Henrico Schools will implement new K-5 literacy curriculum, middle school reading intervention class in fall 2024

Henrico Schools elementary students will have a new reading curriculum starting this fall, when all Virginia school divisions are required to implement the Virginia Literacy Act.

Sixth through eighth-graders who need extra reading support also will have a “Literacy Foundations” course taught by a reading specialist.

The VA Literacy Act, passed in 2022 for grades K-3 and expanded in 2023 to grades 4-8, mandates that all school systems adopt the new K-5 literacy curriculum and list of reading texts approved by the Virginia Department of Education beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the legislation after a 2021 study revealed that 35% of K-2 students in Virginia scored below expected literacy levels that year.

30 new reading specialists to be added for fall

The act also requires school divisions to employ one reading specialist per 550 elementary students and one per 1,100 middle school students, meaning that Henrico Schools will need to recruit 20 more elementary specialists and 10 more middle school specialists for 2024-2025. The division’s goal is to have one locally-funded, full-time reading specialist at each elementary school, along with a Title I reading coach at each Title I school.

HCPS selected a K-5 curriculum from Benchmark Advance, one of the VDOE-approved materials, that will offer “the most engaging and diverse texts for students,” according to director of elementary teaching and learning Michael Dussault. The curriculum is divided into three-week units that focus on a particular literacy skill using a number of reading materials and incorporate vocabulary and skills from science and social studies as well as English.

The new curriculum will focus less on independent learning time and more on activities that have students working together, according to Dussault, and will give students more choice as to which reading materials they engage with.

“Students will not be by themselves as much with this new core curriculum. There’s built-in opportunities for students to work together,” he said. “And because there are so many different resources associated with the skill for each unit, students will have some more choices in how they move forward with that particular unit.”

Elementary students who haven’t met reading benchmarks will also be provided with a state-approved individualized reading plan and receive help from reading specialists. Middle school students who haven’t met reading benchmarks will have their individualized plan implemented through the Literacy Foundations course.

HCPS is still waiting for the VDOE to release a number of foundational elements and materials for the act, including templates for individualized reading plans and a list of approved supplemental materials for students who need intervention and students with exceptional needs – which are expected to be released this spring – as well as templates to train teachers on new literacy instruction methods – which will not be released until the fall.

Teachers to focus on literacy this summer

In the meantime, teachers and reading specialists will receive some self-paced training on the new K-5 curriculum this spring and in-person training on the curriculum and on HCPS’ current literacy practices over the summer. HCPS implemented its divisionwide Henrico LifeReady Literacy Plan in 2021, which incorporates “evidence-based practices” and is “aligned with the science of reading” according to Dussault.

Teacher training this summer will have a major focus on literacy; three hours of each six-hour day of professional development will be dedicated to the new literacy curriculum, with two hours left for math and one hour left for teachers to focus on a subject of their choice.

Making sure not to overwhelm teachers should be the focus for division leaders, Henrico School Board members said during a discussion of the VLA implementation plans at their Feb. 8 meeting. Board vice-chair Marcie Shea of the Tuckahoe District said the new K-5 curriculum would be a “major rollout” for elementary teachers, who will have to adjust to new materials and new state practices.

Dussault said that the new curriculum’s structured approach – which includes guidance for teachers about how to help students with disabilities and English language learners – likely will reduce the amount of time teachers spend on planning.

“To have the ability to just glance off to the side to see what to do with an English learner, what to do with a gifted learner, what to do with an exceptional learner, that is so powerful,” he said. “Hopefully that gives them back that breadth of time to really kind of take a step back and be able to focus even more intentionally on our kids.”

The new curriculum also will offer more activities on cursive writing, paper readers and more paper take-home materials for students to reduce screentime, and will allow for teacher autonomy, Dussault said.

“If [teachers] have something that relates to that particular skill or concept, or a writing activity, or they want to integrate it through another content area, they have the flexibility to do so,” he said. “It’s the basic roadmap of where they need to go, and of course we always want our teachers to put their own spin on it, as they know the students better than anyone.”

Still waiting on state for several materials

The VDOE has not released any procedures about how to measure the success of the new curriculum and new literacy practices or any guidance about what to do if implementation of the VDOE’s requirements does not improve reading scores, HCPS officials said.

Henrico Schools’ scores on the 2022-2023 Standards of Learning reading assessments for grades 3-8 were slightly lower than state averages; Henrico’s pass rate on reading SOLs was 69%, while the state average was 73%. The biggest differences were on the reading SOLs for grades 6-8 – Henrico had pass rates of 66% (sixth grade), 62% (seventh grade), and 66% (eighth grade), while state averages were 71% (sixth grade), 70% (seventh grade), and 71% (eighth grade).

Last year’s SOL scores also showed continued achievement gaps in Henrico Schools between historically privileged groups and historically disadvantaged groups. Only 54% of Black students and 53% of Latino students passed reading SOLs, compared to 83% of white students, and pass rates were also lower for economically disadvantaged students (53%), English learners (26%), and students with disabilities (39%).

HCPS also will be unable to implement K-8 teacher training about new literacy practices until the fall, when it receives VDOE materials, which school board member Madison Irving (Three Chopt District) said was somewhat concerning due to the little time teachers would have to familiarize themselves with the new practices.

Until the VDOE releases more elements of the VLA, HCPS will continue to rely on its 2021 division literacy plan, Dussault said.

“Many districts throughout the state are awaiting further details regarding some of the foundational components of the act,” he said. “Henrico is poised to continue district literacy efforts…Embracing these practices years ago has put Henrico in the best possible position to comply with the Virginia Literacy Act.”

HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell said that the division will also continue its PreK-12 literacy focus through its divisionwide plan even though the VLA solely focuses on grades K-8.

“While the Virginia Literacy Act requirements speak to new and additional components K-8, we have a PreK-12 life-ready literacy plan intact today that we continue to follow,” she said. “So the literacy act requirements are added into that PreK-12 focus.”

Henrico Schools also plans to sponsor a cohort of 20-25 reading specialists by partnering with a program at James Madison University, which offers online classes and job-embedded opportunities to help teachers earn their master's of education in literacy, with a reading specialist endorsement. The program will begin this summer virtually and will finish in May of 2026.

All elementary teachers will be a part of the literacy training, Dussault said, which will allow staff from different schools to collaborate with each other.

“We’re going to have more collaboration than we’ve ever had before,” he said. “Because a school like Montrose [Elementary] or Twin Hickory [Elementary] are all going to be in the same place at the same time with the same focus.”

The division is hopeful that the new curriculum and literacy practices will help more students meet reading benchmarks and excel in literacy, as well as reduce the extra load for teachers, Dussault said.

“Henrico students will have the opportunity to participate in a robust literacy curriculum taught by Henrico staff, who will have the background knowledge and training to deliver it with confidence,” he said. “Henrico families will have additional support to understand potential literacy gaps and enrichment opportunities specific to their child and what the roadmap forward looks like and how it will be measured."

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Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.