Barriers to achieving high levels of Building Blocks 3 and 4.

● Money
● Materials
● Collaboration. Shut the door and do my own thing.
○ Protecting time for data driven work.
● Training and PD. Consistent and targeted. Time to fit it all in and ensure it is ongoing.
○ Timing of PD.
● Lack of consistency.
● Frequent change.
● Starting something. Lack of follow-up or follow through.
● Time for Special Ed to collaborate and co-plan with General Education.
● Special Ed left out of training.
● Trying to do it all.
○ Throw the baby out with the bathwater. Lose focus on the parts that are working.
● Scheduling
● Common understanding and agreement of the intent of the standard. Cognitive complexity/proficiency levels.
● Common understanding of the phrase “evidence-based”.
● Teacher comfort with what they’ve been doing. Personal preferences.
● Effective use of prep time. Burden of heavy prep.
● Pulling supplemental materials for various, unaligned, and questionable sources.
● Teacher voice and level of feedback in decision making.
● Does everyone understand the level of urgency?
○ Disagreement with “the data”
● This too shall pass.
● Keeping data at the forefront and teachers being a part of it.
● Mismatch between the math curriculum and standards based report card.
● Poor use of instructional time.
● Need a district-wide list of instructional non-negotiables for every grade level.
What are we looking for in instructional materials?
K-2
● Common Formative Assessments
● Common, valid, reliable assessments
● Materials where we can continue to use materials we already have (RGR, Footprints, etc.)
● Differentiated materials
● Workshop framework
● Scope and Sequence
● Something that can be paired with Really Great Reading (which is important for us to keep)
● Common ‘Language Study’ Program
● Grammar
● Ease for subs
● Aligned to our scope and sequence
● Balance between phonics and comprehension
● Core Reading Program!
● Rich texts (do we have options on the texts)
● Something that gives teachers opportunities to find levels
● Writing components
● Not computer based
● Components include the BIG 5: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension

3-4
● Common formative Assessments embedded within the materials
● Common assessments that matches our Power Standards
● A stronger writing component with the materials. Grammar needs to be in this system as well. Our writing skills have
dropped.
● Strong spelling curriculum has to be meaningful and not just a word within the mentor text.
● A consistent set of materials that everyone has access to and is aligned with the standards so that consistency is happening
within our district.
● Data collection that is embedded within the material and can be shared with others when the child leaves one school and
enters another school within our district.
● Scope and sequence where there is an idea when each grade is teaching each skill and at what level. (old curriculum map).
● Differentiated materials
● Phonetic support built in the curriculum- something that can be paired with Really Great Reading
● Cohesive materials that are integrated
● Editable materials- we want to be able to change things upon the students we get from one year to the next.
● Material that really hits phonemic awareness even into the upper grades. Students are not getting this skill at home and K-1
may not be enough support for some of these kids.
● Quality of text- Mentor texts that are high interest and diverse for our student- with Rigor to the material.
● Technology can be something we may want to look at too.- supplemental support not core due to the amount of issues we
have with technology in our district.
● Professional development- strong about the program so we know where the materials are and how to access them, how to
look at data, but also PD where the teachers can learn what best practice is when teaching the materials to the kids.
● A curriculum that would help support our science and social studies standards.
● Inquiry-based learning. (critical thinking and problem solving)- would love the kids to have productive struggle.
● User friendly material within the curriculum and easier to locate materials within the program. (Ready math appears to be
hard for teachers to learn and locate the needed materials provided with in the technology piece).
● Something that would still integrate the book rooms that have a plethora of materials we have already purchased.
● Continue to use the workshop model as a management system for our ELA units.
● Evidenced based materials- what is the Effect Size on the material used for reading.
● The material needs to be able to support the teachers so that they teach the kids how to use productive strategies that will
teach them how to read. (modeling and student support needs to be present for all kids.- need opportunities for practice and
independent practice- Teach, practice, apply).
○ New barriers
■ Department of Education- Timely and responsive PD- they are dictating many of our PD schedules, which
hinders our PD with curriculum
■ Time available to access professional people (leaders) to assist the teachers with learning the material
provided to them and/or strategies necessary to teach.
●
5-6
● Common formative assessments built in
● Enrichment for “high flyers” (Differentiation)
● Interventions for struggling readers/writers (Differentiation--including IEP kids)
● Heavy on resources so teachers can stop finding materials
● Aligned to systemic literacy so we don’t need to restart that process
● High interest and engaging for our diverse readers and students
● Cross curricular if possible (informational text aligned to social studies & science)
● Standards aligned (Iowa Core, Social-Emotional learning, etc)
● Structure for small group work
● Compatible to book room resources if possible
● Included focus lesson, mentor text, and anchor chart--resources
● Data collection embedded in materials
● All literacy skills-reading, writing, language, vocabulary study, fluency, speaking, listening
● Scope & Sequence
● Print and digital resources
● Training and support for those who need it
● Standards based assessment rubrics

Instructional Coaches/Admin
● Workshop framework model
● Strong writing curriculum
● Focus on annotation
● Phonics pairing with Really Great Reading
● Aligned Standards
● Components are weaved together for ELA
● Resource heavy so teachers are not pulling from Teachers pay Teachers.
● Look carefully at assessments within the curriculum. Project/performance tasks.
● Strong formatives already structured in the program.
● Curriculum that has themes already developed then we could tie in the other subjects within the unit. Easier to create UbD’s
● Quality of texts is important.
● Utilize our bookrooms and the resources in our bookrooms.
● Reducing/ Shifting the prep work. More efficient use of teacher planning time.
● Instructional time will need to fit in our instructional block for ELA
● There are a lot of programs that break at 5th grade. Prefers material that aligns through 6th (K-6).
● Differentiation needs to be well established within the material. (whole group, small group, individually).
● Company provides ongoing support that assist teachers with implementation.
● Scope and Sequence
● Embedded Assessment
● Scope and Sequence, guaranteed and viable
● Frequent grouping with embedded, focused interventions.