High-Quality Instructional Materials and the Value of Strong, Usable Literacy Solutions

As school and district leaders know from experience, funding evidence-based literacy solutions is critically important to improve low or stagnant reading scores, but success is far from guaranteed. Initiatives that are implemented unevenly or that fail to earn buy-in from teachers will generally result in a poor return on investment—and reduced enthusiasm for future efforts. 

To break this unproductive cycle and achieve success in today’s classrooms, high-quality instructional materials to support either core or supplemental literacy instruction must achieve two goals. First, materials must be firmly grounded in the science of reading. Second, core curricula and supplemental resources must be usable and flexible enough to accommodate teachers and meet students’ diverse learning needs in a variety of classroom settings. With sufficient strength and usability, high-quality instructional materials can lead to measurable, sustainable improvement in student growth and achievement. 

Ensuring Fidelity of Implementation 

What makes high-quality instructional materials strong and usable? This question should be at the fore when evaluating a literacy program, as strength and usability are key characteristics that help ensure successful implementation and positive long-term outcomes. A strong, usable literacy solution includes the following student-centered features: 

• Clear learning progressions based on the science of reading 
• Systematic and explicit instruction in all five pillars of reading: phonemic awareness phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension 
• Timely corrective feedback and reinforcement of skills 
• Intentional independent practice of skills that have been taught 

In addition to these strengths, a curriculum should offer usability features to support ease of use for teachers, including the following:   

• Comprehensive yet flexible lesson plans that teachers can adapt to suit their teaching styles and meet their students’ needs 
• Ready-to-use materials and resources that do not require extensive prep time 
• Embedded support for learning management and pacing 
• Ongoing professional learning for educators  

Supporting Teachers with Soft Scripting 

In high-quality instructional materials, strength and usability combine in the form of adaptable lesson plans that teachers can follow to deliver consistent, high-quality instruction. Soft scripting—scripting that is designed to be adaptable rather than something to be read verbatim—is a vital element of such plans. Soft scripting can be especially helpful for teachers who are new to foundational literacy instruction and still working to build their confidence and competence. Soft scripts also benefit paraprofessionals and other staff who might not have extensive backgrounds in education. At the same time, more experienced teachers often appreciate soft scripting that leaves ample room for creativity as they bring instruction to life in their classrooms. 

While scripting may sometimes be perceived as an effort to reduce teachers’ autonomy, this view runs counter to the experience of educators who have actively sought out and benefited from these resources. When teachers have the flexibility to adapt scripts to address daily challenges and meet students’ diverse learning needs, soft scripting becomes an invaluable support rather than a constraint. 

Strength and Usability in EPS Learning’s Literacy Solutions 

Teacher-friendly soft scripting is a valuable feature of EPS Learning’s literacy solutions, one that promotes ease of implementation and ease of use. Most notably, SPIRE and EPS Reading Accelerator both offer high-quality soft scripting that teachers can use to immediately deliver effective Structured Literacy intervention after minimal training. As they gain confidence and skills, teachers can easily make the lessons “their own.” 

SPIRE is an intensive, Orton-Gillingham-based, Structured Literacy intervention for students in Pre-K through 8th grade who require Tier 3 support or special education services. SPIRE students—including students with dyslexia—benefit from multisensory activities that are grounded in the science of reading and designed to maximize student engagement. For teachers, SPIRE offers adaptable soft scripting and data-driven, mastery-based instruction to ensure that striving readers successfully build a solid reading foundation. 

Reading Accelerator is a targeted, Tier 2 intervention to help striving elementary and middle school readers shore up foundational-skill gaps that are impeding reading proficiency. This comprehensive Structured Literacy program can be delivered in either whole-class or small-group settings and is designed to maintain student engagement with consistent five-step lessons and age-appropriate content, along with print and digital opportunities for independent practice. Reading Accelerator efficiently delivers positive impact in a short time; the program can be completed in one school year or less with just three 20-minute lessons per week. 

Education leaders have no shortage of literacy solutions to choose from as they work to achieve the vision of grade-level reading proficiency for all students. To ensure sustainable implementation of strong solutions that result in measurable impact on student growth, districts need high-quality instructional materials with a strong evidence base, high usability for teachers, and engaging learning experiences for students. In other words, strong, usable solutions—grounded in evidence and designed for both teachers and students—that bring literacy to life in meaningful and lasting ways.