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From YouTube: Implementing EL - Stories of CCSD
Description
Charleston County School District is moving forward with using EL as its main provider for its reading and writing curriculum. This in-depth installment of the Stories of CCSD explains why CCSD is using this company for English Language Arts, examines the challenges the district has faced in the rollout, looks at the the lessons learned, and addressed the impact on student outcomes.
A
Hello:
everyone,
I'm
Andy
Pruitt,
director
of
communications
for
Charleston,
County,
School
District
for
the
past
few
months,
El
curriculum,
the
district's
English
language.
Arts
curriculum
for
kindergarten
through
8th
grade,
has
been
a
major
topic
of
conversation,
discussion
and
confusion.
In
this
important
edition
of
these
stories
of
CCSD,
we
will
provide
the
reasons
for
El
adoption
in
our
district,
how
it
was
implemented
at
the
school
level
challenges
our
Educators
faced
concerns
from
teachers
and
parents
and
its
impact
on
student
outcomes.
A
First
of
all,
El
education
is
the
name
of
the
company
that
produces
the
curriculum,
El
used
to
stand
for
Expeditionary
Learning,
but
the
organization
only
goes
by
El
now.
Secondly,
the
El
curriculum
is
a
state
approved
option
for
reading
and
writing,
which
was
introduced
to
the
district
through
the
Palmetto
literacy
project
and
adopted
by
our
acceleration
schools.
A
learning
community
dedicated
to
making
rapid
gains
in
student
outcomes.
Acceleration
schools,
including
North
Charleston
Elementary,
began
using
El
at
the
start
of
the
2021-2022
school
year.
Knowing.
A
Roughly
the
same
time,
a
group
of
30
to
40
staff
members
at
both
the
school
and
District
level
reviewed
English
language,
arts
curricula.
It
had
been
over
a
decade
since
the
district
adopted
a
uniform
Ela
curriculum
following
extensive
research
for
several
months.
An
initial
positive
results
in
the
acceleration
schools
Community
the
task
force
moved
forward
with
recommending
El.
We.
C
Had
the
benefit
of
learning,
first-hand
information
from
the
acceleration
schools
how
the
implementation
was
going?
Where
were
the
challenges
and
where
were
the
benefits
so
between
the
task
force,
making
the
decision,
the
first-hand
information
we
were
able
to
glean
from
the
acceleration
cohort
piloting
the
program
we
came
about.
What
we
believe
to
be
a
solid
decision
to
adopt
and
embrace
El
is
our
curriculum
of
choice.
10.
C
A
D
Had
rollouts
of
like
what
it
is,
but
not
really
getting
too
deep
into
what
the
lessons
are
so
I
think
there
was
some
frustration
with
teachers
saying
I,
don't
I
still
don't
know
what
we're
teaching
I
don't
know
what
it
looks
like
so
I
wish.
There
was
a
way
we
could
have
seen
the
bigger
picture.
North.
A
E
Felt
that
way
in
the
beginning,
I
did
felt
that
it's
kind
of
Stripped
Away
my
teacher
personality
but
like
I,
said
once
I
got
into
once.
I
got
into
my
flow
I
was
able
to
still
teach
the
way
how
I
teach
and
still
teach
that
content
the
way
how
I
needed
to
be
taught
so
over
time,
I
felt
that
El
didn't
script
or
script
that
opportunity
away.
B
E
E
A
F
G
G
Example,
when
we
were
writing
our
doing
our
research
about
the
rainforest
third
grade
was
doing
research
about
different
frogs
found
in
the
rainforest.
So
this
idea
of
building
upon
what
you've
done
in
third
grade
and
then
I
noticed
fourth
grade-
does
another.
They
have
to
pick
an
animal
to
research
to
research.
It's
beautiful
the
way
it
sort
of
builds
upon
I'll.
E
Speak
for
my
kindergarten
team
when
it
comes
to
that
when
it's
when
we're
doing
our
meetings,
I
noticed
that
we'll
take
those
assessments
that
the
kids
are
taking
and
we
pick
through
it
you'll
be
like
well
what
worked
for
you,
what
didn't
work
for
you
or
as
a
whole?
If
something
was
great?
Okay,
let's
keep
it.
Let's
help
the
other
person
to
see
if
that
person
can
get
where
they
need
to
be,
while.
A
D
A
shift
to
science
of
reading
and
that's
kind
of
a
shift
in
mindset
for
a
lot
of
our
teachers.
The
modules
are
teaching
comprehension,
standards
and
skills
Block
in
kindergarten
through
second
grade
teaches
the
foundational
of
reading
standards.
So
that's
where,
when
we
have
that
one
hour
a
day
for
skills,
block
we're
teaching
those
children
how
to
read,
and
then
the
modules
is
teaching
them
the
comprehension
strategies
to
remember
what
they've
read.
G
A
G
F
Parents
were
saying
this
is
a
critical
race,
Theory
curriculum
and
so
I
I
mentioned
that
I
had
slideshow
I
started
off
with
just
going
through
the
history
of
the
El
organization
and
how
it
was
founded
and
what
the
intent
of
it
was
and
that
that
it
definitely
was
not
a
critical
race.
Theory
curriculum
that
we
weren't
teaching.
D
That
when
we
started
with
human
rights
last
year
that
just
the
title
of
the
module
in
general
kind
of
raised
to
some
awareness
to
community
members
and
when
we
were
sharing
what
it
is
and
what
we're
teaching
during
that
unit,
then
they
had
an
understanding.
And
it
was
okay
because
there
was
there's
not
an
agenda
pushed.
Fortunately,.
H
G
The
window
questions
at
El
Prov
provides
are
like
perfect
for
getting
kids
to
really
think
about
the
text
before
they
talk.
So
when
I'm
I'll
say
turn
and
talk
to
your
elbow
partner
about
blank
and
then
as
they're
talking
I'm
wandering
around
the
room
and
listening
to
their
conversations.
Everyone
is
on
topic.
Everyone
is
talking
about
the
text
since.
E
They
know
the
content
they're
able
to
speak
to
each
other
more
versus
just
standing
there
or
let's
start
talking
about
things
that
doesn't
even
have
anything
to
do
with
the
curriculum,
and
then
that
leaves
room
for
me
to
when
I
am
listening
to
them.
Okay,
what
do
I
need
to
do
in
order
to
add
on
to
that,
and
it's
taken
away
less
talking
for
me
and
given
giving
them
the
floor.
A
D
B
A
C
Not
suggesting
that
every
single
School
implementing
El
has
seen
the
exact
same
rate
of
growth,
but
it
has
been
marked
improvement
in
terms
of
our
Scholars
meeting,
their
growth
targets
and
trending
in
the
right
direction.
For
us,
that's
half
the
battle
when
we
have
a
solution,
it's
not
just
the
curriculum
and
I
want
to
be
fair
about
that.
It's,
not
the
curricula.
It's
the
strategies,
it's
the
instructional
design.
It's
the
classroom!
Teacher!
All
of
those
things
make
an
impact
with
student
outcomes,
District.
A
G
E
Patient
and
give
it
that
time
continue
when
we
send
those
letters
home.
You
know
to
say
this
is
what
we're
working
on
ask
your
kids.
Those
questions
engage
in,
engage,
engage
with
them,
engage
with
your
teacher
so
that
you'll,
that
your
child
is
not
only
getting
at
school
but
they're,
getting
it
at
home.
If.
F
B
C
A
comprehensive,
consistent
curriculum
across
the
entirety
of
the
system
ensures
that,
regardless
of
where
a
scholar
lands,
regardless
of
the
constituent
area,
they
happen
to
be
in
they're
being
exposed
to
high
quality,
instructional
materials
and
I
feel
like
that's,
really
important,
to
get
at
closing
the
achievement.
Gap
that
exists,
but
it's
just
good
overall
for
all
of
our
schools
and
our
Scholars.