Choosing an elementary reading curriculum can be a bit like choosing between ice cream flavors when you’re making a sundae. The one you end up choosing will influence every other part of the dish.
For kids in grades K-5, their reading curriculum works in a similar way. Any recipe for academic success starts with strong reading skills, and high-quality curriculum is a key part of that.
So, what does a high-quality reading curriculum look like? And how do you know if you’ve chosen the right one? Here, we break down the essential components to look for.
What Does It Mean to Have a High-Quality Reading Curriculum?
There are so many reading curricula out there based on different approaches to literacy or reading instruction, but luckily we have a solid understanding of what works (and what doesn’t!) to help you narrow down the options.
The research is clear: Providing systematic, explicit instruction on the alphabetic principle is the most effective way to teach students how to read.
Using high-quality materials, including a Science of Reading-backed curriculum for core instruction, is essential, and it gets results.
According to a TNTP study, students who started the year needing extra support and were given high-quality materials and assignments were able to improve their skills to a level on par with higher-performing peers. Research also shows that using high quality curriculum increases teacher satisfaction and engages students with more challenging content in the classroom.
In particular, implementing a high-quality elementary reading curriculum is necessary to ensure every student can access the core instruction necessary to develop the vital foundational skills needed to read fluently and develop skills to comprehend increasingly complex text.
It also means your students will have the benefits that come with instructional coherence and equitable access to instruction of equal rigor and caliber across classrooms and grade levels.
Once you have a strong Tier 1 curriculum in place, you’ll be on your way to building a strong multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) for reading.
What to Look for in a High-Quality Reading Curriculum for K-5
The words “high quality” sound good, but they’re also highly subjective. How districts define that quality is key to the effectiveness of any new curriculum.
But what should that mean for your district?
The good news is you don’t have to start from scratch.
The phrase “hiqh-quality instructional materials” (HQIM) may already be defined for you by your state education department, and a host of non-profit education organizations have done plenty of the legwork to help districts suss out quality curricula.
But you don’t just have to take their word for it. You can also assess reading curricula yourself by looking for a few key things.
In simple terms, a high-quality Tier 1 elementary reading curriculum for K-5 is evidence-based and provides targeted, systematic instruction that addresses all of the five core pillars of reading instruction identified by a National Reading Panel in the late 1990s.
As you evaluate the options, here’s what to look for:
| Key Curriculum Component | What It Entails |
|---|---|
| An emphasis on both phonological and phonemic awareness | Developing students’ ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds and words in spoken language |
| Targeted phonics instruction | Explicit instruction on letter-sound connections within a systematic progression of basic to complex skills and concepts |
| A focus on building fluency | Building students’ skills in order to read with appropriate accuracy, speed, and expression |
| Vocabulary development | Ensuring students can understand the meaning of words in fiction and nonfiction text with connections to text evidence |
| Comprehension building | Developing students’ ability to demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex fiction and nonfiction text with connections to text evidence |
What About the State?
Since 2013, the majority of U.S. states have either passed laws or enacted policies to support Science of Reading-aligned instruction in schools, and yours may be one of them.
With policies often changing and new legislation being passed each year, it can be hard to keep up. Here are some resources to help you stay on top of the latest state mandates as you choose curricula that align with standards and policies in your district:
- American Public Media’s Interactive Reading Legislation Map
- The Reading League Interactive State Map
Supporting Teachers and Aligning Reading Instruction
There is always an adjustment period when you introduce a new curriculum, and teachers will always need training and the time to become adept at making instructional decisions that will help their students reach reading goals.
But considering how teachers will use the new reading curriculum isn’t just an implementation issue. It should be an important part of your selection process.
The ideal curriculum selection committee includes a diverse set of stakeholders, including some of the teachers who will use the chosen materials in their classrooms.
Research shows that more than half of K-2 teachers use instructional materials that do not meet the standards for Science of Reading-aligned instruction, largely due to lack of training. As you evaluate and adopt new curricula, don’t forget to think ahead to ways that teachers might receive upfront training, ongoing coaching, and administrative support throughout the implementation period and beyond.
When a reading curriculum is low-quality, teachers have to expend even more time and energy to fill in the gaps between the material and adopted state reading standards. EdReports estimates teachers are spending seven to 12 hours per week creating, adapting, and/or searching for instructional materials for their classrooms.
That’s time taken away from other important tasks like professional learning — more than 40 percent of teachers surveyed by RAND in 2023 said they are spending their collaborative learning time on adapting instructional materials or student assessment data.
Curriculum should be easy for teachers to use, with components explicitly built into the curriculum design and materials that do the following:
- Provide differentiation guidance for teachers working with students at different skill levels within the same classroom, including how to adapt lessons for students who need more foundational support and how to extend learning for those ready to progress
- Illustrate how different components of reading instruction connect within a grade level
- Show teachers how reading skills build systematically from one grade to the next — allowing them to easily make connections across different grade- and skill-levels
- Include multisensory learning materials to help engage students with different learning styles
- Provide opportunities for targeted practice of each of the five pillars of reading
Free Reading Curriculum Resources
Choosing a Tier 1 Curriculum vs. Tier 2 and Tier 3 Reading Supports
Even with an incredible Tier 1 reading curriculum that’s used with fidelity by your teachers, research has proven time and again that many kids will still need extra support to learn how to read.
As you choose a high-quality Tier 1 curriculum, remember to give yourself room to establish high-quality reading interventions as well.
This can happen in one of two ways:
- Use the same curriculum for all students, relying on assessments and progress checks to identify those who need extra help and providing them with the necessary support.
- Choose two different curricula (one for Tier 1 and another for Tiers 2 and 3) that align with one another, and use them simultaneously.
Why Elementary Reading Curriculum is So Important
If this seems like a lot of information, it is.
It’s totally normal to be overwhelmed by the options, but by taking steps to learn the essential parts of great reading curricula, you’re already on the right track.
The hard work you’re doing now matters!
The reading skills your students will develop in elementary school will become the foundation upon which the rest of their education is built. Not only are kids who achieve mastery of 1st grade level foundational reading skills more likely to still be reading on benchmark years later, but kids who demonstrate early reading proficiency are also more likely to show confidence and engagement in academic settings, as well as stay in school, graduate, and pursue higher education.
Choosing a reading curriculum isn’t easy, but remember that reading isn’t just about phonics and vocabulary; it’s a life skill.
It’s worth the time and investment to choose materials that align with proven standards, support teachers in making every lesson count, and provide the opportunity for each student to build the reading toolbox they’ll carry with them into the future.
