ELA
During the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years, the Westchester Public Schools ELA Committee met regularly. During the meetings, we worked through professional development on best practices in the teaching of reading, writing, and phonics and dove into the New Illinois Learning Standards. We created an instructional framework for the teaching of ELA across the district. We examined many different resources and participated in publisher presentations and professional development. The committee engaged in several professional learning opportunities. The goal of these professional learning sessions was to ensure that committee members were able to make informed decisions around high-quality instructional materials.
The recommendation from the WPS and WIS ELA Committee members was to purchase Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Into Reading for kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms and begin implementation in SY 2021-22. The recommendation from our middle school ELA team was to purchase Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Into Literature for sixth through eighth-grade classrooms and begin implementation in SY 2021-22. These materials are aligned with the Illinois State Standards and are high quality and engaging, as well as appropriately rigorous and organized to support knowledge building. The materials include questions, tasks, lessons, and practice that support students' development of reading, writing, speaking and listening, and critical analysis.
This will be an ongoing committee that will continue to meet and reflect on the implementation of the resources during the next school year.