EL Education Announces Second Edition of Acclaimed 6-8 ELA Curriculum

The top-rated second edition of the EL Education K-5 Language Arts curriculum has already helped hundreds of schools and districts achieve unprecedented results. Only two years into implementation of the curriculum, Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) students’ 2019 test scores showed the greatest single-year improvement on state tests (M-STEP) in the history of the exam. Students improved over 2018 results across all tested grade-levels in English/Language Arts. Additionally, Mathematica Policy Research found that higher student literacy achievement results from combining the EL Education curriculum with actionable professional learning for teachers.

With the release of the second edition of grades 6-8, schools will now be able to implement the consistent second edition K-8 curriculum.

“Literacy is a civil right and all students deserve access to a high-quality literacy curriculum that will prepare them for success in school, career, and life. We are proud to offer this newest edition of our curriculum and take one more step in closing the literacy opportunity gap,” said Scott Hartl, President and CEO of EL Education.

Highlights of the second edition include:

• Building World Knowledge through Content: The curriculum builds students’ deep subject matter expertise, immersing them in the study of real-world social and scientific topics, which fuels creativity, higher-order critical thinking, and literacy skills, including fluency, phonics, and parsing complex syntax.
• Embedded Social-Emotional Learning: We know that middle schoolers benefit when what they learn has emotional resonance. New topics and texts prepare students to to be more effective learners and ethical people.
• Greater Representation of Diverse Cultures and People: Topics of study and books include authors, communities, individuals, and characters who represent diverse social and cultural identities. Core texts include contemporary contributions in lieu of traditional canon texts.
• National Relevance and Standards Alignment: The curriculum engages students with topics that resonate nationally, based on recommendations from students and teachers, while maintaining close alignment with targeted NGSS (science) and C3 (social studies) content standards for each grade band.
• New Supports for English Language Learners: The second edition features a separate package for supporting ELLs, including differentiated materials.
• Informed by the Universal Design for Learning Framework to increase meaningful access and reduce barriers to learning for students with diverse learning needs.

The new curriculum will be available in multiple formats to best meet school and district needs through our distribution partners LearnZillion and Open Up Resources.

For more about EL Education, visit eleducation.org.

About EL Education

EL Education is a leading K-12 nonprofit empowering teachers to transform schools in diverse communities across America. For more than 25 years, EL Education has brought to life a three-dimensional vision of student achievement that includes mastery of knowledge and skills, character, and high-quality student work. By promoting active classrooms that are alive with discovery, problem-solving, challenge, and collaboration, EL Education’s curriculum inspires teachers to fulfill their highest aspirations and motivates students to achieve more than they think possible.

Media Contact:
EL Education: Alexandra Fenwick, 646-517-6911 or afenwick@eleducation.org.