Literacy is an area that supports student learning throughout all content areas. In recognition of the importance of literacy in life and in school, English/Language Arts (ELA) was chosen as a priority area to be reviewed during the first year of the district’s curriculum review process initiated September 2000. Participants were solicited from all grade levels, from special and regular education, from teachers and administrators. Members of the ELA committee included:

Members of the staff of the Irvington School District wrote the English Language Arts curriculum over a period of a year and a half, beginning in October 2000, working with Dr. Marie Amoruso, the district’s literacy consultant. The full ELA Committee met monthly during the 2000-01 school year, with many of the participants returning to their schools after the group meetings to continue the curriculum discussions in grade level and departmental meetings. For the Dows Lane staff, this was a continuation of a process already established at the school. For the middle and high school staffs, this was an extension of department meetings. For all staff, the opportunity to review the expected K-12 progression of instruction was a unique experience and one that was heartily welcomed.

The enormity of the task of writing the K-12 curriculum made it clear that much work needed to be done to bring together the many facets of the existing curriculum and to respond to the Core Curriculum developed by New York State. In addition, student performance on various formal and informal measures emphasized the fact that we needed to learn to interpret and respond to student performance data generated by these assessments.

During the summer of 2001, staff members across all grades participated in writing the specific content for different grade levels. As the groups worked to align the successful practices of the district with the State curriculum, the discussions centered on content as well as process. Groups discussed the importance of early literacy, of the K-12 developmental progression and of the need to provide for differentiation of instruction as teachers prepare our graduates to meet the literacy requirements of life, college, and the workplace. Similarly, the impact of technology on ELA instruction and on communication was considered. An additional topic of discussion was the need to support and encourage teacher creativity, while providing for consistency in ELA instruction.

This final document is a result of all these influences. The many writers have attempted to create a document which is open-ended yet explicit, comprehensive yet succinct. The discussions about philosophy and pedagogy have reaped tremendous benefits for the program. There is now greater clarity about specific content taught at each grade. There is also a better understanding of the upward spiraling nature of instruction, always building upon content taught previously, bringing content to higher levels with increased challenge as students become more capable learners. Our work, however, is not finished, because curriculum development is an ongoing process - a process that teachers revisit on a daily basis as they evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of each element during instruction. We have produced a document designed to coordinate teaching efforts within a grade, and one which will enhance articulation from one grade to the next, from one building to the next. We expect to monitor and revise this work as it is implemented, and to plan for a full assessment when the curriculum evaluation cycle returns to English Language Arts.

In our school district the goal of the language arts program is to provide a literate environment in which all students can develop into active, self-directed learners. The approach to teaching language arts should be meaningful and balanced. Teachers in all content areas and grade levels share in the responsibility for teaching reading, writing, listening, and speaking competencies. We view the elements of language arts as integrated aspects of the communication process and want our students to appreciate the beauty and utility of language.

On the following pages there are diagrams of instructional models that reflect the implementation of the philosophy described above, for both the elementary and secondary levels.

THE MODEL OF A BALANCED LITERACY PROGRAM K-6

THE MODEL OF A BALANCED LITERACY PROGRAM 7-12

Adapted from: New York State Learning Standards for English Language Arts