Evidence-based Interventions/Strategies

Mid-Year Reflection

During the Fall semester, the school encountered implementation challenges related to this goal due to students’ insufficient development of foundational phonics skills. Student performance data, classroom observations, and progress monitoring indicated that many students demonstrated gaps in phoneme-grapheme correspondence, decoding accuracy, and the application of phonics strategies during reading tasks. These foundational skill deficits impacted students’ reading fluency and overall literacy development, limiting their ability to fully access grade-level text and instruction.

To address this need, the school implemented targeted professional development for instructional staff on the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) Foundations program. This training focused on strengthening teachers’ capacity to deliver explicit, systematic, and research-based phonics instruction aligned with evidence-based literacy practices. Teachers were trained in lesson structure, modeling strategies, guided practice, corrective feedback, and progress monitoring to ensure effective and consistent implementation.

Following professional development, teachers began implementing UFLI Foundations with fidelity to provide structured, daily phonics instruction. This initiative is intended to improve students’ decoding skills, increase reading fluency, and strengthen overall literacy outcomes. School leadership and instructional coaches will continue to monitor implementation through classroom walkthroughs, student progress monitoring data, and ongoing coaching support to ensure effective instructional practices and continued progress toward the established school improvement goal.

The school’s intervention strategies demonstrated several strengths, particularly through the implementation of the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness curriculum and the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) Foundations program. Heggerty provided students with daily, structured phonemic awareness instruction, supporting the development of critical foundational skills such as phoneme segmentation, blending, and manipulation. This strengthened students’ auditory processing abilities and prepared them to more effectively engage in phonics instruction. In addition, the implementation of UFLI Foundations provided systematic and explicit phonics instruction, allowing students to develop stronger decoding skills, improve reading accuracy, and build overall reading fluency. Together, these evidence-based programs created a comprehensive approach to strengthening foundational literacy skills.

Additionally, teachers received professional development on the Performance Matters platform to strengthen data-driven instructional practices. The purpose of this training was to build teachers’ capacity to analyze student performance data, identify skill deficits, and make informed instructional decisions. Through this process, teachers were able to use assessment data to monitor student progress, adjust instruction, and implement targeted interventions aligned to student needs. This focus on data analysis supported more responsive and differentiated instruction, ensuring that interventions were aligned with individual student learning gaps and contributing to improved literacy outcomes.

To accomplish the intended outcome for this goal, additional actions are needed to expand targeted small group instruction focused on foundational literacy skills. The school will create additional small instructional groups supported by support staff to implement the UFLI Foundations program with greater intensity and frequency. This approach will allow for more individualized and differentiated instruction, ensuring that students with identified phonics deficits receive focused, explicit, and systematic support aligned to their specific needs.

By utilizing support staff to facilitate these small groups, the school will increase instructional time dedicated to phonics intervention and reduce student-to-teacher ratios, allowing for more immediate corrective feedback, guided practice, and progress monitoring. This targeted intervention structure will support accelerated skill development in decoding, word recognition, and reading fluency.

School leadership will continue to monitor the effectiveness of these small group interventions through ongoing data analysis, progress monitoring, and classroom observations to ensure fidelity of UFLI implementation and to make necessary instructional adjustments. This action will strengthen the school’s capacity to provide timely, data-driven interventions and support progress toward achieving the established literacy goal.

Evidence-based Interventions/Strategies

Mid-Year Reflection

During the Fall semester, the school encountered implementation challenges related to insufficient structured instructional time to fully address student learning needs aligned to this goal. Limitations in protected, dedicated instructional blocks impacted the school’s ability to provide consistent, targeted, and data-driven instruction and interventions. As a result, some students did not receive the level of differentiated support and intervention necessary to address identified skill gaps and accelerate academic progress.

To address this challenge, the school provided professional development to teachers on the Performance Matters data platform. This training focused on strengthening teachers’ ability to effectively analyze student performance data, identify specific areas of need, and use that information to inform instructional planning. Teachers were trained to review assessment results, monitor student progress, and identify trends at the individual, small group, and whole-class levels.

The use of Performance Matters will enable teachers to make data-driven instructional decisions and tailor instruction to meet the specific needs of their students. This includes adjusting pacing, implementing targeted small group instruction, and providing focused interventions based on identified skill deficits. By strengthening the use of data to guide instruction, the school will improve the effectiveness of instructional time and ensure that all students receive appropriate support aligned to the school’s improvement goals.

The intervention strategies demonstrated strength in that the programs and instructional practices implemented were grounded in research-based, evidence-based methodologies. The school utilized interventions with a proven record of effectiveness in supporting student learning and improving foundational literacy skills. These research-based interventions provided structured, systematic, and explicit instruction aligned with best practices in literacy development.

The use of evidence-based programs ensured consistency in instructional delivery and supported the development of critical skills such as phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and reading fluency. Additionally, these interventions included built-in progress monitoring components, allowing teachers to regularly assess student growth and adjust instruction as needed.

By implementing research-based intervention strategies, the school strengthened its ability to provide targeted, effective support to students performing below grade level. This approach ensured that instructional decisions were aligned with scientifically supported practices, increasing the likelihood of improved student outcomes and progress toward achieving the school’s improvement goals.

To accomplish the intended outcome for this specific goal, the school will restructure What I Need (WIN) groups to more effectively target identified student learning needs. WIN groups will be reorganized based on current student performance data, including assessment results, progress monitoring, and classroom performance, to ensure that students receive instruction aligned to their specific skill deficits.

This restructuring will allow teachers and support staff to provide more focused, differentiated instruction in smaller, skill-based groups. Instruction within WIN groups will prioritize foundational skill development, including phonics, fluency, and comprehension, depending on individual student needs. The use of data to form and adjust WIN groups will ensure that instruction remains responsive and targeted, allowing for timely interventions and support.

Additionally, WIN group effectiveness will be monitored regularly through ongoing data analysis and progress monitoring. Adjustments to group placement and instructional strategies will be made as needed to ensure continued student growth. This action will strengthen the school’s tiered system of supports and improve the effectiveness of intervention efforts, contributing to progress toward achieving the school’s improvement goals.