2nd Grade - Gateway 1

The phonics scope and sequence in Bridge to Reading partially meets the expectations for this indicator. Materials provide a cohesive sequence of phonics instruction that progresses from review of foundational skills to increasingly complex phonics and morphological patterns, emphasizing high-utility sound-spelling relationships that support continued development of word reading. Phonics instruction is cumulative, with opportunities for students to apply skills through decoding and analysis of increasingly complex words across units. However, while materials reference broad research-based frameworks, they include only a limited explanation of the rationale for the sequence and do not clearly articulate how the order of skills supports progression from simpler to more complex concepts. As a result, the sequence is coherent in structure but lacks a clear, evidence-based justification for its design.

• Materials contain a limited, evidence-based explanation for the expected sequence for teaching phonics skills. 

  • According to the Introduction and Overview, materials provide a general research-based explanation for reading development through references to the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986) and Scarborough’s Reading Rope (2001). These frameworks identify decoding, including phonics, as a critical component of reading comprehension and describe how word recognition develops alongside language comprehension through increasingly automatic and strategic processes. Materials further describe Bridge to Reading as a comprehensive approach to foundational literacy in which phonics is one of several interconnected components, including phonemic awareness, morphology, fluency, oral language, and communication. The program states that skills are introduced, strengthened, and reviewed across grades to support students in becoming fluent readers.

    Materials include a general research-based explanation for reading development; however, the explanation of the phonics sequence is limited. While materials reference established frameworks that identify phonics as a component of decoding, they do not clearly articulate the rationale for the specific order in which phonics skills are taught or how the sequence supports progression from simpler to more complex skills,

• Materials provide a cohesive, intentional phonics sequence that progresses from simple to more complex skills and includes ample opportunities to apply skills through decoding in connected text. 

  • According to the Scope and Sequence, materials provide a progression of phonics concepts across Books 1–3, organized by units and weeks, beginning with review of foundational phonics patterns and advancing to more complex vowel patterns, multisyllabic word reading, and morphological structures.

    • Book 1 – Unit 1: Review Short Vowels, Consonants, Blends, VC and VCV Words (Weeks 1–6)

      • Week 1: Short vowels and closed syllables

      • Week 2: Consonant digraphs: sh, th, ch, wh, ph, -ck; trigraph -tch

      • Week 3: Double consonants: -ff, -ss, -zz, -ll; consonant -le

      • Week 4: Initial and final consonant blends; consonant clusters

      • Week 5: Sounds of -ng/-nk; closed syllable exceptions

      • Week 6: Review; three sounds of -ed; inflectional endings: doubling rule

    • Book 1 – Unit 2: Long Vowels and Soft c and g (Weeks 7–10)

      • Week 7: Long vowels a, e, i, o, u; y as long i in CV and VCe words

      • Week 8: Long vowels a, e, i, o, u; soft c

      • Week 9: Long vowels a, e, i, o, u; soft g

      • Week 10: Review long vowels and soft c/g with inflectional endings

    • Book 2 – Unit 3: r-Controlled Vowels and Vowel Teams (Weeks 11–17)

      • Week 11: r-controlled vowels: ar, or

      • Week 12: r-controlled vowels: er, ir, ur

      • Week 13: Long a vowel teams: ai, ay, ei, ey, ea

      • Week 14: Long o vowel teams: oa, oe, ow; long i vowel teams: ie, igh

      • Week 15: Long e vowel teams: ee, ea, ey, ie; long u vowel teams: ue, ui

      • Week 16: r-controlled spelling variations for /er/, /ar/, /or/; vowel team ea as short e

      • Week 17: r-controlled variations: /eer/, /air/

    • Book 2 – Unit 4: Complex Vowel Patterns, Silent Letters, and Diphthongs (Weeks 18–23)

      • Week 18: Complex vowel patterns: au, aw, all, alk, alt

      • Week 19: Complex vowels: ou, oo (long/short), ew

      • Week 20: Silent letters: kn, wr, gn, gh, mb; digraphs ph, gh as /f/

      • Week 21: Diphthongs: ou, ow, oi, oy

      • Week 22: Suffixes: -er/-or, -er/-est

      • Week 23: Suffixes: -ful, -less; prefixes: un-, re-

    • Book 3 – Unit 5: Multisyllabic Words, Schwa, and Jobs of y (Weeks 24–27)

      • Week 24: Multisyllabic words: VC/CV and V/CV with initial schwa

      • Week 25: Multisyllabic words: V/CV and VC/V

      • Week 26: Jobs of y in multisyllabic words

      • Week 27: Multisyllabic words: final consonant -le

    • Book 3 – Unit 6: Prefixes, Suffixes, Other Vowel Patterns, and Final Stable Syllables (Weeks 28–34)

      • Week 28: Prefix pre-; suffixes -ly, -ness

      • Week 29: Prefixes mis-, dis-

      • Week 30: Multisyllabic words with ie, ei, ea, ia

      • Week 31: Multisyllabic words with ao, eo, ua, iu, io

      • Week 32: Suffixes -able, -ible, -ment

      • Week 33: Multisyllabic words: final stable syllables -tion, -sion, -ture, -sure

      • Week 34: Review multisyllabic words

• Phonics instruction is based on high utility patterns and/or specific phonics generalizations. 

  • According to the Scope and Sequence, phonics instruction is based on high-utility sound-spelling patterns and common phonics generalizations that support continued development of word reading. 

    • Materials begin with review of foundational patterns, including short vowels, closed syllables, consonant digraphs, blends, and inflectional endings, and progress to include more complex and frequently occurring patterns such as long vowels and soft c and soft g. 

    • Instruction systematically includes high-utility vowel patterns, including r-controlled vowels (ar, or, er, ir, ur) and a wide range of vowel teams (ai, ay, oa, oe, ow, ee, ea, ie, ey, ue, ui), as well as spelling variations and less common vowel pronunciations. 

    • Materials introduce additional generalizations and patterns such as complex vowels (au, aw, ou, oo, ew), silent letter patterns (kn, wr, gn, gh, mb, ph), and diphthongs (ou, ow, oi, oy). 

    • Later instruction includes morphological patterns and generalizations, including suffixes (-er, -est, -ful, -less, -ly, -ness, -able, -ible, -ment) and prefixes (un-, re-, pre-, mis-, dis-), as well as multisyllabic word reading, schwa, and final stable syllables (-tion, -sion, -ture, -sure). These patterns reflect commonly occurring orthographic and morphological structures in English.

The pacing and practice opportunities of phonics instruction in Bridge to Reading partially meet the expectations for Indicator 1i. Materials provide a structured progression of phonics concepts and include repeated practice routines and cumulative review opportunities across decoding and encoding instruction. Lessons provide students with repeated opportunities to apply phonics patterns through consistent instructional routines, including word building, word chaining, multisyllabic reading and spelling routines, connected text reading, and sentence-level encoding activities. Materials also include distributed, cumulative, and interleaved review opportunities that reinforce previously taught phonics patterns across isolated words and connected text. However, pacing concerns are evident within the Grade 2 phonics sequence. Earlier units focus on review and isolated instruction of foundational phonics concepts, while later units introduce advanced phonics, multisyllabic word-reading, and morphological concepts, including derivational suffixes, prefixes, multisyllabic vowel patterns, schwa, final stable syllables, and Jobs of y, across consecutive instructional weeks with fewer opportunities for extended practice of newly taught skills before additional concepts are introduced.

• Materials include general reasonable pacing of newly taught phonics skills. 

  • According to the Scope and Sequence, materials provide a structured progression of phonics concepts across Books 1–3, organized by units and weeks, with new phonics skills introduced in a systematic, week-by-week sequence.

    • In Book 1, Unit 1, Weeks 1–6 review foundational phonics concepts, including short vowels and closed syllables, consonant digraphs and trigraphs, double consonants, consonant -le, consonant blends, consonant clusters, sounds of -ngand -nk, closed syllable exceptions, and the three sounds of -ed, followed by a review and unit assessment in Week 6.

    • In Book 1, Unit 2, Weeks 7–10 introduce long vowels and soft c and g patterns before a review and unit assessment in Week 10.

    • In Book 2, Unit 3, Weeks 11–17 introduce r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, and spelling variations sequentially across individual weeks, including ai/ay/ei/ey/ea, oa/oe/ow, ie/igh, ee/ea/ey/ie, ue/ui, and r-controlled spelling variations, followed by a unit assessment in Week 17. 

    • In Book 2, Unit 4, Weeks 18–23 introduce complex vowel patterns, silent letters, diphthongs, comparative and superlative suffixes, and prefixes un- and re-, followed by a unit assessment in Week 23.

      • Each concept is introduced and practiced within a dedicated instructional week before moving to the next concept, with review weeks embedded at the end of units. 

    • In Book 3, Unit 5, Weeks 24–27 introduce multisyllabic word-reading patterns, including VC/CV and V/CV syllable division, schwa, Jobs of y, and final consonant -le syllables. Book 3, Unit 6, Weeks 28–34 then introduces prefixes, derivational suffixes such as -ly, -ness, -able, -ible, and -ment, multisyllabic vowel patterns including ie, ei, ea, ia, ao, eo, ua, iu, and io, and final stable syllables including -tion, -sion, -ture, and -sure, before a final review and unit assessment in Week 34. 

      • While review opportunities are embedded throughout the sequence, later Grade 2 units introduce multiple advanced phonics, multisyllabic word-reading, and morphological concepts across consecutive instructional weeks with fewer opportunities for extended practice of newly taught concepts before additional patterns are introduced. 

  • According to the Fidelity Checklist, daily lessons are designed to take approximately 40–45 minutes, with 30–45 minutes allocated to phonics instruction, including Red Words and fluency modeling.

    Materials include repeated practice routines and cumulative review opportunities; however, pacing concerns are evident within the Grade 2 phonics sequence. Earlier units focus on review and isolated instruction of foundational phonics concepts, while later units introduce advanced phonics, multisyllabic word-reading, and morphological concepts, including derivational suffixes, prefixes, multisyllabic vowel patterns, schwa, final stable syllables, and Jobs of y, across consecutive instructional weeks with fewer opportunities for extended practice of newly taught skills before additional concepts are introduced.

• The lesson plan design allots time to include sufficient student practice to work towards automaticity. 

  • In Unit 2, Week 8, Day 2, Phonics and Fluency, materials provide extended opportunities for students to practice phonics patterns focused on soft c in words ending in -nce. During the “We Do” portion of the lesson, students repeatedly apply the Reading Routine to read words such as since, wince, lance, and stance. Students use Word Construction Cards and Spell Tiles to build and manipulate words, changing individual letters to create new words while rereading each word aloud. Students also analyze the role of the final silent e in causing the letter c to stand for the sound /s/, providing repeated exposure to the target phonics pattern across related word sets. Students additionally engage in encoding practice using the Spelling Routine to spell words such as mince, hence, chance, and trance. Students segment words into phonemes, match phonemes to graphemes, apply spelling generalizations related to soft c, and reread words to confirm accuracy. The materials also include scaffolded supports, such as lines, counters, or Elkonin boxes, to reinforce segmentation during guided spelling practice.

  • In Unit 6, Week 30, Day 2, Phonics and Fluency, materials provide extended opportunities for students to practice multisyllabic phonics patterns involving vowels ea and ia. During the “We Do” portion of the lesson, students repeatedly apply the Multisyllabic Reading Routine to read words such as create, idea, diagram, and librarian. Students identify vowel patterns, split words into syllables, blend syllables, and reread words to confirm meaning, providing multiple opportunities to apply the same phonics patterns across increasingly complex multisyllabic words. Students independently construct words on whiteboards or Spell Tile boards before decoding them, reinforcing active application of the routine rather than teacher-only modeling. Students also engage in encoding practice using the Multisyllabic Spelling Routine to spell words such as giant, piano, trial, and trivia. Students segment words into syllables, match phonemes to graphemes, spell individual syllables, and reread words to check accuracy.

• Materials contain distributed, cumulative, and intervleaved opportunities for students to practice and review all previously learned grade-level phonics. 

  • In Unit 1, Week 5, Day 5, Phonics and Fluency, materials provide cumulative and interleaved opportunities for students to review previously taught phonics patterns, including glued sounds -ng and -nk and closed syllable exceptions. During the review lesson, students revisit pattern words such as nothing, everything, and something and apply this knowledge through partner activities that integrate reading and spelling tasks. In the “I Read, You Spell” activity, students alternate between decoding and encoding words, Red Words, and sentences, reinforcing multiple phonics skills within the same task. Students apply these patterns in sentence-level practice, including sentences such as He bolted back to back to the tents before he stank like a skunk and Dad used tongs to grill the hot dogs and it smelled so good. Additional practice occurs through a Sound Story, where students listen for and identify words with target patterns in connected text, including words such as camping, tongs, skunk, stank, and nothing.

  • In Unit 3, Week 14, Day 5, Phonics and Fluency, students engage in cumulative review of long vowel teams for long o and long i, applying previously learned patterns through similar partner activities. Students read and spell words such as boat, coast, row, float, pie, light, and high, and apply these patterns in sentences such as How far will she float by the coast? and She rowed with all her might. Students further reinforce learning by identifying patterns within a Sound Story, applying phonics knowledge in connected text.

The phonics instruction in Bridge to Reading partially meets the expectations for Indicator 1j. Materials provide systematic and explicit teacher modeling of newly taught phonics patterns through consistent blending, segmenting, spelling, and multisyllabic reading routines. Daily lessons guide the teacher to model sound-by-sound analysis, phoneme-grapheme correspondence, syllable division, and encoding routines before students practice the same routines independently or with support. Materials also include structured dictation activities aligned to taught phonics patterns through word and sentence-level spelling practice. However, teacher guidance for corrective feedback is often limited to brief prompts and scaffolds rather than explicit corrective routines that support the teacher  in identifying student misconceptions and providing instructional next steps toward mastery.

Note: This indicator is analyzed at the lesson level to examine the instructional progression within and across lessons. Repeated references to a single week or lesson reflect the structured sequence of explicit instruction and guided practice, which is representative of how the materials support this skill throughout the year. 

• Materials contain explicit instructions for systematic and repeated teacher modeling of newly taught phonics patterns. 

  • In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 3, Phonics, the materials provide explicit instructions for teacher modeling of the phonics concept of reading multisyllabic words with consonant blends. The teacher tells the students that they will use the Multisyllabic Reading Routine to read these words. The teacher begins with the word pumpkin on the board. The teacher models encountering an issue: “When I try to split this word, I notice there are three consonants in a row! Even though this word has more consonants between the vowels, we still follow the routine to read it.” The teacher asks a volunteer to label the vowels in the word. Then, the teacher asks the students if any of the consonants that separate the vowels make a blend. Once the students have identified that -mp makes a blend, the teacher instructs that those letters stay together so they “should split the word after the blend.” The teacher now models that there are two closed syllables in the word and those usually have a short vowel sound, so they can blend the syllables together. The teacher continues modeling with Blending Lines found in the READ Book with words such as shuffle, insect, dolphin, and mattress. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 26, Day 1, Phonics, the materials provide explicit instructions for teacher modeling of the phonics concept of reviewing all of the sounds the letter y makes. The teacher begins by displaying the Sound Spelling Card /ē/. The teacher reminds students that they learned that the letter y has many jobs and it can be a consonant or a vowel. The teacher reviews some of the sounds of y that they already know before stating that “most of the time when we hear the sound /ē/ at the end of a word, it will be spelled with the vowel y, but sometimes we will see it spelled ey. That is why we need to think and be flexible when we read and spell.” The teacher then tells students that they will practice with words that have the /ē/ sound at the end of the word spelled with y or ey. The materials provide a teacher note that the ey spelling follows /k/, /n/, /l/, or /r/ sounds. 

• Lessons include blending and segmenting practice using structured, consistent blending routines with teacher modeling. 

  • In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 2, Phonics, the lesson includes blending practice with structured routines and teacher modeling of word chaining. The teacher guides students through using Word Construction Cards and Spell Tiles to chain words with consonant blends. The teacher begins by constructing the word past and guiding the students to use their Spell Tiles to construct the word. The teacher and students use the Reading Routine to say the sounds and slowly blend the sounds together. The teacher then prompts the students to change letters to spell a new word. The teacher asks the students to change “the letter p to the letter c. What word do we have now?” The students respond with the new word cast. This process continues for the words camp, limp, lift, and milk. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 26, Day 2, Phonics, the lesson includes segmenting practice with structured routines and teacher modeling of words. The teacher guides students through using the Multisyllabic Spelling Routine. The teacher begins with the word tiny and models using the routine. The teacher first says the word. Then the teacher splits the word into its syllables and says, “I know the first syllable is spelled t-i. I’m not sure how to spell the second syllable, so I will match a letter to each sound I hear. In the second syllable, I hear the sounds /n/ and /ē/. I know this sounds like the word knee with a silent letter, but that doesn’t look right, so I will try n and y instead.” The teacher then spells the word completely, reads it, and checks their work. The teacher models the use of this routine with the word daisy. 

• Lessons include dictation of words and sentences using the newly taught phonics pattern(s). 

  • In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 5, Phonics, Partner Activity: “I Read, You Spell,” the lesson includes an activity where students take turns reading and spelling words and sentences with consonant blends. The teacher uses Activity 4 from the Teacher Resource Book and distributes words and sentences in slips of paper to pairs of students. The teacher has partners face each other. While one partner reads a word, the other partner spells that word. Then, the partners switch with a new word. The partners continue to alternate through the distributed words and sentences. Sample words and sentences from this activity include: grape, drum, straw, second, and Mitch played the drum and Beth played the trumpet. 

  • In Unit 5, Week 26, Day 3, Phonics, Sort and Spell, the lesson includes an activity where students sort and spell words based on whether or not the y in the word is acting as a suffix. The teacher draws two columns on the board. The first column is labeled with “-y” to indicate when the letter y acts as a suffix and adds meaning to a word, and the second column is labeled “y” for words where the letter y does not act as a suffix. The teacher begins with the word fluffy. The teacher asks the students to say the word fluffy and models by saying, “I hear the word fluff and the suffix -y.” The teacher follows the Multisyllabic Spelling Routine to identify syllables and match letters to sounds before checking their work and putting the word in the appropriate column. The teacher models with another word and a sentence. Finally, students work in pairs to spell and sort the words smelly, lucky, puppy, lobby, monkey, and snowy, as well as the following sentence: The weatherman said it would be a rainy day, but it was sunny!

• Materials include limited teacher guidance for corrective feedback when needed for students. 

  • In Unit 1, Week 4, Day 2, Phonics, the materials include teacher guidance for corrective feedback. If a student is able to say the sounds in a word correctly but does not blend them correctly, the materials guide the teacher to “support children in sequencing and remembering sounds by use of continuous blending: /mmmooop/, mop or successive blending: /s-t/…/st/…/sto/…/stop/…stop.” 

  • In Unit 5, Week 26, Day 1, Phonics, Corrective Feedback, the materials state, if a student needs support when reading words that end in ey, the materials guide the teacher to “remind students that ey is also a vowel team that stands for the sound /ē/.” 

    Materials include teacher guidance for corrective feedback during phonics instruction; however, the guidance is often limited to brief prompts, scaffolds, or behavioral reminders rather than explicit corrective routines that support the teacher in identifying student misconceptions and providing instructional next steps toward mastery.

The instruction and practice of spelling rules and generalizations in Bridge to Reading partially meet the expectations for Indicator 1l. Materials provide explicit instruction in spelling rules and generalizations aligned to the phonics scope and sequence and include structured opportunities for guided and independent practice. However, multiple advanced spelling patterns are introduced across consecutive instructional weeks with limited extended independent application before additional patterns are introduced. Some less frequent spelling patterns are also addressed through targeted exposure rather than explicit instruction in the broader generalization.

• Spelling rules and generalizations are aligned to the phonics scope and sequence. 

  • In Unit 2, Week 10, Day 2, Phonics and Fluency, the teacher provides spelling rules and generalizations aligned to the phonics scope and sequence. The teacher begins by reminding students that in the previous lesson, they worked with inflectional endings that changed the spelling of a base word. The teacher then introduces that in this lesson, they will work with words that end with the letter y. The teacher states that, “if the word ends in a vowel and then the letter y, you can just add the inflectional ending -s, like in the word boys or keys. However, if the word ends in a consonant followed by the letter y, then you may need to…change the y to i and add the inflectional ending to the end of the word.” The teacher says this change would also apply to the inflectional ending -ed. However, for the inflectional ending -ing, there is no need to change the y if the letter before the y is a consonant. The teacher then displays several word sums to explain these generalizations:

    • fry + ies → fries

    • fry + ied → fried

    • fry + ing → frying 

  • In Unit 3, Week 13 , Day 2, Phonics and Fluency, the teacher provides spelling rules and generalizations aligned to the phonics scope and sequence. The teacher begins by reminding students that in the previous lesson, they worked with the vowel teams ai and ay that produce the long /ā/ sound. The teacher then says that, “the vowel teams ea, ei, eigh, and ey can also stand for the long vowel sound /ā/, but they are less common than the two we learned yesterday. Sometimes they can be less reliable too, which means we can’t always trust them to do the same thing every time.” The teacher then tells students that if they aren’t sure how to spell a word, they will start with their most common spellings first. If those common spellings do not look correct, they will try the less common spellings. Before modeling how to use these less common vowel teams, the teacher says, “the vowel teams ea and ei are less common spellings for the middle of the word, while the vowel team ey is a less common spelling for the end of a word.”

• Materials include explanations for spelling of specific words or spelling rules. 

  • In Unit 4, Week 19, Day 1, Phonics and Fluency, the materials include explanations for the spelling of the word could with the unique -oul pattern. Using Word Construction Cards, the Digital Blending Board, or a classroom whiteboard, the teacher begins the activity by modeling how to spell the word could. The teacher reminds the students of the Spelling Routine and begins the routine by stating, “I will say the word, say each sound, then match each sound to a letter or letters.” The teacher has the option to model drawing lines for each sound if students need additional support with encoding. The teacher asks the students to “listen to each sound in the word could: /k/ /ŏŏ/ /d/. I hear three sounds.” The teacher then matches each sound to the letter and when the teacher comes to the second sound /ŏŏ/, they state, “remember that when ou stands for the sound /ŏŏ/, an l usually follows the complex vowel.” The teacher then models how to check the work. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 28, Day 1, Phonics and Fluency, the materials include explanations for the spelling of the words peacefulness and beautifully with suffixes. The teacher begins by modeling the Multisyllabic Spelling Routine. First, the teacher describes the structure of the word peacefulness by saying, “I hear the base word peace followed by two suffixes. The suffix -ful comes first, and the suffix -ness comes next.” The teacher provides definitions of what the suffixes mean before stating, “I will write the base word first, then add -ful, and finally add -ness.” The teacher models checking their work. The teacher repeats the procedure with the word beautifully. The materials guide the teacher to “point out how the y changes to i before adding the suffix -ly.”

• Students have sufficient opportunities to practice spelling rules and generalizations, though opportunities for extended independent application of newly taught spelling patterns are sometimes limited.  

  • In Unit 4, Week 18 , Day 2, Phonics and Fluency, students have an opportunity to practice spelling the phonics pattern of the vowel teams aw and au representing the /aw/ sound. Using Word Construction Cards, the Digital Blending Board, or a classroom whiteboard and Spell Tiles, the teacher leads the activity by guiding students to spell the word haul. The teacher asks the students what sounds they hear in the word haul. The teacher guides the students to use their Spell Tiles to match each part to the letter(s) that stand for it. When the teacher asks, “What letters stand for the sound /aw/?”, the students have two possible options. The teacher is directed to begin with the aw vowel team before saying, “that doesn’t look right. Is there another way to spell this sound?” Students then produce the correct au vowel team while the teacher guides the students to read the word again and check their spelling. This process repeats for the words fawn, flaunt, and squawk. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 33, Day 2, Phonics and Fluency, students have an opportunity to practice spelling the phonics pattern of words that end in -ture or -sure. Students use either their Spell Tiles or Syllable Boards to spell the words. The teacher begins with the word mixture and guides students through the Multisyllabic Spelling Routine. First, students say the word. Next, they split the words into syllables by counting the syllables they hear. Then, they spell each syllable. The teacher reminds the students that “if you already know how to spell the whole syllable, write the letters. If you are unsure, match a letter to each sound you hear.” Next, the students read the whole word and check their spelling. The process repeats with the words measure and furniture. 

  • In Unit 3, Weeks 13–17, students practice multiple vowel team and r-controlled spelling patterns across consecutive instructional weeks. 

    • In Week 13, students learn long a vowel teams ai, ay, ei, ey, and ea. In Week 14, students learn long o vowel teams oa, oe, and ow as well as long i vowel teams ie and igh. In Week 15, students learn long e vowel teams ee, ea, ey, and ie as well as long u vowel teams ue and ui. In Week 16, students apply r-controlled spelling variations for /er/, /ar/, and /or/ and learn ea representing the short e sound. In Week 17, students learn additional r-controlled spelling variations for /eer/ and /air/. Lessons include guided spelling and application routines; however, multiple advanced vowel and spelling patterns are introduced across consecutive instructional weeks with limited extended independent application of individual spelling patterns before additional patterns are introduced.

    • In Unit 2, Week 9, Day 4, the materials provide students with targeted exposure to y representing the short /ĭ/ sound through the word gym during instruction and practice with the homophones Jim and gym. The materials address the spelling of gym within this context; however, they do not explicitly teach the broader spelling generalization that y can represent the short /ĭ/ sound. 

      • Later, in Unit 5, Week 26, lessons explicitly address y as a consonant and y representing long /ē/ and long /ī/ in multisyllabic words.

    Materials provide guided and independent opportunities for students to practice spelling rules and generalizations through spelling routines, multisyllabic spelling routines, sentence dictation, and word-level application activities. However, multiple advanced vowel and spelling patterns are introduced across consecutive instructional weeks with limited extended independent application of individual spelling patterns before additional patterns are introduced. Some less frequent spelling patterns, such as y representing short /ĭ/, are addressed through targeted exposure rather than explicit instruction in the broader generalization.

The decodable texts and instructional routines in Bridge to Reading partially meet the expectations for Indicator 1m. Decodable texts align to taught phonics patterns and provide opportunities for students to apply phonics and word analysis skills in connected text through READ Books and differentiated Heggerty Library resources. Students apply newly taught and previously learned patterns as texts increase in complexity and incorporate more advanced phonics, morphology, and multisyllabic word structures. Lessons also provide opportunities for rereading through multiple reading formats. However, plans for repeated readings of decodable texts provide limited guidance for systematically using rereading to reinforce accuracy, automaticity, and confidence.

Note: This indicator is analyzed at the lesson level to examine the instructional progression within and across lessons. Repeated references to a single week or lesson reflect the structured sequence of explicit instruction and guided practice, which is representative of how the materials support this skill throughout the year.

• Decodable texts reflect grade-level phonics patterns aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

  • In Unit 1, Week 1, Day 4, Phonics and Fluency, READ Book, students read the READ Book passage Rob and Pim Move In, aligned to the phonics focus of contractions with have, am, and not. The connected text includes contractions such as doesn’t and wouldn’t, requiring students to apply the weekly phonics focus while reading connected text. The passage also incorporates previously taught phonics patterns and high-frequency words within phonetically controlled sentences, supporting application of taught sound-spelling patterns in context.

    • According to the Scope and Sequence and Heggerty Library resources, in Unit 1, Week 1, students read the decodable text The Bat Box, which the Scope and Sequence identifies as aligned to the weekly phonics focus of short vowels and closed syllables. Students practice decoding and rereading words such as look, looked, looking, pass, passed, passing, fix, fixed, fixing, go, and going, applying knowledge of inflectional endings within connected text. Sentence-level practice includes “We asked if we could make boxes that looked like homes for bats” and “Now bats are living in the boxes we made!”, requiring students to apply these phonics patterns while reading connected text. 

  • In Unit 6, Week 34, Day 4, Phonics and Fluency, READ Book, students read the READ Book passage The Highest Mountains, aligned to the phonics focus of reviewing weekly concepts through reading and writing multisyllabic words. During the lesson, students “Find and Write” words with learned spelling patterns before applying these patterns while reading connected text. The passage includes multisyllabic words such as traveler, important, countless, passport, disappointment, and adventures, requiring students to apply previously taught spelling patterns and multisyllabic word reading skills while decoding connected text. Sentence-level reading includes “I believe it’s important to spend time with family” and “Not unless I’m unlucky enough to misplace my passport,” supporting application of learned phonics patterns within increasingly complex connected text.

    According to the Teacher Resource Book, Heggerty Library Overview, the Heggerty Library provides differentiated connected-text practice that may reinforce previously taught patterns, practice weekly skills, or preview upcoming concepts based on student need.

• Lessons include limited detailed plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to reinforce accuracy, automaticity, and confidence. 

  • According to the Scope and Sequence and Heggerty Library resources, in Unit 1, Week 1, students read the decodable text The Bat Box and engage in rereading of words, sentences, and connected text. Students read blending lines with words such as look, looked, looking, pass, and passed, first by touching and saying each sound and then rereading the same words “with fluency, without touching and saying each sound.” Students reread sentences including “We asked if we could make boxes that looked like homes for bats” and “Now bats are living in the boxes we made!” and are directed to “continue to read the words and sentences fluently until everyone in our group is done.” During reading of the decodable text, the lesson provides teacher choice for rereading through “Echo read, Choral read, Partner read, [or] Independent read.” Teacher guidance beyond these rereading formats is limited to “Listen in as students read and write down your observations below.”

  • According to the Scope and Sequence and Heggerty Library resources, in Unit 6, Week 34, students read the decodable text Hendrix Starts a Band and engage in rereading of words and connected text. Students segment and read compound words such as sailboat, backstage, and countdown by identifying syllables and sounds before blending the full word. Students also reread contractions and words with silent letters such as we’re, I’m, it’s, know, and wrap while applying encoding and decoding routines. During reading of the decodable text, the lesson provides teacher choice for rereading through “Echo read, Choral read, Partner read, [or] Independent read.” Teacher guidance beyond these rereading formats is limited to “Listen in as students read and write down your observations below.”

    Materials provide connected-text opportunities aligned to phonics instruction through the READ Books and differentiated Heggerty Library resources. However, plans for repeated readings of decodable texts provide limited guidance for systematically using rereading to reinforce accuracy, automaticity, and confidence.

• Reading practice occurs in decodable texts aligned to the taught phonics patterns and reflects an absence of predictable texts. Use of decodable texts decreases over time as students demonstrate decoding proficiency and transition into increasingly complex texts. 

  • According to the Scope and Sequence and Heggerty Library resources, in Unit 1, Week 1, students read the decodable text The Bat Box, which reflects controlled, decodable language aligned to taught phonics patterns. The text includes single-syllable and inflected forms of words with endings -s and -ed, requiring students to apply decoding skills across base words and derived forms rather than relying on predictable text structures. Practice includes word-level, sentence-level, and connected text reading.

  • According to the Scope and Sequence and Heggerty Library resources, in Unit 6, Week 34, Phonics and Fluency, students read the decodable text Hendrix Starts a Band, which reflects controlled, decodable language aligned to taught phonics and word analysis patterns. The text includes multisyllabic words, compound words, contractions, and words with silent letters, requiring students to apply decoding skills across increasingly complex word structures rather than relying on predictable text structures. Practice includes word-level, sentence-level, and connected text reading. Compared to earlier units, the text reflects an expanded range of phonics and word analysis patterns, including morphology and multisyllabic word structures.

    • The Heggerty Library includes library selections for intermediate readers for students beginning to transition from decoding into more complex texts, while still practicing complex phonics skills. For example, Conversations with Gracie includes longer passages/lines per page with higher level vocabulary. Sentences are longer in complexity and span over multiple lines.

    Decodable texts are used consistently across units to provide opportunities for students to apply phonics knowledge in connected text as the range and complexity of patterns increase from Units 1-6.

The phonics assessment opportunities in Bridge to Reading partially meet the expectations for Indicator 1n. Materials regularly and systematically assess students’ mastery of taught phonics skills through beginning-of-year, middle-of-year, and end-of-year summative phonics assessments, unit assessments, Exit Tickets, and Week Check-Ins administered across the year. Assessment materials provide teachers with guidance for administration, scoring tools, proficiency thresholds, and structured methods for recording and analyzing student performance in decoding and encoding phonics skills. Materials also include instructional guidance and analysis tools to support assessment-based instructional next steps during benchmark and unit assessments. However, more frequent formative assessments provide less structured information about students’ phonics understanding and include limited instructional follow-up guidance tied to student performance.

• Materials regularly and systematically provide a variety of assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence in phonics. 

  • According to Assessments, Phonics Benchmarks, the Bridge to Reading benchmark assessments of phonics skills are designed to be administered three times per year in Grade 2. These assessments occur at the beginning of the year (BOY), the middle of the year (MOY), and at the end of the year (EOY). These assessments also include a whole-class component, which includes decoding and encoding assessments, and an individual component, which includes a decoding assessment. 

    • For example, in the BOY Phonics Assessment, the teacher asks the students to read 24 words. This assessment is administered individually. The teacher begins the assessment by telling that student that the teacher will show the student a list of words. The student will use what they have “learned about letters, sounds, and spelling patterns to read the words that you see.” The teacher also informs the students that some words might “be tricky because we haven’t learned all of the letter patterns yet” but that the purpose of the assessment is to help the teacher “figure out what to teach you next.”  The teacher then points to the word date on the student’s list of words. The teacher says, “I can read this word right away, or I can touch and say each sound if it will help me read the word: /d/-/ā/-/t/. Then, I will blend the sounds together to read the word.” The student then has a practice opportunity with the word sharp. The assessment continues with words such as hatch, germ, scream, launch, voice, and rainstorm.

  • In the Unit 6 Assessment, the materials provide an assessment opportunity for students to demonstrate their progress toward mastery in decoding and encoding words with relevant phonics patterns, as well as high-frequency words, irregular words and sentences. The assessment has two parts. The first part is a whole-group, paper-based assessment that includes both decoding and encoding opportunities. The second part is an individual word reading assessment. For example, in the encoding part of the whole group, paper-based assessment, the teacher begins by saying, “I will say a word, use it in a sentence, and then say the word again. You will spell only the word as best as you can, using everything you know about letters, sounds and spelling patterns” The teacher begins by using the word illness to model first segmenting the word into syllables, then writing the letters that stand for each sound in each syllable, and finally blending the sounds to check their spelling. The teacher then continues the assessment with the words carefully, wellness, addition, capture, action, and picture. The teacher then has the students write a sentence such as: Division mistakes are a common frustration. 

  • In Unit 2, Week 7, Day 2, students complete Exit Ticket 7: VCe Words with Long Vowels and Red Words to demonstrate progress toward phonics skill development. The assessment requires students to spell words such as made, eve, tune, and type, applying recently taught VCe phonics patterns with long vowels a, e, i, o, and u. Exit Tickets are embedded within Day 2 lessons across weekly units, providing regular and systematic opportunities for students to demonstrate phonics progress over the course of the year.

  • In Unit 4, Week 22, Day 5, students complete the Week 22 Check-In to demonstrate phonics skill development through reading and writing tasks. Students read sets of words and identify target words such as oldest, together, and dancer. Students then spell dictated words including own, sticker, calmest, and closer and write the dictated sentence “Our family went to the bigger park to play on the tallest slide.” The assessment includes opportunities for students to apply phonics and multisyllabic word reading knowledge in isolated word reading, spelling, and sentence-level writing. Week Check-Ins are embedded within Day 5 lessons across weekly units, providing regular and systematic opportunities for students to demonstrate phonics progress over the course of the year.

    The materials provide assessment opportunities in phonics through BOY, MOY and EOY phonics benchmark assessments, unit assessments in Units 1 through 6, and weekly checks that are inclusive of phonics skills beginning in Unit 1, Week 1.

• Assessment materials provide teachers and students with some information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. 

  • According to the MOY Phonics Assessment, teachers can record an individual student’s results on a Student Tracking Sheet. For example, in the tracking sheet for the Decoding Assessment, the teacher can mark which words a student read correctly and which patterns that word follows. For example, the teacher can note if a student read the word slide correctly and see how well a student is developing in their ability to spell words with the CVCe pattern or consonant blends. 

  • According to the Individual Student Assessment Report on the digital platform, teachers can determine how a student is progressing towards mastery in phonics with each benchmark assessment. For example, the benchmark assessments test students on the following patterns: VC/CVC, CVCe, r-Controlled Vowels, Vowel Teams, Complex Vowels, Diphthongs, and Multisyllabic words. The results of a student’s performance on the benchmark can then be categorized as at the Beginning Threshold, Developing Threshold, and Proficient Threshold for each pattern. For example, on the MOY Phonics Assessment, a student is considered at the Beginning Threshold for the CVCe pattern if they score 60% or less on those items. A student is considered at the Proficient Threshold for the multisyllabic pattern if they score 80% and above on those items. 

  • According to the Unit 3 Assessment, teachers can record an individual student’s results on the Assessment Scoring Guide. For example, in the scoring guide for the whole group, paper-based assessment, the teacher can mark which words a student spelled correctly and make any notes about the student’s performance. A student is considered at the beginning level if they score at or below 60% on the Unit 3 assessment. A student is at the developing level if they score between 61% and 79% on this assessment, and they are considered at the proficient level if they score 80% and above.  

    Assessment guidance described for the Unit 3 Assessment is similarly provided across Unit 1–6 Assessments and the BOY, MOY, and EOY Phonics Assessments. Benchmark and unit assessments include guidance to support teachers in identifying students’ phonics strengths and needs. However, more frequent formative assessments, such as Exit Tickets and Week Check-Ins, provide less structured information about students’ current phonics understanding.

• Materials support teachers with some instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in phonics. 

  • According to the Assessment Analysis Guidance Sheet for the EOY Phonics Assessment, the materials say that students “who have not demonstrated proficiency with encoding words containing previously taught concepts…will benefit from continued instruction to support mastery. The following table shares information on areas that may need continued support. Teachers should analyze errors to identify what skills to reinforce.” For example, if students are demonstrating an encoding error where they are making omissions or additions when spelling (such as spelling yk for the word yuck), the teacher should engage in further instruction such as using Elkonin boxes with letters or spelling with manipulatives to reinforce sound-symbol correspondences. 

  • In the Unit 1 Assessment, Word Analysis: Part 2, the materials guide teachers to identify the key phonics patterns within words used on the assessment so that they can better target future instruction for specific students. For example, in the individual word reading assessment, the Word Analysis Table highlights that the word whisking includes a short vowel sound /ĭ/, a digraph wh-, a final blend -sk, and an inflectional ending -ing. If a student missed that item, the teacher could use the Word Analysis Table to determine what element was challenging for a student and plan additional instructional steps based on that information.

    Instructional guidance described for the Unit 1 Assessment is similarly provided across Unit 1–6 Assessments and the BOY, MOY, and EOY Phonics Assessments. Benchmark and unit assessments include guidance to support instructional next steps based on student performance. However, more frequent formative assessments, such as Exit Tickets and Week Check-Ins, include limited instructional follow-up guidance tied to student results.

The assessment opportunities for word recognition and analysis in Bridge to Reading partially meet the expectations for Indicator 1r. Materials provide regular assessment opportunities throughout the year that measure students’ progress in word recognition and word analysis. Assessment materials include scoring guides, proficiency thresholds, Word Analysis Tables, and observation tools that provide information about students’ current performance and support analysis of assessment results. However, instructional guidance connected to assessment results primarily focuses on phonics, decoding, and encoding errors. Materials provide limited guidance for using assessment results to plan instructional next steps related to word recognition and word analysis.

• Materials regularly and systematically provide assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition. 

  • In Unit 3, Week 15, Weekly Check, the materials provide an assessment opportunity for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence in word recognition. In the Read Words portion of the assessment, students independently read groups of words and identify the target word named by the teacher. 

    • For example, students read peece, piece, and peas before circling piece; cheap, sheep, and chepe before circling cheap; and suit, shoot, and suet before circling suit. Student responses provide information about their ability to accurately recognize and distinguish printed words, including words containing previously taught spelling patterns.

  • In the Unit 3 Assessment, the materials provide assessment opportunities for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence in word recognition. 

    • In Part 1, the whole-group, paper-based assessment, students read groups of three words and identify the target word named by the teacher. For example, students read harm, hard, and heard before selecting the word harm. The decoding portion includes five pattern-word items and two Red Word items. Students also complete an encoding task that includes previously taught Red Words, such as follow and able, and sentence dictation containing pattern words and Red Words. For example, students write the sentences, "Do you care if I share a different word chart?" and, "The crow was flying against the warm air." In Part 2, the individual word-reading assessment, students independently read words to demonstrate word-recognition proficiency. The assessment includes pattern words as well as previously taught Red Words, including during, great, year, and earth. Student responses provide information about their ability to accurately recognize and distinguish previously taught words, including irregular high-frequency words.

    • In Word Analysis: Part 1, the Word Analysis Table identifies specific word-analysis features assessed within the assessment, including long vowels, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, r-controlled vowel variations, blends, digraphs and trigraphs, w-influenced vowels, and inflectional endings. 

      • For example, harm is identified as assessing r-controlled vowels, toast as assessing vowel teams and blends, learn as assessing r-controlled vowel variations, world and water as assessing w-influenced vowels, and flying as assessing a long vowel, blends, and an inflectional ending. 

      • In Part 2, the individual word-reading assessment, students are directed to apply previously taught word-reading strategies when reading words independently. Teacher modeling demonstrates how to read words by identifying and blending sounds in words such as spark and stain. Student performance provides information about their ability to apply taught word-analysis skills when reading words containing previously taught spelling patterns and word features.

• Assessment materials provide the teacher and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition. 

  • In the Unit 3, Part 1: Whole Group Paper-Based Assessment Scoring Guide, the materials provide the teacher and students with information concerning students’ current skills in word recognition. The Scoring Guide provides space for the teacher to record each student’s accuracy in identifying the correct word among several options, including previously taught Red Words. The teacher can mark whether a student identified each word correctly and record observations about performance. A student would be considered at the beginning proficiency level if they scored at or below 60% for this portion of the assessment. A student would be considered at the developing proficiency level if they scored between 61% and 79%. A student would be considered proficient if they scored at or above 80%.

    • The Word Analysis: Part 1 table provides additional information about students’ performance on specific word-recognition and word-analysis features. For example, the table identifies words that assess long vowels, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, r-controlled vowel variations, w-influenced vowels, and inflectional endings. The table also identifies previously taught Red Words, including world, water, follow, able, different, and against. Teacher guidance directs the teacher to score the assessment, identify frequently occurring errors, locate the assessed features associated with each item, and plan additional instruction and practice accordingly. The table includes space for recording observations, patterns noted, and instructional next steps.

    • The Word Analysis: Part 2 table provides additional information about students’ performance in the individual word-reading assessment. The table identifies words that assess r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, r-controlled vowel variations, variable spellings, blends, digraphs and trigraphs, and soft c and g. The assessment also includes previously taught Red Words, including during, great, year, and earth. Teacher guidance directs teachers to analyze student performance on specific word features, identify patterns of need, and record observations and instructional next steps based on assessment results.

• Materials support the teacher with limited instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students progress toward mastery in word recognition. 

  • In the Unit 3 Assessment, the materials provide limited instructional suggestions for assessment-based next steps related to word recognition and word analysis. The accompanying Instructional Guidance Sheets direct the teacher to analyze student errors and identify skills requiring additional instruction and practice. 

    • For example, the materials provide suggested activities for letter/sound errors, vowel sound errors, omissions and additions, schwa errors, phoneme-grapheme mapping, syllable division, and syllable or spelling rule confusion. Students demonstrating omissions, additions, or guessing are directed to reinforce syllable division rules, identify syllables, and blend phonemes within syllables to decode multisyllabic words. However, the instructional guidance primarily focuses on phonics, decoding, and encoding errors. 

    Materials provide limited guidance for using assessment results to plan instructional next steps specifically related to word recognition or the word-analysis features assessed in the Unit 3 Assessment, including Red Words, r-controlled vowel variations, w-influenced vowels, inflectional endings, and soft c and g.

The assessment materials for oral reading fluency in Bridge to Reading partially meet the expectations for Indicator 1u. Materials provide systematic oral reading fluency assessments across the year that measure rate, accuracy, and prosody and provide teachers with information about students’ current fluency performance. Materials provide some instructional guidance for responding to assessment results and determining instructional adjustments to support students’ progress toward mastery in oral reading fluency.

• Assessment opportunities are provided regularly and systematically over the course of the year for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence of oral reading fluency. 

  • According to the Assessments, Fluency Checks, Oral Reading Fluency Assessments, materials include multiple, systematic assessment opportunities administered three times per year, Fall, Winter, and Spring, to measure student progress in oral reading fluency. These benchmark windows are scheduled for Weeks 9–10, Weeks 20–21, and Weeks 30–31. During each administration, students read a grade-level passage aloud for one minute while the teacher times the reading and records performance. The teacher follows a consistent procedure, beginning timing at the first word read and stopping at one minute, marking the exact stopping point and calculating Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM).

    • For example, in the Fall Oral Reading Fluency Assessment for Grade 2, students are given a passage such as The Lost Lunchbox and are instructed, “You are going to read a story aloud. Do your best to read all of the words. If you get stuck, I will wait a few seconds and then help you. I will tell you when to stop reading aloud.” The teacher follows along on an administrator copy of the passage, which includes numbered word counts embedded throughout the text (for example, word counts marked at intervals such as 11, 25, 38, and continuing through the end of the passage). As the student reads, the teacher tracks errors and fluency behaviors and stops the student at one minute to record the number of words read correctly. 

• Assessment materials provide the teacher and students with information about students’ current skills/level of understanding of oral reading fluency. 

  • According to the Assessments, Fluency Checks, Oral Reading Fluency Assessments, materials provide detailed and specific information about students’ fluency skills through multiple measures, including accuracy, rate, and prosody. The teacher records errors in real time using a defined marking system that includes misread or substituted words, omitted words, inserted words, and hesitations longer than three seconds. After the reading, the teacher calculates WCPM using the formula total words read minus errors and record this alongside qualitative observations of prosody, including expression, phrasing, and pacing.

    • The materials include a detailed fluency rubric that categorizes student performance as beginning, developing, or proficient across multiple dimensions. For accuracy, students are described as beginning if they read 70 percent or fewer words correctly, developing at 70–89 percent accuracy, and proficient at 90 percent or higher accuracy. For rate, WCPM benchmarks are provided by grade and time of year. For Grade 2, students are expected to read 0–35 WCPM in the fall at the beginning level, 36–49 WCPM at the developing level, and 50 or more WCPM at the proficient level. In winter.  increase to 0–58 WCPM for beginning, 59–83 WCPM for developing, and 84 or more WCPM for proficient. By spring, expectations increase further to 0–71 WCPM for beginning, 72–99 WCPM for developing, and 100 or more WCPM for proficient.

    • The rubric also measures prosody through two dimensions: volume and stress, and phrasing and expression. Students are described as beginning if they read too quietly or loudly and apply equal or incorrect stress, or if their reading is monotone with little phrasing. Developing readers demonstrate some appropriate phrasing and expression, while proficient readers consistently use appropriate volume, stress, phrasing, and expression that matches the tone and punctuation of the text. The teacher also records observational data such as repeated words, skipped lines, or frequent self-corrections, providing a comprehensive snapshot of each student’s fluency development.

• Materials support the teacher with some instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in oral reading fluency. 

  • According to the Assessments, Fluency Checks, Oral Reading Fluency Assessments, after completing the assessment, the teacher is directed to analyze student performance data, including WCPM, accuracy, and prosody, and to identify students who may require additional support or further diagnostic assessment in areas such as phonemic awareness or decoding.

    • The materials include detailed instructional guidance organized by fluency component. For students struggling with accuracy, the teacher is guided to provide targeted phonemic awareness or phonics instruction, implement echo or choral reading, and reinforce high-frequency word recognition. 

    • For students needing support with rate, the teacher is directed to use repeated readings, model appropriate pacing, and provide structured sentence-level practice such as “sailboat sentences” before returning to passage reading. 

    • For prosody, including stress, volume, phrasing, and expression, the teacher is guided to model expressive reading, use strategies such as Reader’s Theater and character voice reading, and explicitly teach how punctuation affects tone and phrasing.

    • Additional strategies include using audio recordings for self-reflection, highlighting punctuation in texts, and providing repeated, supported reading opportunities. The materials also include descriptions and research-based guidance for instructional routines such as echo reading, choral reading, and repeated reading, explaining how each strategy supports fluency development.

    Materials provide some instructional guidance for responding to benchmark oral reading fluency assessment results and determining instructional adjustments based on students’ identified needs. However, the benchmark guidance provides general instructional strategies with limited specificity regarding next steps tied to individual assessment results.