in assessments. The documentation lists the standard content from Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the location in Express Readers assessment in which this content can be found. There is no evidence of alignment documentation showing specific standards correlated to specific questions and tasks. Materials contain a general correlation outline that states where the standards can be found in the instructional materials by component types.

Materials include denotations of the standards being assessed in the formative assessments. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 245–247, the Assessment Alignment: Kindergarten outlines the standard content from the CCSS for print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Materials include denotations of standards being assessed in the summative assessments. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 245–247, the Assessment Alignment: Kindergarten outlines the standard content from the CCSS for print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Limited alignment documentation is provided for tasks, questions, and assessment items. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 245–247, the Assessment Alignment: Kindergarten outlines the standard content from the CCSS for print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Alignment documentation contains standards correlated to lessons. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In “I am Ready” Teacher Guidebook, page 165, the Alignment Documentation: Standard guide denotes which standard goes with each Express Readers activity.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 215, the Alignment Documentation: Standard guide denotes which standard goes with each Express Readers activity.

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen in a language other than English with extensive opportunities for reteaching meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The Kindergarten materials provide a brief discussion of the needs of English language learners in the alignment section of the Teacher Guidebooks; however, materials do not provide suggestions for teaching or reteaching in order for students to work towards meeting or exceeding grade-level standards. Additionally, the information provided for teachers does not vary for each standard. There is a lack of guidance in terms of specific strategies to use with English Language Learner (ELL) students in the lessons, and there is a lack of specific scaffolding and instructions within the Teacher Guidebooks. After the Reading Standards and the Speaking and Listening Standards, there is a list of examples for “Emerging, Expanding, & Bridging of English Language Development (ELD) in Express Readers in Kindergarten.” However, there is no explanation of these levels to teachers, and the examples do not explain how to adapt the examples for the various levels. There is a reference to modifications for students who are English Learners for Center 2 in some lessons, but not all five-day instructional sequences. Instructions for Center 2 include identical modification instructions from week to week and do not provide extensive opportunities for reteaching.

Materials provide limited support for ELL students. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, page 217, notations include, “Teachers play an immense role in language acquisition in every facet of education, especially in the case of EL students, requiring teachers to drive instruction and lead discussion in ways that foster and grow student language.” No further guidance is given.

General statements about ELL students or few strategies note at the beginning of a unit or at one place in the teacher edition are then implemented by the materials throughout the curriculum. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, page 165, PIII.K, Oral Skills, materials include the following teacher guidance regarding students who have little or no spoken English proficiency: “Students will need instruction recognizing and distinguishing the sounds of English as compared or contrasted with sounds in their native language (e.g., vowels, consonants, consonant blends, syllable structures).”
• In Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, page 169, Print Concepts, PIII.K, Print Concepts, materials provide the following teacher guidance regarding students who have foundational literacy proficiency in a language not using the Latin alphabet, (e.g., Arabic, Chinese, Korean, or Russian): “Students will be familiar with print concepts and will need instruction in learning the Latin alphabet for English, as compared or contrasted with their native language writing system.”
• In Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, page 171, Phonics and Word Recognition, 3: Know and apply grade-level phonics, materials include information regarding students who have some foundational literacy proficiency in a language using the Latin alphabet (e.g., Spanish): “Students will need instruction in applying their knowledge of print concepts, phonics and word recognition to the English Writing system, as compared or contrasted with their native language alphabet (e.g., letters that are the same or different, or represent the same or different sounds) and native language vocabulary (e.g., cognates) and sentence structure (e.g., subject-verb-object vs. subject-object-verb word order.)”
• In Yellow Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, Days 31–35, Center 2 Modification, materials include the following guidance: “Students who are English learners will be exposed to more vocabulary by using picture cards and repeating the name of the object.”
• In Yellow Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, Days 41–45, Center 2 Modification, teacher guidance is as follows: “Students who are English learners will be exposed to more vocabulary by using picture cards and repeating the name of the object.”
• The Yellow Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, Days 96–100, Center 2 Modification, guidance includes, “Students who are English learners will be exposed to more vocabulary by using picture cards and repeating the name of the object.”

The materials reviewed for Kindergarten partially meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level with extensive opportunities for reteaching to meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The Kindergarten materials provide some modifications and accommodations for mini-lessons, whole-class lessons, centers, and extra activities for students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level. No evidence of opportunities for small group reteaching was found. While there are some general accommodations and modifications, there are no lessons that teach the skill in a different way to help students who have not mastered the skills. Not all lessons provide modifications, and often the modifications lack differentiated instructions. Instead, the teacher sits with the student to complete a worksheet or task or write words slowly and largely. Although Gray Space activities and mini-lessons can be repeated, intention regarding specifically reteaching a skill is unclear. Small group instruction is recommended for specific lessons using the accommodations designed for students performing at grade level.

Materials provide some opportunities for small group reteaching. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, Days 71–75, Focus page, teacher guidance is as follows: “Mini lessons can be repeated daily or in a Gray Space. These lessons repeat a skill that needs to be practiced frequently to obtain mastery.” Each five-day instructional sequence typically contains two Gray Space activities and three mini-lessons, which are all teacher-led.

Materials provide some guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level in extensive opportunities to learn foundational skills at the grade-level standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 56–60, in the accommodations section, the teacher rewrites the sentence in large writing on the board. The teacher or another student circles the words in the sentence and counts how many words there are. There is also a modification suggestion that the teacher displays the Sentence Solving Strip but rewrites the sentence in larger print and at a slower pace in front of students, saying each word when writing it. Then the teacher writes each word in the sentence and has students count along.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 71–75, Center 4, students complete a “Thought Report” opinion paper. In the accommodation section, students reread a familiar phonics book. The materials then direct teachers to give students a version of the “Thought Report” based on ability.
• In Green Teacher Planner, Step 1, Days 81–85, in the modification section, the teacher helps students to complete the practice writing page. Alternatively, students work with a partner to complete the pages.
• In Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, the Yellow Guidebook Starter Explanations state, “Modifications offer ways to alter lessons for those students who cannot yet erach the level of the lesson provided.”
• In Teacher Guidebook, "I am Ready" Program, Days 26–30, Center 1, activity instructions note, “Teachers do the worksheet WITH students” and model each step.
• In Green Teacher Guidebook, Step 1, Days 11–15, page 60, teacher guidance states, “[R]ewrite the sentence larger and slowly in front of the students.” The teacher circles each word as the students and teacher count the number of words in the sentence.
• In Green Teacher Guidebook, Step 1, Days 36–40, scaffolds include, “Teachers choose one letter to focus on” and “use large scrap paper...the larger letters will help visibility.”