Literacy
Our mission is to nurture and enhance the literacy development to ensure that Each and Every Edina learner meets or exceeds development milestones in literacy achievement.
In Edina we believe reading is a developmental process, supported by systematic instruction of the foundational skills of oral language development, phonemic awareness and phonics to effectively decode and instruction and practice in fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary acquisition through application of systematic strategies to assist in recall of information, self-monitoring and adjusting, question generation, and summarizing of information across all content areas. (Shanahan, 2011; IDA, 2015;Baker, 2009; NELP, 2008; NRP, 2002; Ehri et, al., 2001; Snow et al., 1998)
COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY PLAN
Implementation of a new Comprehensive Literacy Plan began in fall 2021. It is a key component of the district’s 2020-30 Strategic Plan offering a continuous improvement plan for rigorous literacy engagement. It ensures Edina students are ready for their next level, and the challenges and opportunities in the next phase of life.
MINNESOTA READ ACT OF 2023
The Minnesota Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act of 2023 sets forth a vision for every Minnesota child to read at or above grade level starting with kindergarten. To achieve this, the law mandates semi-annual screening of students to assess phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, oral language, comprehension, and characteristics of dyslexia. It also requires that early learning through grade 3 educators, and grade 4 through 12 educators who provide direct reading instruction, undergo structured literacy training based on the Science of Reading.
Beginning in 2021 in alignment with the District's Comprehensive Literacy Plan, Edina began investing in all its teachers to receive graduate-level professional development in the Science of Reading. Three programs are being used: Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS), ASPIRE, and OL & LA (CORE).
Edina's advanced implementation of this literacy instruction is showing significant improvement in student performance. And, in compliance with the state mandate 100 percent of Edina's K-3 educators have already taken or will complete their training by July 1, 2025.
THE SCIENCE OF READING
The Science of Reading is a critical component of the Edina Comprehensive Literacy Plan and READ Act. It is not a single program or technique. It is a collection of research and evidence from decades of study that tell us how children best learn how to read. The science of reading is a multidisciplinary field that combines neuro-science, psychology, linguistics, and education to understand how the brain reads.
The READ Act combines several components that connect to the science of reading. One component is teacher training.
All Edina Public Schools PreK through grade 5 teachers, middle school and high school Language Arts teachers, and district-wide special education teachers will be trained in the Science of Reading.
Early Learning Center - PreK staff have all completed LETRS early childhood professional development.
ALL of our Elementary Schools - EVERY classroom teacher in grades K-5, multilingual language learner teachers, special education teachers, and reading intervention teachers.
Middle Schools and Edina High School - EVERY grade 6-12 teachers in the areas of Language Arts and Reading, multilingual language learner teachers, special education teachers, and reading intervention teachers.
Funding for the Science of Reading (LETRS / ASPIRE / CORE) is provided in part by the Edina Education Fund. Learn more about how to support this effort.
“Thanks to the Edina Education Fund for supporting teacher training in the science of reading.”
Not a student?
Get connected with Edina Reads: a community wide reading program that encourages active reading, lifelong learning, and thoughtful conversation, sponsored by the Edina Community Foundation.