2nd Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials contain full, adult-level explanations and examples of the foundational skills concepts included in the program so teachers can improve their own knowledge of the subject, as necessary.

The Teacher’s Guidebook summarizes what foundational skills concepts are included in the program. There are adult-level explanations of some foundational skills concepts in Step 6. However, explanations and examples of key phonics concepts are not included. Some definitions and explanations are limited in scope and do not provide enough information for teachers to understand the concept. Student examples are embedded in the teacher planners, but these are given in relation to how to present the skills to students. The explanations do not provide information to help teachers improve their own base of knowledge on the subject. Other concepts are illustrated with examples but do not have accompanying definitions.

Some detailed adult-level explanations are provided for each foundational skill taught at the grade level. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 211 - 215, the teacher writes three words in a visible place for students. The directions state the teacher should remind students that each syllable in a word is a unit that contains a vowel.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236-240, Mini-Lesson: End Marks, the teacher is provided definitions of when to use punctuation marks and the reasoning for each end mark. The reasoning includes using a period for a fact or opinion without much expression and using an exclamation point for lots of feeling or a louder voice.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Practice Page activity, the directions state the following rule: “When E is the only vowel, and it is OPEN (without a letter after it), it says long /ē/.”
• In the Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, Practice Pages Activities, “ight/y/ie” (long /ī/) - The planner states that the rule for long /ī/ is that it can be spelled out with “igh”, “y” or “ie”.

Some detailed examples of the grade level foundational skill concepts are provided for the teacher. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, the Whole Class Lesson says “Soft /C/ Introduction.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, in the mini lesson, it says that the teacher should label the buckets with long vowels, /a_e/, /i_e/, /o_e/, /u_e/, and /ue/.
• In the Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, “Homophone Hands” activity: “Chimp at the Market”, the teacher gives the example of homophones with the words “meets” and “meats”.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that foundational skills lessons are well-designed and take into account effective lesson structure and pacing. Content can reasonably be completed within a regular school year, and the pacing allows for maximum student understanding.

The scope and sequence includes mini-lessons, whole-class lessons, and center activities with suggested instructional time frames. This provides for teacher choice and flexibility within a five-day instructional sequence. Daily lessons are flexible and manageable for a variety of teacher schedules. However, the program lacks effective guidance for teachers in terms of pacing and delivering explicit lessons. Although time guidelines are provided for each activity, there is no indication of how lessons should be paced in order to cover all grade-level standards over the course of the school year. While materials provide lessons in five-day increments, there is no established number of lessons that would be completed in a school year, as students work at their own pace and begin work at their current level. Many of the lessons that include grade-level standards are included in center lessons and will not necessarily be completed by all students. It is not clear if students will complete enough lessons to master standards for the grade level, especially if a student starts with materials below grade level.

The lesson design structure includes both whole group and small group instruction. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Days 236-240, the Whole Class Lessons can be done in smaller groups to accommodate behaviors and capabilities.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Days 246-250, the Whole Class/Small Group lesson is “Fish Gets Clean”, “Short Story: Snakes in the Rain,” and “Syllable Dividing.”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4-5, Page 5-6, Scope and Sequence, Mini lessons, whole class lessons and centers/small group activities are listed.

The pacing of each component of daily lessons plans is partially clear and appropriate. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 216-220, Whole Class Lesson, the lesson is recommended to take 25-30 minutes.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, “Cloze Activity for /ar/”, the planner states that the time allotted for the activity should be 15-20 minutes.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, “Word to Picture Match” activity for /ow/ and /ou/, the time allotted for the activity is 15-20 minutes.

The suggested amount of time and expectations for maximum student understanding of all foundational skill content (i.e. phonics, irregularly spelled words, word analysis, fluency) can partially be completed in one school year and should not require modifications. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, is completed as review activities. There is one unit on open /e/ or long /e/, /ay/, and /ar/ sounds. Unit 2 is a review of Unit 1, with /or/, /er/, /ir/, /ur/, and /le/.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 3 is a review of /oo/ as long /u/ and /oo/ as short /u/ sounds.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 4 is “ow/oe” and “ow/ou” sounds.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 5 is “igh/y” sounds and “y” long /ē/ sounds, “oy/oi”, /ȯ/, and /al/ sounds.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 6 is “eu/eu” and silent letter review.
• In the Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 13, Unit 7 is a review of the skills prefixes, suffixes, soft /c/ and /g/, phonics chunks, and compound words.

For those materials on the borderline (e.g. approximately 130 days on the low end or 200 days on the high end), evidence does not clearly explain how students would be able to master ALL the grade level standards within one school year. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5 - Step 4 has eight weeks of Sneaky E work.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1-5 - Step 4 has eight weeks of vowel team work.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, there is one week of review for each focus of phonics.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that the Scope and Sequence clearly delineate an intentional sequence in which phonics skills are to be taught, with a clear explanation for the order of the sequence.

The Teacher’s Guidebook for Ready, Set, GO!” and Big Steps includes a scope and sequence for phonics skills. The materials delineate an intentional sequence of instruction for phonics skills. The program clearly delineates an intentional sequence of instruction for each step. Step 4 includes sneaky e, long vowels, and soft c. Step 5 includes vowel teams (ai, ee, ea, oa, ui) and long vowels. Step 6 includes long e, vowel-controlled r, silent letters, prefixes, and suffixes. However, the materials do not provide a clear, research-based rationale for why the phonics skills were chosen in that order.

Materials clearly delineate a Scope and Sequence with a cohesive, intentional sequence of phonics instruction and practice to build toward application of skills. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Ready, Set, GO!, Teacher’s Guidebook, there is a scope and sequence for Orange Planner, Sections 1–3. In Sections 1–3, this is the scope and sequence:
• Days 166–175: Long Vowel Sounds vs. Short Vowel Sounds Intro
• Days 176–215: Sneaky “e”
• Days 216–255: Vowel Teams
• In Big Steps, Teacher’s Guidebook, there is a scope and sequence for Step 6. The focus topics of Step 6 are:
• Open “e” = long e
• ay (long a)
• ar (The Pirate Sound)
• or, ore, our, oor, oar
• er, ir, ur
• -le
• oo long
• oo short
• ow/oe (long o)
• ow/ou (The Ouch Sound)
• -igh/-y (long i)
• “y” = long e
• oy/oi
• aw, au, al (short o)
• ew/ue (The Yucky Sound)
• Silent letters (wh, kn, wr)
• Silent letters (mb, gn, ch, sw, sc, gh)
• prefixes/suffixes
• Soft c/g
• 2+ phonics chunks and compound words

Materials have a clear research-based explanation for the order of the phonics sequence.

• No evidence found.

Phonics instruction is based in high utility patterns and/or common phonics generalizations. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186-190, the teacher explains, “Sneaky ‘e’ is VERY sneaky. It sneaks up on a word and whispers, ‘Say your name’ to the vowel, but you never hear its sound. It is silent!”
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 206-210, the teacher explains that c is soft and makes /s/ when followed by e, i, y.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 226-230, the teacher explains vowel teams as, “When 2 vowels go walking, the first 1 does the talking” and “When 2 vowels team up, they shout the first one’s name.”
• In Purple Planner, Step 6, ar Unit, the teacher explains The Rule for ar as “makes a sound like a pirate.”
• In Purple Planner, Step 6, ou, ow (the ouch) Unit, the teacher explains the The Rule for ow and ou “can say /ow/ like at the beginning of the word OUCH.”

Patterns and generalizations are carefully selected to provide a meaningful and manageable number of phonics patterns and common generalizations for students to learn deeply. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4, Scope and Sequence, Step 4 teaches long vowel words (Sneaky “e”) in an intentional sequence. Soft /c/ is also taught in this step. This phonics skill is taught and reviewed over an eight-week period.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence, Days 196–200, the scope and sequence has one week for instruction on /o_e/ and /oe/ patterned words.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence, Days 226–230, the scope and sequence allocates one week for /ee/ vowel teams instruction.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence Days 236–240, students learn and practice the vowel teams /ee/ and /ea/.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students learn and practice igh/-y.
• In Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students learn and practice silent letters such as wh, kn, wr, mb, gn, ch, sw, sc, gh.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials include decodable texts with high-frequency words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence.

Grade 2 materials contain a scope and sequence for instruction using decodable readers; however, the high-frequency words are not mentioned in the scope and sequence, and some of the decodable books have different high-frequency words than the words taught that week. Instruction of "Sticky Words" builds upon previous lessons, and “Sticky Words” are practiced in multiple books over the course in Steps 4-5. There is no evidence of instruction in Step 6. Students have opportunities to reread the decodable books, but these opportunities are not guaranteed to occur, as the books are reread primarily in optional centers or at home. There is no evidence that there is explicit instruction of all high-frequency words before students encounter them in text. The Scope and Sequence does not provide a list of "Sticky Words" that will be taught. Materials do not include detailed lesson plans for repeated readings to secure knowledge of high-frequency or irregularly spelled words.

Materials include decodable texts that utilize high-frequency/irregularly spelled words. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Orange Teacher Planner, Step 4, Book 4, students read the decodable book Dog and His Bone. The “Sticky Words” in the text are “you”, “my”, “the”, “for”, “to”, “are”, “good”, “he”, “was”, “they”, and “put”.
• Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the decodable book Pig at The Pool. The new “Sticky Word” is “your”, and the old "Sticky Words" in the text are “the”, “of”, “he”, “to”, “be”, “come”, “said”, “wants”, “we”, “does”, “do”, “are”, “puts”, and “you”.
• Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, Whole Class Lesson, students receive the decodable book Duck Bakes a Cake. The decodable book contains the new "Sticky Words" “again” and “wants” and contains previously introduced "Sticky Words" “to”, “for”, “he”, “the”, “puts”, and “likes.”
• Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the decodable book Fish’s New Jewel. The “Sticky Words” in the text are “how”, “her”, “was”, “again”, “could”, “does”, “says”, “want”, “to”, “when”, “there”, “my”, “be”, “for”, “have”, and “of”.

Decodable texts contain grade-level high-frequency/irregularly spelled words aligned to the program’s scope and sequence. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, students read the decodable book Ducks Bakes a Cake. The decodable book contains the “Sticky Words” “again”, “wants”, “to”, “for”, “he”, “the”, “puts”, and “likes”. The list is not mentioned in the Scope and Sequence.
• Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, students read the decodable book Frog has The Blues. The decodable book contains the “Sticky Words” “some”, “the”, “you”, “are”, “says”, “have”, “good”, “sees”, “wants”, “to”, “do”, “be”, “from”, and “go”. The list is not mentioned in the Scope and Sequence.
• Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the decodable book Pig Hikes. The decodable book contains the “Sticky Words” “when”, “the”, “does”, “good”, “to”, “he”, “do”, and “wants”. The list is not mentioned in the Scope and Sequence.

Materials include do not include lesson plans for repeated readings of decodable texts to address securing high-frequency words/irregularly spelled words in context. Lessons are general and do not provide detailed information for repeated readings. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 191-195, students read the book Duck Bakes a Cake. The decodable book contains the “Sticky Words” “again”, “wants”, “to”, “for”, “he”, “the”, “puts”, and “likes”. The teacher reads the book with the students, and then students read it again with another student.
• Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6 - Students read the book Pig at the Pool with the teacher in whole group, partners, or small group. During the Reading Comprehension section, students reread the book with a buddy, adult, or small group or classmates. The “Sticky Words” are “your”, “the”, “to”, “he”, “of”, “be”, “we”, “does”, “wants”, “do”, “are”, “for”, “you”, “puts”, “come”, and “said”.
• Purple Teacher Planner, Step 6, students read the book Duck’s Night Light with the teacher. The "Sticky Words" are, “your”, “for”, “what”, “the”, “does”, “when”, “have”, “says”, “he”, “to”, “do”, “all”, “of”, “too”, “you”, “are”, and “why.” During the Reading Comprehension section, students reread the book with a buddy, adult, or small group of classmates.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of phonics (as indicated by the program Scope and Sequence).

The Grade 2 materials provide the teacher with a record collection sheet to document data regarding student progress in phonics. Although Check-Ups are routinely given throughout the program, there is an absence of information to support instructional adjustments other than the number of correct items on each assessment. There are four Check-Ups in Steps 4 and 5; these Check-Ups are given at different points in the Steps. There does not appear to be a systematic pattern of when the Check-Ups are done. On some weeks, the teacher administers a Check-Up and a Formal Assessment, but this practice does not occur in other weeks. In addition, the Formal Assessment—Progress Testing and the respective Step Formal Assessment are also given in the same week. The Formal Assessment—Progress Test is given in every Step starting with the "I am Ready" Program. In the Step 6 Scope and Sequence and in the Purple Teacher Planner, there is no indication of when the Unit assessments are to be given, although the Step 6 Teacher Guidebook states that the assessments are to be given after each unit. The teacher is advised to use the Formal Assessments in Steps 4 and 5 to determine if students are ready to move to the next level. However, the materials do not provide guidelines that tell the teacher what scores mean to determine if the students are ready to move up. In addition, if a student is not ready, there are no guidelines on what the teacher should review to help students get to the next level.

Materials provide some resources and tools to collect ongoing data about students’ progress in phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence, pages 5–8, Check-Ups #7–10 are included in these two Steps. During these Check-Ups, students point to the digraph or vowel team when given the sound it makes, circle a word said by the teacher, and circle the vowel heard in a spoken word.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 221–225, during the assessment, students read simple sentences with CVC words, words with blends, and words with short vowels.
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, Assessment, pages 77–94, the Step 6 Assessment is given at the end of each unit. The first part of the assessment for each unit assesses the chunks or simple phonics. Students say the sound for that chunk or spelling. During the second part, students read real words containing each of the phonics chunks within the units.

Materials offer limited assessment opportunities to determine students’ progress in phonics that are implemented systematically. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guide, Steps 1–5, pages 108 and 110, teacher guidance includes detailed instructions on how to administer the Check-Up assessments. The directions identify the skill being assessed, such as “auditory blending, rhyming, letter recognition, and letter-sound correlations.” The assessment provides clear directions on what to say to the students during the assessment
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Scope and Sequence, pages 5–8, the Formal Assessment for progress testing and exiting the Step are given during the last week of lessons in both Steps 4 and 5. In the exit test, students read sentences to complete directions, write a missing vowel or vowel team in a word, write a word from a word bank under a picture, find a rhyming word, and choose the sentence that describes a picture.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 231–235, students take an express spelling assessment for words with /ea/. Students complete this assessment weekly.
• In Big Steps Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, Assessment, pages 77–94, the Step 6 Assessment is given at the end of each unit. There are eight assessments in Step 6. The first part of the assessment for each unit assesses the chunks or simple phonics. Students say the sound for that chunk or spelling. During the second part, students read real words containing each of the phonics chunks within the units.

Limited assessment opportunities are provided regularly for students to demonstrate progress toward mastery and independence with phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guide, Steps 1–5, pages 67–68, the materials provide the assessment schedule for the program. There are two Check-Up assessments for Step 4 between Days 196–215. During the Check-Up assessments, students identify blends from a row of blends, identify digraphs from a row of digraphs, circle a decodable word read aloud by the teacher, and circle a long vowel word read aloud by the teacher. There are an additional two Check-Up assessments for Step 5 between Days 246–265. During these Check-Ups, students identify vowel teams read aloud by the teacher and circle a decodable word read aloud by the teacher.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Days 221–225, during Center #1, the teacher administers Step assessments to students at the end of each Step to create a written record of students' understanding and ability.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with some information that students’ current skills/level of understanding of phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, pages 99–103, the materials provide record pages for use when assessing letter sounds and students’ ability to decode additional phonics patterns throughout Step 1. Additional phonics patterns include CVC words, nonsense words, words with blends, digraphs, vowel teams, and Sneaky E words. The record sheet includes a score out of the total number of items in each category.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 157, the guidebook states that if students correctly decode seventy-five percent (75%) of the words on the Step 4 online assessment on words with “Sneaky E” and long vowels, then students should start the program at Day 226, Step 5.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 157, if students correctly decode seventy-five percent(75%) of the words on the Step 5 online assessment on words with vowel teams and long vowels, the guidebook suggests that students should start at Step 6.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Center #1, Formal Assessment Step 4, Days 221–225, this Step Assessment is given at the end of Step 4 to create a written record of student understanding and ability with the given material. The Step Assessments should be used along with the Express Readers Assessment to decide if students need more practice before moving on to the next Step in the program. By finding errors, the teacher can assess what types of practice students need as well. The Step 4 Assessment includes Read and Draw, Add to the Picture, Missing Vowel, Missing Word, Rhyming Words, and Pick the Sentence.
• In Orange Teacher Planner, Steps 4 and 5, Center #1, Formal Assessment Step 5, Days 261–265, this Step Assessment is given at the end of Step 5 to create a written record of student understanding and ability with the given material. The Step Assessments should be used along with the Express Readers Assessment to decide if students need more practice before moving on to the next Step in the program. By finding errors, the teacher can assess what types of practice students need as well. The Step 5 Assessment includes Read and Draw, Add to the Picture, Missing Vowel Teams, Missing Word, Rhyming Words, and Pick the Sentence.

Materials genuinely measure students’ progress to support teachers with instructional adjustments to help students make progress toward mastery in phonics. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence was found.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials regularly and systematically offer assessment opportunities that measure student progress of word recognition and analysis (as indicated by the program scope and sequence).

Assessments provide some opportunities throughout Steps 1–6 to assess Sticky Words. Although assessments are provided throughout the program, explicit information regarding instructional next steps based on assessment results is absent. The materials provide information regarding a starting point for placement into the program and provide general directions that students should be “placed in a prior Step or program” if students are unable to demonstrate mastery. The assessment delineates whether a score is considered Mastery, Developing, or Beginning, but no further explanation is given. A student error report is generated after each administration of the formal assessment, but the report does not explain what is included in this report and how much information it provides concerning students’ current skills and levels of understanding of word recognition and word analysis.

Materials provide limited assessment opportunities over the course of the year to demonstrate students’ progress toward mastery and independence of word recognition (high-frequency words or irregularly spelled words) and analysis. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Big Steps Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, the materials provide assessments for Step 6 including Sticky Words. The assessments are delineated by Unit, because Step 6 is presented in a Unit instructional format.

Assessment materials provide teachers and students with information concerning students’ current skills/level of understanding of word recognition and word analysis. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence found.

Materials support teachers with instructional suggestions for assessment-based steps to help students to progress toward mastery in word recognition and word analysis. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• No evidence found.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that assessment materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed by specific questions, tasks, and assessment and assessment materials clearly denote which standards are being emphasized.

The Grade 2 materials include publisher-produced alignment documentation of the standards addressed in assessments. The documentation lists the standard content from Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the location in Express Readers assessment in which this content can be found. There is no evidence of alignment documentation showing specific standards correlated to specific questions and tasks. Materials contain a general correlation outline that states where the standards can be found in the instructional materials by component types.

Materials include denotations of the standards being assessed in the formative assessments. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, pages 223–224, the Assessment Alignment outlines the standard content from the Phonics and Word Recognition strand of the CCSS, as well as the standard content for reading with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Materials include denotations of standards being assessed in the summative assessments. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, pages 223–224, the Assessment Alignment outlines the standard content from the Phonics and Word Recognition strand of the CCSS, as well as the standard content for reading with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Limited alignment documentation is provided for tasks, questions, and assessment items. Example includes but is not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, pages 223–224, the Assessment Alignment outlines the standard content from the Phonics and Word Recognition strand of the CCSS, as well as the standard content for reading with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Next to each standard, there are notations of where these standards can be found in Express Readers assessments.

Alignment documentation contains standards correlated to lessons. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 215, the Alignment Documentation: Standard guide denotes which standard goes with each Express Readers activity.
• In Teacher’s Guidebook, Step 6, page 205, the Alignment Documentation: Standard guide denotes which standard goes with each Express Readers activity.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen in a language other than English with extensive opportunities for reteaching meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The Grade 2 materials provide a brief discussion of the needs of English language learners in the alignment section of the Teacher Guidebooks; however, materials do not provide suggestions for teaching or reteaching in order for students to work towards meeting or exceeding grade-level standards. Additionally, the information provided for teachers does not vary for each standard. There is a lack of guidance in terms of specific strategies to use with English Language Learner (ELL) students in the lessons, and there is a lack of specific scaffolding and instructions within the Teacher Guidebooks. At the end of the Language Standards there is a section titled “Language Acquisition (informal and academic) - Second Grade. This section includes a list of examples for “Emerging, Expanding, & Bridging of English Language Development( ELD) in Express Readers in Second Grade.” However, there is no explanation of these levels to teachers, and the examples do not explain how to adapt the examples for the various levels. At the very end of this section it states “While there are no standards for Part III, this part signals to teacher [sic] that they will need to consider particular background characteristics of the K-12 English Learners ( EL)s when designing, teaching, and monitoring foundations literacy skills.” No further information is given to the teacher.

Materials provide limited support for ELL students. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 226, materials provide teachers with information on EL proficiency: “If the student has little or no native language literacy,” the students “will need instruction in print concepts.” Students with some proficiency “will need instruction in applying their knowledge,” and students with literacy skills in a language that uses writing other than the Latin alphabet “will need instruction in learning the Latin alphabet.”
• In Teacher Guidebook, Steps 1–5, page 233, materials include this example for ELD: “[F]acilitate simple questions about what has been read.”

General statements about ELL students or few strategies noted at the beginning of a unit or at one place in the teacher edition are then implemented by the materials throughout the curriculum. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, page 206, teacher guidance states, “If students have no or little native language literacy, they will need instruction in print concepts.”
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, page 207, Phonics and Word Recognition, 3. Know and Apply Grade level phonics, materials include information regarding students who have some foundational literacy proficiency in a language not using the Latin alphabet: “Students will be familiar with print concepts and will need instruction in learning the Latin alphabet for English as compared or contrasted with their native language writing system.”
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, page 210, Common Core State Standards ( CCSS): conventions of Standard English, teacher guidance regarding students who have foundational literacy with a language that uses Latin alphabet (e.g., Spanish) includes: “Students will need instruction in applying their knowledge of print concepts, phonics and word recognition to the English writing system, as compared or contrasted with their native language alphabet (e.g., letters that are the same or different, or represent the same or different sounds) and native language vocabulary (e.g., cognates and sentence structure (e.g., subject-verb-object vs. subject-object-verb word order).”
• In Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, Alignment Section, pages 206–213 and 221–222, at the beginning of each set of standards (language-conventions of standard English, reading-print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency), a brief description of what ELL students will need is provided for three separate groups of students: no or little native language proficiency, some foundational literacy in a language not using the Latin alphabet, and some foundational literacy proficiency in a language using the Latin alphabet. At the end of the Language Standards there is a section titled “Language Acquisition (informal and academic) - Second Grade. On pages 221–222, examples for use of Emerging, Expanding & Bridging of ELD in Express Readers in Second Grade are listed.

The materials reviewed for Grade 2 partially meet the criteria that materials regularly provide all students, including those who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level with extensive opportunities for reteaching to meet or exceed grade-level standards.

The Grade 2 materials provide some general accommodations and modifications; however, there are no lessons that teach the skill in a different way to help students who have not mastered the skills. There are opportunities to reteach information later in the week through centers and practice pages. There are some weeks where skills are repeated, which allows for more small group practice. No evidence of opportunities for small group reteaching was found.

Materials provide some opportunities for small group reteaching. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, page 4, the center overlapping explanation indicates “center overlapping is where the Green, Blue, and Orange Guidebook can be overlapped during center time.”
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176–180, teacher guidance explains that mini-lessons can be repeated to review a skill; whole-class lessons “can also be done in smaller groups to accommodate behaviors and capabilities;” and centers “can be done in small groups.”
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 186–190, Whole Class Lesson, modifications include, “Teachers do the above accommodations in a small group to provide more individualized support and immediate help in self correcting.”
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 221–225, students complete the “Sticky Word Bingo” in Center #2. Then in Step 4, Practice Pages, students complete the Sticky Word cloze activity.

Materials provide some guidance to teachers for scaffolding and adapting lessons and activities to support students who read, write, speak, or listen below grade level in extensive opportunities to learn foundational skills at the grade-level standards. Examples include but are not limited to the following:

• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 176–180, modifications include “[O]nly use ‘Sneaky E’ words and CVC words, writing the word each time and visibly circling the vowel while saying the word” while teaching long and short vowel sounds. During the whole class at grade level lesson, students identify the long and short vowel sound for pictures shown by the teacher by holding up the correct vowel letter card.
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 201–205, in the accommodation section, students work with a partner to complete their activity book. As a modification, the teacher works with the student to complete their activity book.
• In Orange Teacher Guidebook, Steps 4 and 5, Days 236–240, modifications include “teachers avoid using the sentence writing page for this group of students” and “teachers work in a small group with students to decode each word on the list.”
• In Purple Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, the provided accommodation allows students to place all pictures and ask a teacher or adult to check their work before they glue it down.
• In Purple Teacher Guidebook, Step 6, /ou/, /ow/ Activity: Making couple cards, in the accommodation section, students use “Cub Frowns” to find /ow/ and /ou/ words for the Couple Cards. In the modification section, teachers write a word on the board. Students write that word on one card, and teachers ask students to give suggestions for the drawing and draw at the same time. Students repeat the process as a group until all eight pairs of cards are made.