How much time for independent reading does your literacy curriculum allow for your students?
Including a simple process for analyzing your adopted program.
Your literacy curriculum is limiting how much time your students have for independent reading.
It's inevitable. Publishers want school districts to feel like they are getting their money's worth when buying their resource. So they pack in as much content and tools they can to ensure it fills a literacy block.
So why isn't independent reading a focus within many resources?
Independent reading is not something publishers sell because there's no money in it.
Unless they are also selling trade books and rich texts, the publisher wants to keep you within the curriculum resource, through a variety of ways:
The lesson content is more than the time they allot.
The assessments are dependent on whether you taught each lesson.
Teachers are told to ensure "fidelity to the program".
But how many times have you stopped and asked, "Will this part of the literacy curriculum resource lead to more engaged and better readers?
Just because a publisher created it, doesn't mean it will have an impact on reader engagement or achievement.
According to curriculum guru Dr. Fenwick English, the typical curriculum resource is at best 40% aligned with developmental expectations.
With that, where is the publisher's confidence in you as a professional? What do you know, at your core, works for teaching readers? Independent reading has a ton of research to support its inclusion in the classroom.
Okay...what's the next step?
Approach the Literacy Curriculum from a Critical Stance
Here is a simple process for analyzing your adopted program.
When planning tomorrow's literacy block, first allocate 30 minutes for independent reading.
Then start to add in the instructional practices and resources suggested by the curriculum, based on what you believe will support readers.
If part of the resource doesn't foster reader engagement or growth, cut it.
Your focus should be on integrity to the student, not fidelity to the program.
This article was originally published here. For more on school improvement, check out my new book Leading Like a C.O.A.C.H.