Key Questions
- What do the evidence, the California Department of Education’s list and our reviews, say about each set of materials?
- Is there a foundational skills component and does it address the needs of your learner profiles?
- How could the identified strengths support your teachers’ understanding and implementation of standards-aligned materials?
- Have you read the Publishers’ Criteria for ELA Materials to understand the key characteristics that materials should have to meet the demands of the standards and the instructional shifts?
- Does the literacy approach meet the needs of your students with disabilities?
- Are the materials designed with English Language Learners in mind in the Tier 1 materials? Do the materials align with the California ELA/ELD Framework?
- Is there an ELD component and is it adequate for the EL programs your district runs? If it’s not, how might you supplement it?
Guidance
Materials should embody the English Language Arts Common Core Standards Shifts: Complex Text, Evidence, and Informational Texts.
- Complex Text1: Practice regularly with complex text and its academic language. Measuring text complexity
- Evidence: Ground reading, writing and speaking in evidence from text, both literary and informational. Making evidence-based claims
- Informational Texts: Build knowledge through content rich informational texts. Examples of informational texts from the California Department of Education
Support for English Language Learners should be woven into the design of the core materials and align with the types of programs your district offers.
- Don’t rely solely on how the publisher describes the materials – use California’s adoption list as a starting point to determine whether materials are aligned to the ELA and ELD Standards and review units and lessons for alignment.
- Use the California Department of Education’s ELA/ELD Framework to assess how well the materials align with your district’s needs.
- Evaluate how well materials meet your local priorities through pilots or through PLC study of the materials.
A strong Foundational Skills component is essential in elementary instructional materials.
- Review the standards and California’s guidance to ensure your adoption team understands the components of Foundational Skills.
- Review your materials for these components in the K-2 Grades.
- Examine lessons in the materials for the attributes described in this observation tool.
