Literacy

Early literacy is not just “reading and writing.” Instead, literacy combines the abilities to recognize words and comprehend language and includes a number of skills, including

• Phonemic awareness (the ability to identify the sounds that make up words)
• Phonics (the ability to match sounds to letters)
• Fluency (the ability to read sections of text accurately and quickly, not just word by word)
• Vocabulary (the ability to recognize and understand a wide array of words)
• Comprehension (the ability to understand and interpret text)
• Background knowledge the collection of information and experiences a reader brings to a text)

These abilities evolve over the course of a student’s elementary school.  Between kindergarten and second grade, literacy experts often say, students transition from learning to read to reading to learn.

Over the last several years, AUSD has committed substantial time and resources to developing a state-of-the-art “literacy framework” to articulate our approach to teaching literacy. The mission of this framework is “to reflect AUSD’s vision, priorities, and best practices for literacy and language instruction.”

Rooted in the science of reading and research on how students learn, the framework serves as a roadmap to ensure equitable outcomes for all students.  As such, it:

• Emphasizes both word recognition (phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency) and language comprehension (vocabulary, background knowledge, text structure)
• Uses a structured, evidence-based approach to literacy instruction
• Integrates reading, writing, and oral language to support comprehensive and cohesive literacy instruction
• Includes best practices for supporting multilingual students during both regular instruction and during designated English instruction.

Other components of the literacy framework include:

• High-quality curriculum In 2025-26, AUSD teachers will pilot three new elementary English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum that is aligned to California Common Core Standards and incorporates AUSD’s values. Based on that piloting process, staff will recommend an ELA curriculum to the Board in the Spring of 2026.  The public is invited to attend our Curriculum Review Sessions to learn more.
• A multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) in which:
  • All students receive high-quality foundational instruction (Tier 1)
  • Students get additional  support outside of the foundational instruction (Tier 2)
  • Students get another layer of support outside of both the foundational support and T2 support (Tier 3)
• Culturally and linguistically responsive teaching, which emphasizes providing instruction in a way that engages and supports children from diverse backgrounds. Research shows such teaching strategies benefit all students.
• Culturally authentic books in every classroom
• Professional development for teachers, including coaching on explicit reading instruction
• Collaboration time for teachers monitoring students’ reading progress and plan for small group instruction
• Multiple assessments including:
  • California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)
  • Star Renaissance Universal Screening for Math and Reading
  • Amira Universal Screening for Early Reading Difficulties
  • Curricular assessments and internal benchmarks such as end of unit writing pieces, and common final exams, etc.
  • Formative assessments such as questioning, polling, self-assessing, and observations

Teachers use information from multiple assessments to understand each student’s strengths and challenge areas and formulate instructional plans based on best practices for students and classrooms. Family reports include CAASPP, STAR, and Amira.

 We encourage you to talk to your child’s teacher and watch for announcements of “Literacy Nights,” where teachers and coaches talk about how reading is taught and how parents can help at home.

Research shows that families play a big role in helping their children learn to read and write. Here are some good strategies:

• Sing songs and play rhyming games with young children
• Read to and with your child every day
• Talk about the books you’re reading
•  Read and write in front of your child
• Provide a “reading-rich” home by putting out reading materials on topics in which your child is interested. Books and magazines are free at libraries!
• Encourage your child to write whenever possible. Thank you notes, postcards, grocery lists, letters to elected officials, journals, poetry, and stories are all great ways for children to practice writing both for practical purposes and to process emotions.