California Evidence Based Reading Instruction Training

California faces a significant literacy challenge. On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a nationwide standardized test, 29% of California fourth-graders and 28% of eighth-graders were proficient in reading.

In response to this, California advocates push for a phonics-focused approach to literacy education through new legislation that would fundamentally transform how reading is taught in K-12 classrooms across the state.

Teaching reading is not enough.  

It’s students practicing reading throughout every lesson, every hour, for the entire year that improves reading fluency.   

Dataworks starts with a text-based lesson. Students… rehearse reading… read chorally… and read out loud to their partners directly from the lesson. This goes beyond the 5-pillars of reading instruction. Students read during every lesson, all day long.

So, how is this done? For starters, students read the Learning Objective, the concept definitions, the Checking for Understanding questions.  Teachers build in differentiation by prereading when necessary so all students can participate.   

DataWORKS trains teachers to support reading fluency in every lesson. For example, in a typical classroom teachers  often start at the top of the lesson slide and read through to the bottom. With Dataworks coaching, we’ll stop the teacher and explain when they should engage the students, and get the students to actually read the lesson components.

It’s not just teaching reading, it’s practicing reading through every lesson, all day, for the entire year.  Dataworks uses text based instruction. Students read chorally, rehearse, read out loud to their partners. They read in every lesson. We can go beyond the 5-pillars. We can support reading all day.

Let’s take a look: for starters, students read the Learning Objective, concept definitions, Checking for Understanding questions.  Teachers differentiate by prereading when necessary so all students can read.   

We teach teachers how to support reading fluency in every lesson. For example, in a typical classroom teachers will often start at the top of the lesson slide and read through to the bottom. With Dataworks coaching, we’ll stop the teacher and explain when they should engage the students, and get the students to actually read the lesson components. 

We engage students 2-3 times per minute in every lesson, all day long. The engagement creates reading opportunities. For example, math teachers are math teachers, but with our lessons, even math teachers will support reading.

Comprehensive Professional Development Aligned with The Legislative Vision

California’s legislation emphasizes the critical importance of teacher training. The legislation would provide funding and mandate evidence-based reading instruction, including universal screening to assess reading levels and teaching tools like phonics, with an emphasis on writing and spelling with pen and paper.

Explicit Instruction Focus

The legislation emphasizes the importance of structured, systematic, and explicit instruction in teaching reading. This includes explicit phonics instruction, scaffolding, repeated practice with text, direct instruction of word meanings and strategies for understanding words in context, and targeted instruction for both narrative and informational texts.

Integrated Literacy Components

The workshop defines, explains, and demonstrates how to integrate other essential literacy components, such as writing, spelling, grammar/conventions, and listening/speaking, into reading instruction to enhance student reading skills.