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Vermilion Local Schools

Every adult helping every child succeed today, tomorrow, and beyond!

Curriculum

English-Language Arts Curriculum Adoption

Introduction

VLSD teachers and administrators have spent much of the 24-25 school year working hard to select a new English-Language Arts curriculum for board adoption this Spring and implementation in the Fall of 2025. What follows is a brief overview of the process and curriculum, with an invitation below to provide feedback on the curricula we are considering.

Current Curriculum

The VLSD ELA Course of Study on the web page below reflects the curriculum currently in use at VLSD. Briefly, our curriculum presently includes 

Why Adopt a New Curriculum?

Curriculum mapping and alignment work over the past two school years led teachers and administrators to seek a new, aligned K-12 writing curriculum as part of our curriculum adoption. Also, the exclusion of Wonders 2016 from the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce approved High Quality Instructional Materials in ELA means we need to adopt a new K-5 ELA reading curriculum this school year.

The Process

District ELA teachers and administrators met in September to reach consensus on the criteria we would use to evaluate curricula. The Writing Revolution framework (more information below) had been proposed the previous year and many teachers had been eagerly exploring it and piloting its use in the classroom since that time. We proceeded to evaluate all materials on the Ohio HQIM list, with an emphasis on selecting K-5 curriculum that explicitly builds content knowledge in students. (See here for an example of one research review that summarizes what we know about the role of content knowledge in learning to read.)


The Curricula

Teachers and administrators selected the following four K-5 reading curricula and evaluated them more closely:

In addition, teachers and administrators developed our knowledge of The Writing Revolution and worked collaboratively to understand how it fits with our prospective reading curriculum.


Collectively, we believe that The Writing Revolution meets our criteria for a writing curriculum moving forward. To more fully understand its six key principles, see here. For an in-depth look at a scope and sequence for instruction, developed here in Vermilion, see here. (May include copyrighted material that cannot be distributed)

The Finalists

Teachers and administrators selected Core Knowledge Language Arts and Wit & Wisdom for consideration as our K-5 core reading curriculum. In December and January, teachers are visiting local districts using each of these two curricula to observe lessons and talk to teachers about their experience using the materials. You can find a Curriculum overview for Families for Wit & Wisdom here and a Caregiver Hub for CKLA here.

Invitation for community feedback and input

The Vermilion Local School District is actively seeking community input as we make our final decision on the K-5 reading curriculum and integrate The Writing Revolution into our ELA curriculum maps. Please use the feedback form below to give us your thoughts and questions. As we receive questions from community members, we may share the questions and our answers (without your name attached) on this page for everyone to see. 


We thank you in advance for your participation!


Feedback form

Curriculum Department Overview

The Vermilion Local School District is working toward alignment with Ohio Learning Standards in Mathematics, English-Language Arts, and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical subjects.  Twenty-first century learning requires deep understanding and effective use of content for real-world purposes, problem solving, frequent research and writing, as well as effective communication for authentic audiences.  Students deserve to deeply understand content along with why and how information, technology and inspiration are used to comprehend and thrive in the global world.  Well before instruction begins, the desired results for teaching and learning are purposefully designed, assessments are aligned and it is clearly understood how students may demonstrate evidence of learning.  

We believe in a world in which all learners are empowered to discover their own special genius. The administration and faculty in the Vermilion Local School District have shown this by developing an award winning 1:1 technology initiative.  Technology is used to enhance teaching and learning to ensure that all students are prepared for future success in work and life.

Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee

Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee is a program to identify students from kindergarten through grade 3 that are behind in reading. Schools will provide help and support to make sure students are on track for reading success by the end of third grade. The department provides policy guidance, instructional tools, and resources on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.

The Ohio Department of Education offers information to help school districts, community schools, and chartered nonpublic schools understand the requirements of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.

Click here to learn more about Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee

Curriculum Director


Mr. Wes Weaver
440-204-1712