Students in class at USD 320 Wamego Schools in March 2021. (Screenshot from USD 320 March video – usd320.com)
Wamego School Board members have approved a new English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum which is being implemented at the elementary and middle school levels.
Assistant Superintendent and Director of Instructional Services Scott Meitler says the process has been ongoing for a few years as teachers have re-examined the way kids learn to read.
“Over the years in the research, we came to a product called CKLA, which is Core Knowledge Language Arts, by Amplify. We are so excited to have this curriculum resource adopted by our board Monday night and will adopt it in the fall,” Meitler said.
The middle school is also adopting Amplify 6-8 as its English Language Arts curriculum resource.
“One of the biggest things we’ll notice is the rigor of the content is pretty high and the kids and the teachers will be talking about topics, way down in kindergarten that are still appropriate, but they are going to be much more rigorous than what we’ve been used to in the past, in general in education,” Meitler said.
The total cost for the curriculum implementation is just under $195,000.
Meitler says the curriculum meets the Kansas State Department of Education’s Evidence-Based Reading Instruction Guidelines. He says the district’s goal is supporting 80 percent of all students with the core curriculum.
“The other 20 percent that maybe has not been (supported), then we start looking at a tier 2 or tier 3 intervention for them, but we want a curriculum resource that will support at least 80 percent of our students,” he said.
The district is planning a parent night virtual informational session Tuesday at 7 p.m. A link can be found via the USD 320 Facebook page.
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