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Issaquah School District’s New Elementary Literacy Curriculum
On March 28, 2024, the Issaquah School District Comprehensive Literacy Adoption Committee met and voted with 100% consensus to recommend Benchmark Advance (Benchmark Adelante for Dual Language) curriculum and materials for reading comprehension, writing, language and grammar, kindergarten through fifth grade, as the new Elementary Literacy curriculum. All the Issaquah School District Elementary schools start using this new curriculum this fall.
Benchmark Advance is a content-based literacy program that is intentional, purposeful, and integrated. It is designed to build knowledge through purposeful scope and sequence, explicit teacher modeling, guided practice with spiral review [of past learning], and embedded multisensory learning.
The District’s previous reading curriculum, “Making Meaning,” and writing curriculum, “Units of Study,” do not include a grammar component or an explicit vocabulary component, two aspects that teachers are looking forward to in Benchmark Advance. They are also separate curricula; the new literacy curriculum integrates reading and writing, which is advantageous for students and teachers. Teachers are also excited to see our students’ growth after the new curriculum is fully incorporated with the existing foundational skills curriculum.
Benchmark Advance offers a more rigorous, integrated experience for students. Benchmark Advance is a curriculum focused on:
Building knowledge with texts, vocabulary, and tasks.
Utilizing quality and complex texts that align with standards.
Supporting responsive teaching to reach each learner.
It encourages students to be active learners and collaborators. Students spiral through skills and strategies to prepare for lifelong learning.
Anytime a student engages with a new curriculum, there are different expectations that the student must contend with. Benchmark Advance provides students with the opportunity to engage with rigorous gradelevel text and increases the amount of prompt-based writing. Teachers will provide embedded support for students as they practice these important skills.
Families should expect that the teacher will send home regular classroom communications that provide what most parents need to support learning at home. If parents have questions specific to their student, reach out to the teacher. The student's teacher can be more specific about skills to work on and available resources for the student's needs.
Learning at home is best when it is natural and fun: playing games, having conversations, reading together, and learning about interesting new topics together. Students learn the most when they talk and play with adults!
Here are a few things field testers (teachers who used the curriculum in their classes as part of a pilot project) had to say about the preferred curriculum:
Second-grade teacher: “Benchmark has so much to offer, giving multiple options for reaching learners at all levels, while still being rigorous. Having choices and flexibility is huge.”
Third-grade teacher: “Benchmark was aligned with the science of reading and had the necessary resources to support a diverse group of learners.”
Fourth-grade teacher: “[Benchmark Advance] was more engaging, easier to follow, and it better supports student needs through scaffolding, small group instruction, and differentiation. Also, it allows for student choice, has more time for independent reading and writing, and the data from the online assessments was super helpful in tracking my students' progress so I could better differentiate to meet their needs.”
Fifth-grade teacher: “Benchmark provided engaging texts and topics for students to help build background knowledge and vocabulary. It was easy to use and provided teachers with small group materials, including texts, to build knowledge for all readers, reader's theaters, fluency practice, built-in grammar, and phonics instruction. I liked the quick units…I also think the texts were interesting, on a variety of topics, and had authentic authors. I think the scaffolds for [MultiLingual] students and aligned curriculum is essential when our goal is to have standard knowledge base and vocabulary for all students to engage in.”
Students from the pilot classrooms also had feedback to share regarding Benchmark Advance:
Third-grade student: “I think Benchmark has really good books, and it teaches you how to make good decisions and about good people.”
Fourth-grade student: “I would recommend Benchmark because the lessons are easier to follow and more fun. The lessons are also more challenging...The topics in Benchmark are also more diverse, which makes it more interesting. The goals are also less repetitive and easier to follow...”
Fifth-grade student: “As a student, I recommend Benchmark because I think future 5th graders would rather learn the information that Benchmark provided than what Wit & Wisdom did. I not only prefer Benchmark because the information that we learned from it but the format of the program. I liked the creative assignments, and the lessons didn't feel too long. I appreciate you dedicating your time so many future 5th graders could have a positive learning experience.”
Kindergarten student: “I like Benchmark because it is very cool, and I love it because it’s very, very, VERY cool. And I love it.”
