Curriculum

Purpose

The Kewaskum School District Early Literacy Remediation Plan is designed to ensure that all students receive the necessary support and interventions to develop strong literacy skills. In this plan, we will outline the assessments used for universal screening and diagnostic assessment, describe the interventions implemented to address characteristics of dyslexia, explain how progress is monitored during interventions, provide our parent notification procedures, and summarize how assessment results are used to evaluate early literacy instruction in compliance with Wisconsin State Law Act 20. 

KSD Literacy Vision

We believe in the consistent growth of all students through evidence-based, engaging, and responsive instruction using authentic and diverse materials. 

Primary District Contact

If any District families or other District stakeholders have questions about this Plan, the District’s overall approach to reading instruction in kindergarten through third grade, or the District’s approach to literacy-related assessments and learning supports, please contact Jody Heipp, Director of Student Learning & Services. 

Website

The most current version of this Plan can be found at a link located on the following Kewaskum School District webpage: Early Literacy - Wisconsin Act 20.

 

Act 20 Requirement

All K-3 teachers, principals, and reading specialists where there are grades K-3 must begin training on science-based literacy instruction by July 1, 20205. This must be from an approved list.

KSD Approach

Our principals and literacy coach have engaged in the Leadership Institute provided by CESA 6 starting in the summer of 2024 and during the 24-25 school year.  Both of these institutes were approved to meet the requirements of Act 20. All 4K- 5 educators will utilize the Cox Campus Structured Literacy Modules beginning in the spring of 2025. Cox Campus is an approved training vendor within the Act 20 guidelines.

 

Act 20 Requirement
Act 20 states that all Wisconsin schools are required to provide science-based early literacy instruction in both universal and intervention settings. Science-based early literacy instruction is systematic and explicit and consists of all the following:

• Phonological awareness
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Building background knowledge
• Oral language development
• Vocabulary building
• Instruction in writing
• Instruction in comprehension
• Reading fluency

See the Wisconsin Reads website for more information.

School boards retain the independent authority to select the early literacy instructional materials they will adopt and implement. Those instructional materials are required to meet the definition of “science-based early literacy instruction” found in Act 20.

KSD Plan
All 4K through 5th-grade educators began implementing Amplify CKLA in September 2024. This curriculum is science-based and includes all the components of systematic and explicit instruction outlined above. Amplify CKLA is one of the top curricular resources approved by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Staff received professional development for the initial implementation and have also participated in training sessions focused on planning and strengthening their use of the resource.

 

This section of the Early Literacy Remediation Plan identifies the following early literacy assessments that, under state law, the District is required to administer to students who are enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten through third grade: 

• The universal early literacy screening assessment (4K-3rd Grade)
  • 4K-Fall and Spring (NOT winter)
  • 5K-3rd: Fall, Winter, & Spring
• Diagnostic literacy assessments (some students in 5K through third grade)
• The state’s standardized third-grade reading test 

Universal Early Literacy Screening Assessment (4K-3rd Grade)

The aimswebPlus reading screeners that measure the skills above are based on a student’s grade level. You can learn more about these assessments below:

Diagnostic Assessment

Students who flag “at risk” on the screener below the 25th percentile must be administered diagnostic assessments in all areas to meet the requirements of the law.  

• phonemic awareness 
• decoding skills
• alphabet knowledge
• letter sound knowledge
• oral vocabulary
• rapid naming
• phonological awareness
• word recognition
• spelling
• vocabulary
• listening comprehension
• oral reading fluency
• reading comprehension

 

KSD Diagnostic Assessments include i-Ready and aimswebPlus additional literacy assessments in the areas described above. 

 

Family History Survey

In conjunction with the diagnostic assessment, the District will offer the student's family the opportunity to complete a family history survey (English and Spanish) to provide additional information about any learning difficulties within the family.  The family survey will be distributed after the initial screening and during diagnostic assessments.

 

Act 20 Requirement

During the 2024-2025 school year, provide parents and families with the results of the reading readiness screener no later than 15 days after the assessment is scored in an understandable form that includes all of the following:

• The pupil’s score in each early literacy skill category assessed by the reading readiness assessment.
• The pupil’s percentile rank score on the reading readiness assessment, if available.
• The definition of “at-risk” and the score on the reading readiness assessment that would indicate that a pupil is at-risk.
• A plain language description of the literacy skills the reading readiness assessment is designed to measure.
• If a child is promoted to 4th grade without completing their personal reading plan, parents must be notified in writing, along with a description of the reading interventions that the child will continue to receive.
• School Districts are required to post Wisconsin's Informational Guidebook on Dyslexia and Related Conditions.

 

KSD Approach

Families will receive notification throughout the process. Families are notified of the results within 15 days of the assessment score availability. When diagnostic assessments are utilized, additional information specific to those results and subsequent instructional support (personal reading plans) will also be shared. 

 

Creating a Personal Reading Plan

Any child in grades K-3 who scores below the 25th percentile on the reading readiness screener and further indicates a need based on additional diagnostic measures must receive a personal reading plan (PRP). All reading plans will be created and documented in NextPath. 

Families will be provided a personal reading plan via NextPath notification.  Families are responsible for logging into NextPath to review and acknowledge their student’s personal reading plan. Creators and implementers of a student’s personal reading plan are required to provide families with progress updates after 10 weeks. This will be completed through NextPath.

Parent Notification of Pupil Progress Under the Personal Reading Plan

After the school has been providing the interventions described in a student’s reading plan for 10 weeks, an updated personal reading plan will be shared.  

Exiting a Personal Reading Plan - Grades 5K-2

In 5K through grade 2, students can exit personal reading plans by demonstrating adequate progress on grade-level skills and assessments.  The District will utilize aimsweb Plus screeners and progress monitoring measures to determine adequate progress and proficiency on grade-level assessments.

• Kindergarten will use the measures of Nonsense Word Fluency and Phoneme Segmentation.
•  Grades 1 -2 will use the measure of Oral Reading Fluency.
• Grade 3 will use the measure of Oral Reading Fluency and the student scores at or above grade-level on the reading portion of the Wisconsin Forward exam in grade 3

Act 20 Requirement

Schools must have a policy for promotion from 3rd to 4th grade, based on a DPI model policy, by July 1, 2025. This would go into effect September 1, 2027.

KSD Approach

The KSD promotion policy will be revised in the spring of 2025 to include requirements in WI Act 20.

 

Beginning the summer of 2027, intensive Summer Reading Intervention will be offered to 3rd-grade students who have not exited their Personal Reading Plan by the end of third grade and continue to score below the 25th percentile on the reading screener.

Intensive Summer Reading Intervention will be offered during the Kewaskum Summer School Sessions between June 2027 and July 2027. 

 

Intervention Structures and Resources

Depending on the student’s needs, interventions may be embedded in regular classroom instruction, delivered in a small group setting, delivered in a one-on-one setting, or delivered through other appropriate methods.

KSD maintains a menu of K-5 Literacy Interventions based on the components of science-based early reading instruction. The interventions may address gaps in foundational skills (e.g., phonological

awareness and phonics) as well as other critical reading skills (fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary).  The interventions may come in the form of a prescription evidence-based intervention program or in the form of evidence-based routines and strategies.

K-5 Literacy Intervention List

• Amplify mClass
• Graphosyllabic Analysis
• Incremental Rehearsal
• Orthographic Mapping
• Paragraph Shrinking
• PRESS (Phonics and Phonemic Awareness)
• Reciprocal Teaching
• Repeated Reading
• SIPPS
• Story mapping
• Supported Cloze

Both elementary buildings have a 30-minute extra learning time (ELT) built into each grade level’s schedule to offer targeted intervention or enrichment support. All students will continue to receive high-quality classroom instruction and support.

Progress Monitoring

All students with a personal reading plan will be assessed weekly to monitor progress toward their reading goal.