Istation Reading en Espanol - Grade 1

Evaluation for 2.1
Materials include high-quality texts for SLAR instruction and cover a range of student interests.

The materials include high-quality texts for SLAR instruction that cover a wide range of student interests. The materials include some well-crafted and publishable texts that represent the quality of content, language, and writing that experts produce. There is a limited number of increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and multicultural diverse texts. 

Examples include but are not limited to:

The materials include some high-quality texts for SLAR instruction that cover a wide range of student interests. Students have the option to either listen to the story or to read it independently. However, the materials include few complex contemporary or classical texts, and they use caricature graphics instead of real pictures. Text complexity is shown via Lexile level.

The following are examples of texts available in the materials to address SLAR:

¿Dónde viven? and Los gérmenes are both expository texts by Cristina Panadero that relate to and build up students’ background knowledge.

El Huracan by Rogelio Garcia is an engaging decodable booklet for students to learn about written language, letter sounds, syllables with u, sequencing, and inference.

El jaguar y el mono and El Rescate by Rogelio García are stories “that can be used to teach the graphic representation of letters g/g, g/j, ch; syllables with u, sequencing, and inference,” with information about the importance and use of water. 

Las golosinas by Cristina Pandero is an engaging children’s story that teaches about “lowercase letters, uppercase letters, and recognizing the characteristics of a sentence.” 

El helado by Cristina Panadero is an engaging children’s story that “can be used to teach the concept of reading from left to right and top to bottom.” 

¿Qué era eso? by Cristina Panadero is an engaging children’s story that can be used to teach the concept of punctuation. 

¿Dónde viven? by Cristina Panadero is an expository text that teaches main ideas, details, and fluency. 

The following are examples of texts available in the materials to address science:

El agua by Liliana Suero is a “story that can be used to teach the graphic representation of letters ñ, v, ll; syllables with u, sequencing, and inference,” with information about the importance and use of water. 

Los germenes by Cristina Panadera is a realistic fiction text that can be used to teach setting, problem and solution, and character traits; it also teaches students about germs. 

Lluvia y Sol by Cristina Panadero is an engaging children’s story that can be used to teach the concept of directionality (reading from left to right) while teaching about rain and the sun. 

El Huracan by Rogelio Garcia is an engaging children’s story that can be used to teach “the letters q, z, h, rr; syllables with u, sequencing, and inference.” However, rich language and scientific jargon in this text are limited. 

The following are examples of texts available in the materials to address social studies:

iExploremos Honduras! by Liliana Suero is a text that focuses on the letters k, x, w; syllables with i; sequencing; and inference through the exploration of Honduras.

El viaje a Kuwait by Liliana Suero is a decodable book used to teach inference via a trip to Kuwait. 

La visita especial by Liliana Suero is an engaging children’s story that teaches about letters ñ, v, ll; syllables with i; sequencing; and inference, with information about careers and services.

Competencias en Kobe by Liliana Suero can be used to teach the letters k, x, w; syllables with o; sequencing; and inference.

Éxito by Jessica Rosario-Valentin is a text that includes real-life people such as Barack Obama, Pablo Picasso, J.K. Rowling, and Shakira.

La mujer policía by Rogelio Garcia is an expository text that focuses on diversity, gender, and culture while also teaching the letters q, z, h, rr; syllables with i; sequencing; and inferencing.

Mi Amiga Yuri by Cristina Panadero is an engaging children’s story that teaches the concept of directionality (reading from left to right) and introduces the word Uruguay, which is connected to the social studies discipline. 

Even though there is some evidence that the materials include diverse texts, the texts do not have authentically rich plot lines. Some texts relate to the students’ backgrounds. Students might be able to identify themselves and their families with some of the characters in the texts. However, these materials are decodable booklets for students to learn specific letter sounds, syllables, sequence, and inference more than any discipline content.

Evaluation for 2.2
Materials include a variety of text types and genres across content that meet the requirements of the SLAR TEKS for each grade level.

The materials include some variety of text types and genres across content that meet the requirements of the TEKS, such as realistic fiction, fantasy, short stories, and expository texts. The materials include opportunities for students to recognize the characteristics and structures of literary and informational texts. The materials include some opportunities for students to learn about print and graphic features in a variety of texts. There are some informational texts about science and social studies. There are no persuasive texts that are connected to science and social studies. Students have some opportunities to use texts with captions or labels, diagrams, headings, bold words, labels, charts, or glossaries. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Cycle 7, Lesson 4, “Destreza fonológica/fonética,” the materials include opportunities for students to recognize characteristics and structures of literary and informational texts. During this lesson, the teacher encourages students to use information and images from the text and background information to make inferences. Students observe images and generate their inferences using the texts Pedrito and Mimi.

The material provides online opportunities for students to recognize characteristics and structures of literary and informational texts. For example, the lesson for TEKS 6Cii uses the stories El fracaso de el ladrón and Esclavos de Egipto to compare different literary characteristics. The materials also include opportunities for students to recognize characteristics of multimodal and digital texts that are interactive and include visuals and oral support; students are also able to electronically highlight words or parts of the story.

The materials lack opportunities for students to recognize characteristics of persuasive texts and to distinguish fact from opinion within the text. The materials include some texts that allow the students to grasp the differences between expository, poetic, and other varieties of texts. 

Texts include:

Manchitas y Memo by Cristina Panadero (expository text)

Vamos al dentista by Cristina Panadero (fantasy)

Los gérmenes by Cristina Panadero (realistic fiction)

Estudiando en otro país by Rogelio García (realistic fiction) 

¡Todos ayúdanos! by Rogelio García (realistic fiction) 

Miremos desde arriba, una Colección de poemas sobre la luna by Istation (poems)

“Lady Trieu, Guerrera Vietnamita” by George A. Méndez (biography)

Chencha y Chole by Rogelio Garcia (humorous fiction book) 

Examples of science texts include:

Los gérmenes by Cristina Panadero 

¿Dónde viven? by Cristina Panadero 

Frente a la tormenta by George A. Mendez

Lluvia y sol by Cristina Panadero

The Hurricane by Rogelio Gracia

Examples of social studies texts include:

La mujer policia by Rogelio Garcia

La vida de Miguel de Cervantes and El verdadero Quijote by George A. Mendez

Haciendo botas by Rogelio García 

El Viaje a Kenia by Liliana Suero

¡Exploremos Honduras! by Liliana Suero

Competencias en Kobe written by Liliana Suero

Evaluation for 2.3
Texts, including read-aloud texts in K-2 and shared reading in Grade 2, are appropriately challenging, and are at an appropriate level of complexity to support students at their grade level.

The materials include some texts that are appropriately challenging and at the appropriate level of complexity to support students at their grade level. The materials lack texts to support read-alouds and shared reading. The publisher does not include a text-complexity analysis. Materials include Lexile levels as an appropriate quantitative measure, but they lack an explanation of the qualitative features that guide placement within the grade level.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include a text complexity analysis provided by the publisher; however, this analysis only measures Lexile levels. The Lexile levels are appropriate to the grade level. The “Guía de Istation Reading en Español: Libros y pasajes” helps teachers use the texts. This guide provides the program’s text titles and reading passages along with their Lexile numbers, the type of text, the “Cycle,” and skills and/or strategies addressed.

The interactive reading curriculum includes books and passages to support reading instruction for each teaching cycle. The materials include texts, both online and printable, that are connected to the students’ learning objectives for the lessons. However, the materials do not include a series of texts connected to other texts. All of the illustrations are caricature drawings and not real pictures. 

The materials lack qualitative text features appropriate for the grade level. Most of the texts’ subject matter is common to most readers; they do not refer to other texts or ideas. Rigor in meaning or purpose is limited. Often, an obvious theme or point is revealed early in the text, with clear, concrete, narrowly focused, and explicitly stated language. The materials do not include read-aloud texts. The program states: “It is important to note that many books are meant to be read aloud and therefore may be beyond a student’s Lexile measure even though the book was encountered in the Istation curriculum.” The shared reading texts are above the complexity level of what students can read independently.

In Cycle 2, the text Las lupas by Liliana Suero is an engaging children’s story with a Lexile level of 200L. It teaches the letters m, p, l, s; syllables with u; and characters and setting. 

In Cycle 6, Lesson 4, “Identify the sequence of events in a text,” students identify the sequence of events in the text “How Do Plants Grow?” using sequential cards. The teacher guides the students by saying that they will need to pay close attention as they read the book in order to identify the sequence of events. After the reading, students retell the story, focusing on events. The teacher asks, “¿Qué es lo primero que sucede en la historia? ¿Qué sucede después? ¿Y después? ¿Qué sucede al final de la historia?” This lesson is an example of the rigor of the qualitative features. 

Cycle 7 includes the text ¡A limpiar! by Rogelio Garcia, which is an engaging children’s story (200L) that teaches syllables with o, sequence, and inference. Zorro y zorrillo by Cristina Panadera (200L) teaches print awareness. La mujer policía by Rogelio Garcia (440L) teaches syllables with i, sequence, and inferencing.

Cycle 8 includes the text Competencias en Kobe by Liliana Suero, a decodable book (200L) that teaches syllables with o, sequencing, and inference. iExploremos Honduras! by Liliana Suerowith (200L) teaches syllables with o, sequencing, and inference. ¡Vamos a Mexico! by Liliana Suero is a decodable book (200L) that teaches syllables with i, sequencing, and inference.

In Cycle 9, Lesson 1, “Identifying Character Traits,” students identify the character traits of two narrative texts—“Fabio” and “Kika”—using graphic organizers. The teacher says: “Ahora ustedes demostrarán lo que aprendieron trabajando independientemente. Primero van a leer el texto Kika. Luego van a identificar las características de la personalidad de Kika. Recuerden que deben justificar sus respuestas escribiendo como ya saben, en el organizador gráfico,” This is an example of the rigor of the qualitative features. 

Evaluation for 3.A.1
Materials contain questions and tasks that support students in synthesizing knowledge and ideas to deepen understanding and identify and explain topics and themes.

The materials contain some tasks that support students in synthesizing knowledge and ideas to deepen understanding and in identifying and explaining topics and themes. There are limited interconnected questions and tasks that build student knowledge, are text-dependent, and prompt students to synthesize new information. Some questions and activities grow students’ understanding of topics and literacy skills. Some formal and informal assignments and activities focus on texts students are reading or listening to. The materials lack opportunities for students to evaluate and discuss information from multiple places within a text. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

Some questions and tasks build conceptual knowledge, are text-dependent, and prompt students to synthesize new information. For example, in Cycle 5, Lesson 7, “Escritura,” the students read “El rescate,” then write both an expository and a narrative story. All writing assignments incorporate three guiding questions: “¿Cuál fue tu parte favorita? ¿Qué parte fue confusa? ¿Cómo podría mejorarse?” The teacher’s explanation and modeling are not included in any of the writing lessons. Though these are text-dependent questions, they do not prompt students to synthesize new information nor deepen understanding and identify and explain topics and themes in the lesson.

In Cycle 8, Lesson 2, “Use Information from Text to Make Inferences,” students identify four types of text structures with the texts “Insects” and “The Lake and the Sea.” A worksheet with images asks questions about text structures such as compare and contrast and cause and effect (e.g., “¿En qué se parecen y se diferencian los leones y los tigres?” and “¿Qué suceso en la primera imagen causa el resultado en la segunda imagen?”) The teacher guides students to look at the images and asks them to infer: “¿Qué podemos inferir que está pasando? (...) Pepita se levanta, se baña, se viste, desayuna, se cepilla los dientes, agarra su mochila con sus libros y su lonchera con su almuerzo. Le da un beso a su mamá y sale de la casa. ¿Qué podemos inferir que Pepita va a hacer?” The structure of questioning is more at the identify-and-recognize level and does not provide opportunities for students to evaluate and discuss information from multiple places within a text.

In Cycle 9, Lesson 1, students identify the problem and solution of the text. The teacher uses the story “Los tres chivitos Gruff,” asking, “¿Qué quieren hacer los chivitos? ¿Cuál es el problema? ¿Qué opinan ustedes? ¿Qué hicieron los chivitos para tratar de resolver el problema? ¿Cuál es el problema? ¿Qué hicieron para solucionar el problema? ¿Cómo se solucionó?” These types of questions are all at a basic recall level and do not support students in synthesizing knowledge and ideas to deepen understanding and identify and explain topics and themes.

Some questions and tasks elicit understanding of the material by asking students to provide examples. For example, in Cycle 7, Lesson 2, “Use Information from Picture Cards to Make Inferences,” the students use information from a text and background information to make inferences using images. The teacher asks students to use their prior knowledge to answer the following questions: “¿Alguna vez han visto este tipo de balón? ¿Alguno de ustedes sabe para qué se usa este tipo de zapato?” However, students do not have to reread or pay close attention to the text to answer the question.

In Cycle 7, Lesson 4, the students use information from the text “Pedrito” and background information to make inferences using images. The teacher asks questions such as “¿Cuáles son algunas de las pistas de la lectura? ¿Alguna vez han visto en algún programa de televisión o les ha pasado a ustedes lo mismo que le pasó a Pedrito?” However, the materials do not include further questioning to support inferences, and students complete the lesson by using a worksheet to apply the knowledge they learned.

Some questions and activities grow students’ understanding of topics and literacy skills over the course of each unit. Questioning in each cycle starts with recall, but it does not proceed into the higher-order-thinking questions. For example, in Cycle 6, Lessons 2, 4, 5, and 6 are all connected to identifying the sequence of events in a story; students look at pictures and place them in the correct order. The materials do not suggest teachers preview the text or discuss key vocabulary. Questioning does not guide students to analyze knowledge and ideas within texts.

Evaluation for 3.A.2
Materials contain questions and tasks that require students to evaluate the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

The materials do not contain questions and tasks that require students to evaluate the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts. The materials do not provide questions and tasks to support students’ analysis of texts’ literary or textual elements. The materials do not ask the students to analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts. Students do not have opportunities to provide evidence from the text to support their understanding. Moreover, the materials lack lessons for comparing and contrasting the stated or implied purposes of different authors’ writing on the same topic. Students do not analyze the author’s choices and how they influence and communicate meaning in a single text or across various texts. The materials lack lessons that allow students to confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures, either independently or with teacher assistance. 

Evaluation for 3.A.3
Materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary in and across texts.

The materials do not include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary in and across texts. Materials include some scaffolds for vocabulary, but this vocabulary only covers high-frequency words, not academic words. There is no year-long plan for building academic vocabulary, and the materials do not include ways to apply words in appropriate contexts. There is no support for teachers to differentiate vocabulary development for all learners.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials do not include a year-long plan for building academic vocabulary or ways to apply words in appropriate contexts. The materials do not provide any evidence that the academic vocabulary is introduced in context or through word lists, repeated in a variety of contexts, and used across texts. Under the toolbox tab, the materials include the “Istation Español Scope and Sequence,” which provides a list of online activities and teacher-directed lessons by skill. The document follows a sequenced plan and shows the cycle where lessons can be found and the standard for each lesson. There is a “Vocabulary” section for each grade-level span, “Grades 1st- 2nd.” Within each Vocabulary section, there is a list of Vocabulary skills that teachers can identify within the cycle provided. The Vocabulary section includes lessons on “words are from universal themes such as family, home, food, body, clothing, feelings, animals, school, and community.” This document does not include a list of academic vocabulary words to be discussed within a year-long plan nor specific lessons on building academic vocabulary in and across texts.

Vocabulary lessons in the materials only include high-frequency word development in Cycles 1-8. For instance, in Cycle 3, Lesson 2, and Cycle 5, Lesson 2, students recognize and learn high-frequency words. The words include: “le, tiene, una, se, pone, tira, mira, los, todo, sin.” These lessons do not incorporate academic vocabulary, and there are no other teacher-directed lessons to address academic vocabulary development specified for 1st grade.

The materials include limited scaffolds for vocabulary words (e.g., visuals that go with the vocabulary). There are “Vocabulary Cards” such as “Body Parts,” “Home,” “Geometric Shapes,” and “Animals.” The Vocabulary Cards do not specify a grade level or a “Cycle.” Another scaffold is located in the Spanish-language vocabulary tools, providing synonyms and antonyms, word families, personal pronouns (e.g., yo, tu, él, ellos), and word classification. These lessons help practice and reinforce the vocabulary for reading comprehension. However, the lessons do not target academic vocabulary, nor do they provide support for teachers to differentiate vocabulary development for all learners.

Evaluation for 3.A.4
Materials include a clearly defined plan to support and hold students accountable as they engage in self-sustained reading.

The materials do not include a clearly defined plan to support and hold students accountable as they engage in self-sustained reading. Materials do not include procedures and/or protocols with adequate support for teachers to foster independent reading. There is no plan for students to self-select texts and read independently for a sustained period of time; materials do not include planning or accountability for achieving independent reading goals.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials do not provide adequate support for teachers to foster independent reading. The online program called “Ipractice,” where the students work independently, offers students opportunities to interact with text. The materials assign texts for reading depending on students’ testing levels on the “ISIP” and read the story to the students. However, there are no clear procedures or protocols for teachers to foster independent reading. The materials do not include a plan to help teachers track independent reading or to help students select texts. 

The materials allow students to set goals for improving their Lexile levels and write them on bookmarks; however, there are no reading logs or plans included in the materials to help the students set goals and plans for self-selecting and reading texts. The materials do not provide a plan for students to self-select texts and read independently for a sustained period of time, and there is no planning or accountability for achieving independent reading goals.

Evaluation for 3.B.1
Materials provide support for students to compose across text types for a variety of purposes and audiences.

The materials provide some support for students to compose across text types for a variety of purposes and audiences. Students have opportunities to write literary texts for multiple purposes and audiences, such as personal narratives that convey their thoughts and feelings about an experience. Students have opportunities to write informational texts, including reports and procedural texts. The materials lack opportunities for students to write poetry using poetry elements. There are limited opportunities for students to dictate or write thank-you notes and letters. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Students have some opportunities to write literary texts for multiple purposes and audiences. In Cycle 5, Lesson 8, “Escritura,” students dictate or write personal narratives that convey their thoughts and feelings about an experience. Three writing exercises help students practice narrative, expository, and descriptive writing. The writing exercises are centered around the story “Chencha y Chole.” In “Ejercicio 1,” after reading the story, students think about a time when their pet might have had fleas. Students write a composition about what they did during that experience. In “Ejercicio 2,” students use a Venn diagram to note the similarities and differences between the two insects in the story. In “Ejercicio 3,” students write about their favorite part of the story, including details. The teacher prompts students, “Select your favorite part of ‘Chencha and Chole.’ Then write down the details and why it’s your favorite part.” 

In Cycle 8, Lesson 15, Escritura, the materials provide support for students to compose across text types for a variety of purposes and audiences. Students are prompted to write about the story “Competencias en Kobe.” The lesson includes three writing exercises. In Ejercicio 1, students “infer and write about the attributes” the story’s characters “possess as winners.” In Ejercicio 2, students write about their experiences and observations, including at least three details. In Ejercicio 3, students infer what happened when the winners of the Kobe competition returned home, then write about it. They use a graphic organizer to list the sequence of events.

Students have opportunities to write informational texts, such as procedural texts and reports about topics. For example, in Cycle 9, Lesson 17, Escritura, students review the story “Los germenes,” which is about a child who was sick and learns all about germs. In Ejercicio 1, students write what they learned about germs from the text and use complete sentences. In Ejercicio 2, students write what they learned about keeping their hands clean; they use a sequencing map to write and illustrate the necessary steps to follow to help keep their hands clean. In Ejercicio 3, students write about a time they were sick and what their family did to help them feel better. 

In Cycle 8, Lesson 16, Escritura, students write about the story “El viaje a Kuwait.” Several writing exercises cover informational and procedural writing. In Ejercicio 1, students draw and investigate a blueprint of their school; they label areas of the school using correct adverbs. In Ejercicio 2, students use a graphic organizer to write and illustrate the steps to build the school in the story. The activity guides the students to include the steps needed to finish building the school.

The materials include limited opportunities for students to practice writing correspondence. For example, in Cycle 6, Lesson 10, Escritura, students recall the story “La visita especial,” which is about a firefighter visiting the school on Career Day. In Ejercicio 2, the students think of some of the jobs that exist in their community and write a letter to a firefighter in their community to thank them for their service. Although the lesson addresses writing a thank-you letter, there is no evidence that the materials provide any additional lessons for students to practice correspondence by writing thank-you notes and letters. 

The materials lack opportunities for students to write poetry using poetry elements.

Evaluation for 3.B.2
Materials engage students in the writing process to develop text in oral, pictorial, or written form.

The materials provide limited opportunities for students to engage in the writing process to develop text in oral, pictorial, or written form. Materials facilitate students’ coherent use of some of the elements of the writing process, such as planning, revising, editing, and sharing/publishing. However, students do not engage in drafting when composing text.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials facilitate students’ coherent use of the elements of some of the writing process, including planning, revising, editing, and sharing or publishing to compose text. For example, Cycle 6, Lesson 11, “Escritura,” uses the story El agua, which is about the uses of water. The lesson has three writing exercises. In “Ejercicio 3,” the students observe a drawing in the story. The teacher sets up the writing lesson by using the following pre-writing prompt: “Investiga, escribe y nombra en orden de secuencia el ciclo del agua.” The graphic organizer “El ciclo del agua” helps students plan their writing. A “Revisa tu escritura” page supports revisions and edits. It reminds students: “Recuerda: comenzar cada oración con letra mayúscula, escribir tus mayúsculas y minúsculas para que sean fáciles de leer por un compañero o maestro, usar oraciones completas, y terminar cada oración con un punto final.” A “Comparte tu trabajo” page supports students in publishing their work. It guides students to use questioning to share their work: “Antes de compartir tu trabajo, preséntate ante tu compañero, intercambia tu trabajo y discute las siguientes preguntas: ¿Cuál fue tu parte favorita? ¿Qué parte fue confusa? ¿Cómo podría mejorarse? Cuando discutan su trabajo entre sí, asegúrense de hablar uno a la vez. Comparte tu trabajo con los demás colocándolo en un lugar visible dentro del salón de clases o la escuela.” The lesson’s writing process is missing drafting. Furthermore, directions and guidance for teachers to implement the writing process lack detail. 

Cycle 7, Lesson 15, Escritura, uses the story El Huracan, which is about a hurricane that hits the city and a paramedic who helps the injured. In Ejercicio 1, students “think about the order in which the events happened.” Materials state: “Usa un organizador gráfico para escribirlos en orden de secuencia.” The graphic organizer “Línea cronológica” helps students plan their work. A Revisa tu escritura page helps students edit their work: “Recuerda: comenzar cada oración con letra mayúscula, escribir tus mayúsculas y minúsculas para que sean fáciles de leer por un compañero o maestro, usar oraciones completas, y terminar cada oración con un punto final.” A “Comparte tu trabajo” page guides students to use questioning to share their work: “Antes de compartir tu trabajo, preséntate ante tu compañero, intercambia tu trabajo y discute las siguientes preguntas: ¿Cuál fue tu parte favorita? ¿Qué parte fue confusa? ¿Cómo podría mejorarse? Cuando discutan su trabajo entre sí, asegúrense de hablar uno a la vez. Comparte tu trabajo con los demás colocándolo en un lugar visible dentro del salón de clases o la escuela.” The lesson’s writing process is missing drafting. Directions and guidance for teachers to implement the writing process lack detail. 

The program’s writing materials follow these same steps in all the writing lessons. There is no evidence that the students receive explicit instruction in the writing process with opportunities to connect learning to their own writing. The materials do not support teachers in providing students support to grow their composition skills.

Evaluation for 3.B.3
Over the course of the year, students are provided opportunities to apply grade-level standard Spanish conventions to their writing.

Over the course of the year, students have some opportunities to apply grade-level standard Spanish conventions to their writing. The materials provide opportunities for the practice and application of the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing. However, the materials do not provide opportunities to practice grammar, punctuation, and usage systematically, both in and out of context. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide routines and procedures for the practice and application of the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing. In Cycle 6, Lesson 10, “Escritura,” includes three activities with the text La visita especial. In “Ejercicio 1,” students make a list of all the jobs in the community; they use adjectives to describe the jobs. In “Ejercicio 2,” students write a letter to a firefighter in their community to thank them for their services. In “Ejercicio 3,” students find out about the equipment and uniform used by firefighters, then draw and name their parts. The lessons include a “Revisa tu escritura” page, which reminds students to “comenzar la oración con letra mayúscula y terminar con punto final, escribir oraciones completas que incluyan sujeto y predicado, usar adverbios de lugar, escribir con letra clara y dejar espacios entre las palabras, escribir correctamente las palabras de uso frecuente, al escribir tus oraciones usa: punto final, signos de interrogación o signos de exclamación.” Students can also share and discuss their work with their classmates; they are reminded to take turns when speaking. 

In Cycle 7, Lesson 13, Escritura, includes three activities about the text ¡A limpiar! In Ejercicio 1, students write to describe how the boy helps his dad clean. In Ejercicio 2, students think about what other activities would take 30 minutes to complete and make a list. In Ejercicio 3, students write down the sequence of events from the story in order. The materials recommend that the students use a timeline to order the events using adverbs of time (e.g., yesterday, later, today). A Revisa tu escritura page reminds students to “comenzar la oración con letra mayúscula y terminar con punto final, escribir oraciones completas que incluyan sujeto y predicado, usar adverbios de lugar, escribir con letra clara y dejar espacios entre las palabras, escribir correctamente las palabras de uso frecuente, al escribir tus oraciones usa: punto final, signos de interrogación o signos de exclamación.” Students can share and discuss their work with other classmates, taking turns when speaking. The discussion activity provides opportunities for the students to apply conventions while writing and speaking. 

The materials provide opportunities for the practice and application of the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing, including punctuation and grammar. In Cycle 8, Lesson 16, Escritura, includes three writing activities with the text El viaje a Kuwait. In Ejercicio 1, students see a plan of a school that they are going to build. Materials direct them: “Research and draw a plan for [the] school. Name some of the rooms...include adverbs of places.” This lesson targets the use of adverbs in writing. In Ejercicio 2, students write about the steps necessary to build a school. In Ejercicio 3, students write about what might happen after they finish building the school. The activities provide opportunities for the students to apply conventions while writing and speaking. 

In Cycle 9, Lesson 17, Escritura, includes three writing activities with the text Los Germenes. In Ejercicio 1, using complete sentences, students write what they learned about germs from their reading. In Ejercicio 2, students write what they learned about keeping hands clean. The activity guides the students to use a sequencing map to write and illustrate the necessary steps to follow to help keep hands clean. In Ejercicio 3, students write about a time they were sick and what their family did to help them feel better. Ejercicio 2 includes a graphic organizer. A Revisa tu escritura page reminds students to “comenzar la oración con letra mayúscula y terminar con punto final, escribir oraciones completas que incluyan sujeto y predicado, usar adverbios de lugar, escribir con letra clara y dejar espacios entre las palabras, escribir correctamente las palabras de uso frecuente, al escribir tus oraciones usa: punto final, signos de interrogación o signos de exclamación.” The lesson provides students the opportunity to share and discuss their work with their classmates. During this time, students are reminded to take turns when speaking. The activities provide opportunities for the students to apply conventions while writing and speaking. 

Although lessons allow students to practice and apply the conventions of academic language, no systematic and explicit teaching of Spanish grammar and punctuation was located in the materials. 

Evaluation for 3.B.4
Materials include practice for students to write legibly in print (K-1) and cursive (Grade 2).

The materials do not include instruction in print handwriting. The materials do not provide handwriting practice for students to write legibly in print. The materials do not provide plans for procedures or supports for teachers to assess students’ handwriting development. 

Evaluation for 3.C.1
Materials support students’ listening and speaking about texts.

The materials provide opportunities for students to listen actively and to ask questions to understand information. Students have consistent opportunities to engage in discussions that require them to share information and ideas and to discuss their work and opinions with their classmates. The materials provide opportunities for students to ask questions to understand information.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Cycle 6, Lesson 9, “Comprensión de lectura,” students discuss the book ¡Vamos a la escuela! The teacher reminds students that they read about Yanira’s school activities, then says: “Piensa en las actividades que haces en tu salón de clases. Luego, crea un horario de tu día que incluya las actividades de tu salón de clases.” Students create a timeline and share with a partner or the class. The following questions may be used to help students when sharing: “¿Cuál fue tu parte favorita? ¿Qué parte fue confusa? ¿Cómo podría mejorarse?” In “Writing” Lesson 10, students engage in “productive talk” about Benito y su bebé. The teacher directs the students to recall the story “La visita especial,” which is about a firefighter who visits a school during career day. The teacher then gives students the following writing prompt: “Piensa en algunos de los trabajos que existen en tu comunidad. Escribe una carta a un bombero en tu comunidad para darle las gracias por sus servicios.” Students share their answers with their partner or group. The teacher reminds them, “Cuando discutan su trabajo entre sí, asegúrense de hablar uno a la vez.” The materials guide the students to discuss with a partner and take turns talking. 

In Level 1, Lesson 3, “Comprensión auditiva,” teachers tell the students that their job at school is to actively listen to the teacher. The teacher discusses the importance of active listening and reviews the picture of “Buenos oyentes,” which shows students actively listening. The teacher reads Diana va a la escuela and asks one open-ended question: “What do you remember about the story?” The teacher uses picture cards from the story to support the students’ understanding of the story. 

In Level 1, Lesson 6, “Vocabulario,” students develop their oral language, vocabulary, and ideas about the topics they are discussing. The teacher plays a guessing game to help build students’ vocabulary. The student who guesses the item gets to provide additional information about that item. The teacher guides students: “Es liso, está en forma de círculo, pero existen de muchas formas geométricas. Lo uso cuando quiero eliminar o desaparecer algo que escribí mal o un dibujo que no me gusta. ¿Qué creen que es?” Students respond with their guesses (the correct answer is “un Borrador”). The game continues with many different descriptions of items, and students guess what the item is. These materials invite students to collaborate with each other to engage in “productive talk.” 

In Level 3, Lesson 1, Comprensión de lectura, the teacher reads the story Ayudantes de la comunidad. The teacher reminds students to ask questions: “¿De quién trata? ¿Quiénes son los ayudantes? ¿Cuándo nos ayuda a cuidar los dientes?” These questions guide the students to comprehend their reading. The students respond and create a graphic organizer that includes various community helpers and answer the questions “¿Quién? ¿Qué? ¿Cuándo?”

Evaluation for 3.C.2
Materials engage students in collaborative discussions.

The materials engage students in some collaborative discussions. The materials lack opportunities for students to practice grade-appropriate speaking skills using the standard conventions of Spanish language. There are limited opportunities for students to develop social communication skills that are appropriate for first grade. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to: 

In Cycle 1, Lesson 12, “Comprensión de lectura,” students discuss a story read aloud. The teacher models summarizing a story and discusses the five questions to ask: “when, who, where, problem, solution.” The teacher then reads a story and models posing the questions and responding. The teacher reads another story, Coco y Lucas, which the students then summarize. The students practice writing a summary of the story with a partner by asking the “who, what, when, where, why” questions; they engage in discussion while summarizing. However, the materials do not provide opportunities to practice grade-appropriate speaking skills using the standard conventions of Spanish language.

In Cycle 6, Lesson 9, “Escritura,” students engage in discussion about their writing piece. After the read aloud of ¡Vamos a la escuela! students are guided to think about what happened during the story. The teacher prompts: “Piensa, dibuja y escribe lo que sucedió primero, después y al final de la historia. Asegúrate de usar preposiciones para unir palabras.” After students have completed the writing task, they share their writing with a partner, asking, “¿Cuál fue tu parte favorita? ¿Qué parte fue confusa? ¿Cómo podría mejorarse?” The teacher guides students to use appropriate communication skills by taking turns when speaking: “Cuando discutan su trabajo entre sí, asegúrense de hablar uno a la vez.” Although students engage in discussion, there is no guidance for using grade-appropriate speaking skills and Spanish language conventions.

In Cycle 6, Lesson 11, Escritura, students discuss their writing piece. After students recall the story El agua, the teacher guides them to infer and write about other uses of water. Students share their completed work with a partner and have a structured discussion using the questions provided. Three questions facilitate student discussions: “What was your favorite part? What part was confusing? How could it be improved?” The materials guide the students to take turns and speak one at a time to develop age-appropriate social communication skills. In the lesson: Comprensión de lectura, ciclo 9, Lección 1 (during "Práctica dirigida" section); the teacher provides students opportunities to engage in discussions by asking questions and having them work with a partner to foster discussions." The lesson states: “Pida a los estudiantes que se coloquen en parejas. Ahora seguiremos practicando la destreza de causa y efecto, pero, esta vez, trabajarán con un compañero. Entregue la hoja de la actividad Completa las imágenes y las nubes de pensamiento previamente recortadas para cada pareja de estudiantes. Vamos a hacer una actividad superdivertida. Señale la primera imagen de la hoja mientras explica. En esta imagen podemos ver un niño que intenta bloquear un gol y al lado vemos al mismo niño con un brazo enyesado. ¿Qué creen ustedes que causó que el niño se enyesara el brazo? Espere la respuesta de los estudiantes. ¡Correcto! La causa fue que se lastimó tratando de bloquear un gol. Coloquen la nube que dice causa dentro de la nube de pensamiento que está encima del niño tratando de bloquear un gol. ¿Cuál creen ustedes que fue el efecto después de intentar de bloquear un gol? Espere la respuesta de los estudiantes. ¡Muy bien! El efecto fue que tuvo que enyesarse el brazo porque se lo lastimó jugando fútbol. Coloquen la nube que dice efecto dentro de la nube de pensamiento que está encima del niño con el brazo enyesado. Guíe a los estudiantes durante toda la actividad y brinde apoyo en caso de ser necesario. Other than this limited example, students primarily engage in discussion during the writing lessons. These lessons use the same guiding questions throughout the writing activities.

Evaluation for 3.D.1
Materials engage students in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for different purposes.

The materials provide students with limited engagement in short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes for different purposes. There is limited instructional support for students to ask and generate general questions for inquiry with adult assistance. Materials lack instructional support for students to generate and follow a research plan with adult assistance; to identify relevant sources based on their questions with adult assistance; and to understand, organize, and communicate ideas and information in accordance with the purpose of the research.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

While the materials provide some suggestions for topics to investigate, there are no lessons or materials that support students in identifying relevant sources for student-generated or provided research topics. Students do not learn how to decide which sources to use when gathering information. The materials provide instructions for students to use the internet or other books to research broad subjects. However, no lessons explicitly teach how to develop a research plan, and there are no instructions on how to generate quality questions or on how to complete a research plan with adult assistance. Research projects identified for the beginning of the year do not differ in rigor from those identified for the end of the year. The materials fail to provide explicit instruction in research skills that directly align with the instructional unit. Research opportunities are not provided throughout the year’s curricular material. There is no year-long plan that would show how the research skills will be included throughout the year, and the skills do not build on each other. The materials lack the opportunity and support for students to practice understanding, organizing, and communicating ideas and information in accordance with the purpose of the research. The assignments that are provided have no direct instruction. Students do not have the opportunity to engage in the research process at the end of each unit. They also do not generate a research plan and see it to completion. Most of the research opportunities are either an enrichment activity or a last activity in the lesson; these opportunities simply ask students to go online or to find a book to learn more about the given topic.

In Cycle 6, Lesson 10, “Writing,” with adult assistance, students identify relevant resources based on their questions. After reading the story “La visita especial,” an enrichment activity asks students to investigate what firefighters wear. They are encouraged to use other resources, such as a video or a book, to investigate the topic. The materials provide the topic for the students to research; however, students do not ask and generate questions for inquiry. The materials also do not support the students in identifying relevant sources based on their questions with adult assistance. Students do not receive support for understanding, organizing, and communicating ideas and information in accordance with the purpose of the research.

Evaluation for 3.E.1
Materials contain interconnected tasks that build student knowledge.

The materials contain questions and tasks that are designed to build and apply student knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and language. Tasks in lessons and writing activities provide many opportunities for students to ask questions to build and apply knowledge; these tasks integrate reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking. Tasks include components of vocabulary and comprehension and provide opportunities for increased independence.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

In Cycle 2, Lesson 1, “Comprensión de lectura,” students read, discuss, write, speak, and share ideas around a given topic. The teacher helps students make predictions about fiction texts. Students read a story and learn the steps to follow to make predictions. Teachers remind students that making predictions means guessing what will happen later, and good readers use what they already know from the story and the pictures of each page help to make predictions. The teacher then reads the story Las escondidas; students listen attentively. Students fill out a graphic organizer, which helps them answer the questions “¿Qué va a pasar? ¿Qué pasó en el cuento? ¿Estaban bien sus predicciones?” Students then share their predictions with each other.

Cycle 6, Lesson 11, “Escritura,” integrates listening, thinking, speaking, and writing around a given topic. The teacher guides students to recall what they previously learned about water in the story El agua. Students write about other uses of water and discuss these uses with their partners. During activity 2 of the lesson, students observe pages 9 and 10 of the story. They then infer and write about other uses for water. The teacher guides students during their partner discussion with the following prompts: “¿Cuál fue tu parte favorita? ¿Qué parte fue confusa? ¿Cómo podría mejorarse?” 

In Cycle 9, Lesson 1, “Comprensión de lectura” integrates reading, writing, speaking, listening, and thinking to provide opportunities for increased independence. Students listen to a text the teacher reads and then read another text and fill in a graphic organizer. The teacher describes and teaches students about characters. The teacher models using the vocabulary word mother, and students describe their mothers. Then, the class reads the story “Fabio” together. The teacher designates a student to fill in a graphic organizer as the group answers questions about the characters in the story. The teacher distributes the story “Kika” and a graphic organizer. Students read the story independently and then complete the graphic organizer based on the story. The teacher provides support as needed.

In Cycle 10, Lesson 1, Comprensión de lectura provides an opportunity for students to listen and think about the objective (i.e., writing summaries and using textual evidence to support comprehension). Students discuss what they did over the weekend, and the teacher then explains that students provided a summary of their weekend. The teacher reads Camino al cumpleaños de la abuela, while students listen attentively. The teacher provides students with picture cards to support students in summarizing the story. The teacher displays “Organizador gráfico para resumir.” Students work with a partner to complete the graphic organizer. The teacher provides strips with the answers to “¿quién? ¿qué? ¿cuándo? ¿dónde? ¿por qué? ¿cómo?” The teacher works with students to complete the organizer and develop a summary of the story. Students use sentence strips to develop a summary; then, the teacher completes and reads the summary to the group. In another activity, the class plays the game “¿Quién es?” Students predict or infer using provided evidence. Students work with partners to discover their hidden person. They have three minutes to guess the correct profession. The teacher then directs them to apply their inference knowledge to write in a graphic organizer “para hacer inferencias.” To conclude the lesson, students read “Proyecto de ciencias” independently and complete “Haciendo inferencias.” In the third activity, students work with a partner to identify the meaning of words in a sentence using context clues and illustrations. The teacher models how to complete a story map, and students copy down the information. Students work with a partner to complete another story map. By the end of the lesson, students complete a third story map by themselves.

Evaluation for 3.E.2
Materials provide spiraling and scaffolded practice.

The materials provide some support for distributed practice over the course of the year. The materials incorporate some scaffolds for students to demonstrate integration of literacy skills that spiral over the school year. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide some support for distributed practice over the course of the year. A “Scope and Sequence” outlines the framework of skills that are taught, practiced, and reviewed in the program. The materials are divided into sections based on grade-level bands. There are two components in each section: the interactive curriculum and teacher-led small group instruction. The interactive reading curriculum is organized into “Cycles of Instruction.” Each cycle provides intensive and direct instruction, practice, and repetition, with multiple opportunities for skill application. Student placement in the Scope and Sequence and the skills taught and practiced in a cycle are based on the student’s needs. 

At the beginning of the year, students take an “ISIP” test for initial program placement; they then take it every four weeks thereafter in animated game-like episodes of “¡A ver cuánto sabes!” Skills at this grade level include listening, phonemic awareness, phonics, writing, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. For example, to develop listening skills in grade 1, in Cycles 5–9, teachers use “Poetry and Rhyme,” where students listen for and participate in the musical elements of language through rhymes and poetry. Students develop some comprehension skills in Cycles 5–9; they demonstrate progress and understanding by responding to both explicit and implicit questions about stories read aloud or independently. However, there is a limited focus on comprehension skills at this grade level. 

The materials’ design includes some scaffolds for students to demonstrate integration of some literacy skills that spiral over the school year. The “ISIP Español Priority Report” recommends interventions. It suggests small group lessons to provide for students demonstrating weakness in certain areas. The lessons are self-paced. In the Scope and Sequence, scaffolding for struggling students starts at the prekindergarten level and continues through Cycle 8, up to the grade 1 level. The questions and tasks are not highly rigorous; rather, they are at the lower end of Bloom’s taxonomy.

“Istation Reading: Cycle of Instruction” lists the various skills included in Interactive Instruction. The materials include some opportunities for students to demonstrate integration of skills that spiral throughout the cycles. For example, Cycle 5 introduces the skills of “main idea and details” in the reading comprehension section. Reading comprehension skills continue to spiral in the cycles as new skills are added, such as sequence and inferencing in Cycles 6–8. Cycle 9 targets the same skills and also introduces new skills, such as “cause and effect” and “problem and solution.” In Cycle 10, reading comprehension skills move to the use of background knowledge and graphic representation of the text. Skills become more complex as the cycles progress, but they build on previously introduced skills. Cycle 5 introduces syllables and syllable blending with letters J, G, Ch. Cycle 6 introduces syllables with Ñ, V, Ll, Y and continues syllable blending activities. The introduction of syllables and activities with syllable blending continues through Cycle 9. Materials show distributed practice of skills throughout the cycles in grade 1. 

The “Spanish Language Arts and Reading Strands Summary” provides resources to support distributed practice of some skills over the course of the year. Different tasks, teacher materials, and correlated resources reinforce skills that still need to be mastered. An overview shows skills that are taught at the beginning of the year versus those taught at the end of the year; complexity and rigor increase to allow students additional opportunities to demonstrate mastery. This document includes a list of all the TEKS and the SLAR expectations for the grade level. It includes the location of the activities to teach these skills for quick teacher reference. For instance, when the teacher is teaching phonemic awareness (identifying a sentence is made up of a group of words), the teacher assigns the online activities, letter books, and quizzes in Cycles 2, 4, 5, 7; else, the teacher can use the teacher-directed lessons in Cycles 2 and 4: “Conceptos básicos de la letra impresa: Las palabras se separan por espacios.” When teaching the students the relationships between letters and sounds and morphological analysis to decode written Spanish, the teacher can assign online activities such as “Letter Teach,” “Target Letter Song,” “Letter Trace—‘Lalo el lápiz,’” “Syllables with Target Letter.” Suggested teacher-directed activities for the skill include “sonidos de las vocales” and “correspondencia de letra y sonido.” This document is designed in the same way for each of the TEKS for this grade level. 

Evaluation for 4.1
Materials provide explicit instruction in print concepts and opportunities for student practice (K-1 only).

The materials provide explicit instruction in some print concepts with some opportunities for student practice. The materials provide opportunities for students to connect some print awareness knowledge to texts.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include activities in which children practice handling a book and finding different parts of a book. The lesson teaches students to identify the title of a book, then explains the title, author, and illustrator. The teacher discusses: “La portada también nos muestra el nombre del ilustrador. El ilustrador es la persona que hace los dibujos de este libro.” The teacher uses a sample book, El jaguar y el mono, to model the learned concept. The teacher follows by using many different books for students to practice identifying the title, author, and illustrator. Students practice naming the parts of different books. 

In the “Teacher Resource” section of the materials, there is a lesson teaching “Environmental Print: Recognizing Signs.” Students recognize that signs are a type of environmental print that can convey meaning without words. Students walk around the neighborhood for a scavenger hunt. In the “Signs Handout,” the teacher selects signs to guide students. Students glue one copy in their notebooks and use the second set for a matching game. The teacher points and says: “Some of these examples are just pictures. Reading is not just about reading words; reading is also using pictures to read. Pictures can tell us a lot if we just pay attention.” The materials lack activities that encourage students to play with print.

In Cycle 5, Lesson 2, “Concepto de la letra impresa,” the materials provide explicit instruction in print concepts. The lesson is specifically designed to teach students about identifying the title, author, and illustrator. The teacher explains that books have names or titles. Using the title is one way that we can differentiate books from each other. The teacher explains that the cover of the book shows the title and the name of the author and illustrator; the teacher discusses their functions. Each student receives a paper with a picture of a book cover; they work to identify the title and the name of the author and illustrator. The teacher ends the lesson by giving students copies of books so they can apply what they just learned. The lesson reinforces that written language carries meaning. 

In Cycle 6, Lesson 1, Concepto de la letra impresa, the materials provide explicit instruction in print awareness and connect print awareness to books and texts. The lesson focuses on print directionality (i.e., text is read top to bottom and good readers use their finger as a guide as they read). The teacher guides students and shows that using their fingers helps guide their eyes in the right direction. The teacher models for students how to “sweep return” and explains that when they come to the end of the sentence, they use the finger to “sweep return” and start on the next sentence. Students receive a loose-leaf paper with the short story and practice what the teacher modeled. The teacher provides support when necessary. Students receive copies of books and apply this skill in context. This lesson covers some essential components of print awareness, teaches students the earliest foundation skills of print awareness, and teaches that written language carries meaning.

In Cycle 7, Lesson 1, Concepto de la letra impresa, students practice and apply print concepts such as punctuation marks. The teacher describes each punctuation mark and explains how punctuation marks help readers comprehend texts. The teacher displays a story book that includes several punctuation marks and asks students to find a punctuation mark of the teacher’s choice. The teacher provides the text “La mano de Ana” and asks students to identify and mark each punctuation mark in the text. The teacher guides and supports students with finding the punctuation marks. Thus, students practice applying print concepts to texts. The materials lack the use of “big books” as an instructional support to help develop students’ ability to notice and recognize words that occur frequently and to expose them to large print.

In Cycle 9, Lesson 1, “Destreza fonológica/fonética,” provides instruction in print awareness and helps students understand that print represents spoken language. The teacher says that forming words involves combining consonants and vowels. The teacher explains that when we form words, we learn to spell and read correctly. The teacher writes the word mapa on the board and asks students to remember the word. The teacher erases the word. The teacher chooses four students to use their letter cards and form the word she erased. The teacher displays the letter cards m, a, p, a and tells students that each card has a letter that helps form the word mapa. The teacher gives students three minutes to put the letter cards in the correct order for the word mapa. The teacher guides students through putting the letter cards in the correct order to form the word. Students continue to form words in the independent practice section of the lesson as the teacher provides clues. 

The materials use the book El maestro to provide students an opportunity to connect print awareness to text. Students practice holding a book and reading left to right and top to bottom. Students connect the words to the pictures to understand that letters and words have meaning. The book includes colorful pictures along with high-frequency words such as el and la. Although this is not a big book, the book does provide readable print and pictures to help the reader make connections while reading.

Evaluation for 4.2
Materials provide explicit instruction in phonological skills and opportunities for student daily practice (e.g., rhyming, syllabication, blending, segmenting, manipulation) (K-1 only).

Materials provide limited opportunities for explicit instruction in phonological skills and student daily practice in rhyming, syllabication, blending, and segmenting, but not manipulation. Materials  provide minimal opportunities for students to practice via oral language activities. Materials do not provide opportunities for explicit instruction in each newly taught sound, sound pattern, sound/phoneme, and syllable pattern. The materials do not provide opportunities for students to practice blending spoken phonemes to form syllables and multisyllabic words. The materials do not provide opportunities for students to practice manipulating syllables to form new words. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide few opportunities for students to practice previously taught oral language concepts. Students practice oral language activities by blending spoken phonemes and segmenting spoken words into individual syllables, but do not have opportunities to manipulate syllables to form new words. The materials include many lessons labeled as “fonológica/fonética;” however because most of the direct instruction includes the use of print, these lessons are for phonics instruction and not phonological awareness.

In Cycle 2, Lesson 11, “Destreza fonológica/fonética,” the materials provide opportunities for students to manipulate syllables to form new words. Students combine syllables to form words with the letters m, p, l, s and the vowels a, e, i. The teacher provides syllable cards and reviews the sounds with the students. The teacher calls out sounds; the students find the corresponding sound and show the cards to the teacher. The teacher models joining syllables to form new words. The students then practice joining syllables to form new words with the support of picture cards. This lesson, however, provides phonics instruction, not phonological awareness, due to the use of print.

In Cycle 4, Lesson 4, “Destreza fonológica/fonética,” the materials provide opportunities for students to practice each newly taught sound/phoneme through the use of print. The materials provide explicit instruction on the sounds for consonants c, f, and b. The teacher asks which letter makes the sound /c/, then writes the letter c on the board. The teacher displays the key picture card for cadena, which includes the initial sound for c. The teacher explains that c is special and has two sounds, hard c and soft c. The teacher models the sound of soft c and displays the key picture card for that sound, cinta. The teacher displays other picture cards, and the students identify if the picture name begins with the initial sound for c. The teacher guides and supports as needed. The students continue with additional practice using the page “Juego de letras y sonidos”: The teacher says a sound, and the students find the letter for that sound and color it. The teacher observes and provides support if needed. 

In Cycle 9, Lesson 1, Destreza fonológica/fonética, the materials provide an opportunity for students to practice combining sounds to form words. The materials also provide opportunities for students to practice each newly taught sound/phoneme and syllable pattern and practice blending spoken phonemes to form syllables and syllables to form multisyllabic words. The teacher tells the students they will combine vowels and consonants to form words. The teacher writes the word mapa on the board, then erases the word and shows the students letter cards with m, a, p, a. The teacher asks students to place the letters in the correct order to make the word mapa. In guided practice, the teacher provides the letter cards with a, i, i, a, f, m, l and asks the students to form three simple words. The teacher provides clues, and the students work to form the secret word. The teacher reads sentences, and the students form words such as la, mi, lima. The students continue to practice using the page titled “Tabla de palabras secretas.” The students use letter cards and practice forming words by combining individual letters. The students write the secret word in the box provided. As in other lessons, this lesson provides instruction in phonics, not phonological awareness, due to the use of print.

In Level 3, Lesson 3, “Fonética,” the materials provide opportunities for students to practice each newly taught sound/phoneme and syllable pattern through the use of print. Students form consonant blends with Rr and Ll, such as words with bl (e.g., blusa, bloques, biblioteca, Pablo y obligar). The students echo the sounds and practice using their own letter tiles provided by the teacher; the teacher monitors for understanding. The students continue to practice blends with Rr, such as tr. Students blend the consonant with a vowel and then form a word; if it is correct, the teacher writes it on the board.

Evaluation for 4.3
Materials provide explicit systematic instruction in phonetic knowledge and opportunities for students to practice both in and out of context (K-2).

The materials provide explicit systematic instruction in phonetic knowledge and opportunities for students to practice both in and out of context. Materials include a research-based sequence of grade-level foundational skills instruction and opportunities for ample student practice to achieve grade-level mastery. Materials systematically develop knowledge of grade-level phonics patterns as addressed in the SLAR TEKS for grades K–2. The materials build spelling knowledge as identified in the SLAR TEKS. However, the materials provide limited opportunities for students to apply grade-level phonetic knowledge to connected texts (e.g., decodable readers) and tasks. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include a research-based sequence of grade-level foundational skills instruction. There are ample opportunities for student practice to achieve grade-level mastery. A “Scope and Sequence” lists the included strands, SLAR TEKS, online lessons, and teacher-directed lessons. It outlines the framework of skills that are taught, practiced, and reviewed. The materials are divided into “Cycles”; each cycle provides intensive and direct instruction, practice, and repetition, with multiple opportunities for grade-level foundational skills instruction. In “Letter Knowledge,” students learn and apply letter-sound correspondence through direct instruction and practice, including Cc, Gg, Rr, and Xx; identify the letter Hh as the only one without a sound in written and spoken words; decode words with the syllables que and qui and apply letter-sound correspondence to blend and decode CVCV/CVC words; blend syllables to create words using all previously taught letters and sounds, including the strong and soft sound of C and G; decode words with consonant blends and with digraphs Ch ch, Ll ll, rr in context and in isolation; blend previously taught letter sounds with common phonogram patterns to read words; decode words in context using semantic, syntactic, and phonics cues, including the word y; decode words with orthographic accents; and read irregular and regular high-frequency words. 

The materials systematically develop knowledge of grade-level phonics patterns as addressed in the SLAR TEKS via a research-based sequence of grade-level foundational skills instruction. In Letter Knowledge, students name and identify each letter of the alphabet, uppercase and lowercase. The sequence of the letters is as follows: Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu, Mm, Pp, Ll, Ss, Tt, Rr, Nn, Dd, Cc, Ff, Bb, Jj, Gg, Chch, Ññ, Vv, Ll ll, Yy, Qq, Zz, Hh, rr, Kk, Xx, and Ww. The materials provide opportunities for the students to practice and achieve grade-level mastery. For example, in Cycle 5, Lesson 8, “Destreza fonológica/fonética,” the materials focus on teaching students to form words using the letters ch, j, g along with the vowel a. The materials include syllable cards. The teacher directly teaches that syllables make up words and that consonants and vowels make up syllables. The lesson includes guided practice after the direct teach section. The teacher works with the students to identify the syllables in words. The teacher explains the memory game, and students play it to identify syllables in words during independent practice. The teacher provides support if necessary. 

In Cycle 7, Lesson 8, Destreza fonológica/fonética, the teacher says: “Ahora vamos a practicar. Cada uno de ustedes tendrá las sílabas ha, rra, za.” The teacher shows the students a picture with a word. Students choose the syllable that goes in the word, applying the learned phonics skill. In Lesson 11, Destreza fonológica/fonética, students play a game using cards. The student with the most cards wins the game; students lose all their cards if they find the “Burro Loco” card. 

The “Spanish Language Arts and Reading Strands” provide a scope and sequence of grade-level foundational skills. In Cycle 5, “Identificar los sonidos JGGCh,” students learn to identify these sounds first. Students use their prior knowledge to identify sounds in the initial position. This continues in Cycle 6, “Identificar los sonidos ÑVLIY,” which helps students connect the new spelling patterns with these sounds. Students practice identifying the initial sounds with the new letter sounds learned. 

The instructional materials provide frequent and adequate opportunities for students to apply phonetic knowledge to connected texts and tasks. For example, in Cycle 1, Lesson 3, “Fonética,” the teacher introduces diphthongs ue, ua, ie. The teacher introduces the sounds for the diphthongs; the students then read word cards with the diphthongs and sort them. They continue to practice with a word search of words with diphthongs. 

In Cycle 2, Lesson 6, Fonética, the teacher models how syllables form words. The teacher reviews syllables and shows the students how to join syllables to form words. The students use an accordion-style sheet with syllables to practice joining the syllables and forming words. The students then write the words they form on the “Actividad del estudiante.” Even though the materials include decodable readers, the decodable books are not linked to lessons, only cycles. Thus, when using the “Search Wizard” to quickly access decodable books for this grade level, the engine displays “No libro de recursos” available. No books for applying grade-level phonetic knowledge to connected text are displayed for this grade level.

The materials provide opportunities for students to apply grade-level phonetic knowledge to connected texts and tasks. The following are samples of decodable books included in the materials: the decodable book Mi abuelo barbudo y yo is found in Cycle 4. The reader uses the letters C(k), C(s), F, B and syllables with U. In Cycle 5, El rescate is a decodable book that includes the letters J, G(g), G(j), Ch; syllables with A; and “Daily 5: Read the Words.” 

The instructional materials provide opportunities for students to read high-frequency words both in and out of context. The students are able to use their high-frequency words in many of the readers provided. In Cycle 6, Lesson 1, “Recognize and learn high-frequency words,” students learn high-frequency words using high-frequency word cards and the game “Kabún.” The teacher says: “Hoy vamos a practicar algunas palabras de uso frecuente. Las palabras de uso frecuente son palabras que aparecen varias veces en lecturas. Cuando vemos una palabra de uso frecuente, la leemos rápidamente y no tenemos que decir los sonidos o las sílabas de manera separada.” Each student chooses a card; if they read the word, they keep the card. If the student cannot read it, they return it to the pile. After playing “Kabún,” the teacher gives students an independent practice sheet and asks them to write the words that are on their cards. 

In Cycle 7, Lesson 1, Recognize and learn high-frequency words, students learn high-frequency words using high-frequency word cards and the text Helena & Hugo. The teacher reads the story out loud, and the students repeat each sentence out loud. Then, each student uses a copy of Helena and Hugo and a pencil to look for and circle high-frequency words as the teacher says them out loud.

The materials do not build students’ spelling knowledge as identified in the SLAR TEKS. There is no list of spelling words for each selection that students learn weekly. The teacher does not explicitly instruct and model new sound and spelling patterns through different modalities. The materials do not include practice for spelling words. The words the students practice writing only include high-frequency words. These words do not follow spelling patterns.

Evaluation for 4.4
Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice and develop fluency while reading a wide variety of grade-level texts at the appropriate rate with accuracy and prosody. (Grades 1-2 only)

Materials provide frequent opportunities for students to practice and develop fluency while reading a wide variety of grade-level texts at the appropriate rate with accuracy and prosody. The materials include explicit instruction in fluency, including rate, accuracy, and prosody. There are opportunities and routines for teachers to regularly monitor and provide corrective feedback on rate, accuracy, and prosody.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include explicit instruction in fluency, including rate, accuracy, and prosody. In Cycle 1, Lesson 2, “Fluidez,” students read passages and practice fluency. The teacher explains that good readers read fluently, which involves three basic elements: rate, accuracy, and prosody; that one’s reading rate improves as the text becomes more familiar; and that we are supposed to read as if we are giving a speech. Students read three fluency passages: “¡Cuidado con el Cucuy!” “La lista del supermercado,” and “¡Gooooooool!” The teacher’s copy of the passages includes the words per line and a fluency tracking chart.

In Cycle 3, Lesson 16, Fluidez, the teacher explains that good readers read with fluency. The teacher says that in order to read with accuracy, we must read the words correctly without skipping words and pronounce all the syllables that make up the words. Students point with their fingers to the sample passage that states “¡Quiero mucho a mi mascota!” and read the word mucho in syllables. The teacher explains that to read with prosody, we must read with expression like in real life; the teacher models reading with intonation (prosody). The teacher explains that good readers read at an appropriate rate, not too fast or too slow. Students point to each word of a passage as they read. The teacher reads the passage “Florencia”; students follow and read. The students then read the passage for one minute, and the teacher marks errors. The materials provide information for the teacher regarding which errors to mark. 

In Level 3, Lesson 1, Fluidez, focuses on reading fluently, with expression and intonation. The teacher provides each student with a copy of the story “El paseo al zoológico” and a pencil or marker to underline the dialogue of their assigned character. The teacher tells students that with this story, they will practice reading with expression and intonation; expression means showing emotions and feelings, and intonation is the change in pitch and volume of the voice. The teacher models this during a read-aloud, changing the voice for each of the characters in each part of the dialogue and emphasizing question marks and exclamation marks. The teacher also models fluency by reading smoothly, with expression, and at an appropriate speed. Students then read the same passage aloud.

The materials provide opportunities and routines for the teachers to regularly monitor and provide corrective feedback to the students on rate, accuracy, and prosody. In Level 3, Lesson 1, Fluidez, focuses on fluency probes that are included within the materials. The teacher provides each student with a copy of the story “El paseo al zoológico.” The teacher’s copy of the text has numbers on the far right side to indicate the number of words per sentence. The student then reads the story for a minute, and the teacher listens. The teacher makes note of each student’s wrong pronunciation, substitutions, omissions, and inversions; if the student hesitates for more than three seconds, the teacher provides the student with the word and counts it as an error. The materials show the teacher how to calculate words correct per minute (WCPM). A fluency log allows both teachers and students to keep track of students’ rate and accuracy. The teacher uses this information to figure out the number of words read per minute and records this on the fluency chart. Each student keeps track of their fluency progress using the chart.

The “ISIP Oral Reading Fluency” (ORF) “Progress Monitoring Instructions” explain how to use the program’s printable progress monitoring resources for oral reading fluency. They provide information on gathering materials, administering the assessment, scoring, and making reading level adjustments. Instructions also include an oral reading fluency log to track student progress as well as readability ranges for each grade. The ISIP ORF “Rate Chart (1st Grade)” is intended to be used in conjunction with the ISIP ORF priority lesson for rate. It includes three charts calibrated based on grade-level expectations. Students can compare their first and second attempts and chart their progress. ISIP ORF is a cutting-edge assessment that uses voice recognition technology to automatically measure oral reading fluency for elementary students. Students make recordings of themselves reading grade-leveled passages, which then pass through carefully calibrated acoustic models in order to produce auto-scores. Teachers can make immediate data-driven decisions. Decades of research show that oral reading fluency is highly correlated with reading comprehension. For this reason, ISIP ORF can be used as both a screener and progress monitor.

Evaluation for 5.1
Materials include developmentally-appropriate diagnostic tools (e.g. formative and summative progress monitoring) and guidance for teachers, students, and administrators to monitor progress.

The materials include developmentally appropriate diagnostic tools (e.g., formative and summative progress monitoring) and guidance for teachers, students, and administrators to monitor progress. The materials include a variety of diagnostic tools (e.g., observational and formal) that are developmentally appropriate and provide guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools. The materials include tools for students to track their own progress and growth. The materials include diagnostic tools to measure all content and process skills for SLAR, as outlined in the SLAR TEKS.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Assessments are “Computerized Adaptive Testing” (CAT) tests, which adapt to measure students’ abilities using subtests. If the student performs poorly on the initial assessment, the next assessment will give a set of subtests at a lower difficulty level to determine the student’s placement at any point throughout the school year. Once a student displays mastery on any two consecutive “ISIP Assessments,” the student receives subtests at a higher difficulty level for areas like “Listening Comprehension,” “Phonemic Awareness,” “Letter Knowledge,” “Vocabulary.” 

The “Teacher Resource” states: “Additional On Demand Assessments can be given at any time during the school year,” if desired. The assessments are developmentally appropriate; they build on the skill and development continuum, from kindergarten to grade 1 and then to grade 2.

The materials include observational tools that can be used by the teacher to gather informal data regarding student progress. For example, for Listening Comprehension, Level 1, Lesson 3, the teacher asks a series of questions about the story students just read. The teacher reads each question and its respective options. By observing how well the students perform in completing this task, teachers collect anecdotal notes. For Phonics, Level 2, Lesson 2, the students listen to identify the difference between the letters Bb and Vv. Based on how well the students respond to this task, the teacher can write down anecdotal notes and gather data to review each student’s progress.

The materials provide guidance to ensure consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools. A variety of guides help the teacher with the diagnostic tools. Links to the “Guidance” section of the program can be found in the Teacher Resource and “Help Center.” Links include “ISIP Oral Reading Fluency—How To Guide,” “Assessment Day Script,” and “ISIP Lectura Temprana Technical Manual.” Multiple videos support teachers with consistent and accurate administration of diagnostic tools (e.g., “ISIP Modeling,” “Power Path—ISIP Only—Tutorial Video,” and “ISIP Summary—Tutorial Video.” 

The “Istation Application” section includes resources to support the teachers with consistent data collection. Supports include “Assessment Day Scripts” as part of the test instructions, student accommodation, student encouragement, and a guide for how to handle student questions and behavior during the ISIP assessments. The Assessment Day Script is read aloud every time the students take a diagnostic assessment or progress monitoring assessment, ensuring consistent and accurate administration of these tools. The materials include a “Modeling for Reading” video to help students become familiar with the test activities, directions, and questions. The materials guide the teacher to ensure that students log off the program properly in order to ensure that data is properly recorded. Teachers also receive information about ISIP subtests for each grade level, including how subtests work and what skills are measured.

Materials include diagnostic tools to measure all content and process skills for SLAR K-2, as outlined in the SLAR TEKS. The SLAR TEKS assessed include reading, writing, oral and written conventions, research, listening and speaking, and comprehension skills. ISIP assessments target areas based on SLAR TEKS and early reading curriculum expectations from both the U.S. and Latin American countries: “Destreza fonológica (Phonemic and Phonological Awareness), Comprensión auditiva (Listening Comprehension), Vocabulario (Vocabulary), Comprensión de lectura (Reading Comprehension), Lectura con fluidez (Text Fluency), Comunicación escrita (Written Communication).” For example, the “Oral Reading Fluency” (ORF) assessment allows teachers to “automatically measure oral reading fluency from digitally recorded passages for students in grades K through 5 in both English and Spanish.” Students read three short grade-level passages; they have 90 seconds to read each passage. The materials do not provide an automated score for the Spanish tests, but the teachers can use the recorded passages to gather information about their students’ reading skills. The ISIP assessments do not address research standards based on SLAR TEKS. 

Students have tools to track their own progress and growth in the “Tracking Student Growth” section of the Teacher Resources. Teachers are encouraged to help build motivation and maximize student growth through individual student goal setting. The teacher can select from a variety of tools to support students’ goal setting and growth tracking. The pledge “To Do My Best on Istation” allows students to set personal goals on their individual sheets. Students identify, analyze, and use data from their learning to help them become active agents in their own growth. For example, “Mi Primer Grado Objetivos de la ISIP Lectura Temprana” has a graph on which students shade in scores, goals, and a target focus. Students can also set their own goals with the “Setting Personal Istation Goals” sheets. Students’ growth can be displayed on a bulletin board without revealing exact student performance. In “Power Path,” an “ISIP Results Dashboard” allows students to access recent assessment results, assessment history, goals, and subtest scores. The students can see how many stars they have earned with their scores and their ISIP results. The teacher can use the dashboard to complete one-on-one conferences to help students complete their tracking sheets. Students use the dashboard to visually monitor their growth and progress.

Evaluation for 5.2
Materials include guidance for teachers and administrators to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools.

The materials include guidance for teachers and administrators to analyze and respond to data from diagnostic tools. Materials support teachers with guidance and direction to respond to individual students’ needs in all domains, based on measures of student progress appropriate to the developmental level. Diagnostic tools yield meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation. Materials provide a variety of resources and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities to respond to student data. Materials provide guidance for administrators to support teachers in analyzing and responding to data.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The program has several diagnostic tools that target many domains. The diagnostic tools yield a wealth of information presented via various reports. These reports provide data on usage levels, reading levels, and specific skill needs. Materials provide resources for teachers to target the specific skill needs of their students based on the data provided in the reports. Although there is a lot of support and guidance for the teachers, there is a lack of guidance for administrators to support teachers in responding to the data. The materials guide the administrators to help with data analysis but not with responding to the data. 

The materials support teachers with guidance and direction to respond to individual students’ needs in all domains, based on measures of student progress appropriate to the developmental level. The diagnostic tools yield meaningful information for teachers to use when planning instruction and differentiation. The “ISIP Summary Report” provides an overview of student progress within the program, the student’s most recent score, and a percentile rank identifying the student’s results as compared to national norms. The Summary Report shows student performance data from the most recently completed assessment, including growth charts tracking overall progress and subtest/domain progress. This report includes the student’s current “Lexile Measure” based on the most recent “Reading Comprehension” subtest. The results help the teacher evaluate the student’s intervention plan, identify the student’s skill weaknesses, and discuss the student’s performance with administrators and intervention teams. The Skill Growth Report shows each skill assessed, student progress and reading ability, the class average for the month, and the progress made by the class in the current month.

The “Individual Student Session Report” provides information regarding student behavior and practices while using the application. The “Critical Intervention Report” highlights students whose scores are in the 10th percentile or lower and students who are in need of intense intervention; it also provides recommendations for teacher-directed lessons in the curriculum. Based on the reports’ data, teachers can identify individual students’ strengths and weaknesses for planning and intervention. A “User’s Guide” provides guidance and direction to respond to students’ needs based on measures of student progress; it yields meaningful information for teachers to use for planning and differentiation. 

The materials provide a variety of resources and teacher guidance on how to leverage different activities to respond to student data. Each report provides data to help guide teachers in their classroom instruction. The “Classroom Summary Report” helps teachers identify students in need of additional support, group students for small group instruction, and identify the skill level of materials for small group instruction. The “Priority Report” helps the teacher select students for small group instruction and obtain teacher-directed lessons and materials. It also helps teachers document provided interventions and discuss student performance with administrators or intervention teams. The “Student Detail Report” helps teachers monitor student progress in interactive instruction, assist with specific skill instruction, view student writing responses, and monitor growth in specific writing skills; teachers can also use it for individual writing conferences or instruction. The materials include videos with directions for teachers to follow to understand the data. 

The “Lexile Trend Report” allows teachers to view students’ Lexile levels in order to help students choose the right books. After students are placed in their instructional path based on their initial assessment score, interactive instruction moves students through the program at their own pace. Students can advance on their learning path based on assessment performance; assessments are intended to be used to differentiate for each student’s needs. Additionally, teachers can assign additional practice activities to small groups of students or individuals; select practice lessons for students to complete at home or at school; and track the progression and completion of assigned lessons. Teachers can run the reports to help with planning and intervention. Reports support teachers in identifying intervention areas and help with purposeful planning. 

The materials provide guidance for administrators to support teachers in analyzing and responding to data. A provided guide for administrators focuses on running reports for the campus and classroom. The administrator can run reports to compare classrooms and to compare a campus with the rest of the district. The administrator is able to filter reports by grades and classrooms to help target teachers’ professional development needs. The guide includes information to help administrators understand the various reports and comparisons. The reports can help administrators identify specific areas for program improvement based on campus performance. For example, the “Executive Summary Report” provides campus-wide overall diagnostic assessment data. The report shows students’ percentile at each “Tier” for each grade level and skill growth by Tier for each grade level. The report provides campus administrators a brief overview of the current assessment or month’s data; it also shows the number and percentage of students at each instructional Tier/level by grade for the current month. 

The “Tier Movement Report” shows the percentage and number of students in each Tier/level by month and tracks student movement between Tiers/levels. The report helps administrators evaluate student growth throughout the school year; evaluate the effectiveness of instructional support; and monitor for an increase of Tier 1 (i.e., Level 3, 4, and 5) students and decrease of Tier 2 and Tier 3 (i.e., Level 2 and 1) students. The materials provide administrators with data in three different areas: Levels (Quintiles), Instructional Tiers, and RTI. This data helps administrators plan for content area professional development to support areas of need. The “Campus” page is available to district and campus managers. Administrators are able to gather the needed data to support teachers with purposeful planning and intervention, but there is no direction for administrators on how to help teachers with instructional delivery or planning. Guidance for administrators helps support teachers with data analysis.

Evaluation for 5.3
Materials include frequent, embedded opportunities for monitoring progress.

The materials include frequent, embedded opportunities for monitoring progress. Routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities accurately measure and track student progress. The frequency of progress monitoring is appropriate for the age and content skill.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include routine and systematic progress monitoring opportunities that accurately measure and track student progress. “ISIP” is an automated computer-adaptive testing system that automatically assigns an assessment to each student. The ISIP assessments are automatically given the first time a student logs on during the month. The monthly ISIP for grade 1 measures “Phonemic and Phonological Awareness, Listening Comprehension, Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Text Fluency, Written Communication.” Students complete the initial assessment and are placed at their appropriate developmental level within the program. From there, students are assessed on a monthly basis via ISIP to measure progress and continued growth in reading. The teacher uses this monthly ISIP data to plan intervention for small group lessons or teacher-directed lessons. 

Teachers can give an “ISIP On-Demand Assessment” at any time during the year. ISIP assessment data is presented in many different forms, as addressed by a variety of reports. The reports provide guidance for teachers to monitor and track students’ performance over time. The “Priority Report” alerts teachers of students needing additional support and provides lessons based on demonstrated weaknesses. The “Progress Report” shows student progress through the “Cycles of Instruction” by reading areas. The “Student Summary Handouts” provide student performance data from the most recently completed ISIP assessment. 

The materials provide some opportunities for teachers to use informal assessments to observe and document students’ learning. In ISIP, Level 3, Lesson 1, “Comunicación escrita,” teachers use flash cards and a checklist to monitor students’ acquisition of one-syllable high-frequency words. Materials state: “Los estudiantes deben tener múltiples oportunidades para demostrar su dominio de la destreza. Observe y marque el progreso de los estudiantes. Utilice esta información para planear instrucción de grupos pequeños.” 

The frequency of progress monitoring is appropriate, based on student age and content skill development. ISIP integrates computerized-adaptive testing that accurately reflects the reading ability level of each student and measures growth over time. Test questions range from easy to hard for each reading domain for prekindergarten through grade 12. To identify a student’s overall reading ability and individual skill ability, the assessment adapts to precisely measure student ability within subtests, based on immediate student responses. Oral reading fluency is not used in determining the “Overall Reading Ability” index. Once the areas of strength and weakness are determined by the ISIP, the teacher is able to use the teacher-directed lessons to help students target areas of need. Students making appropriate progress continue working at their own pace through the online portal of the program. If progress is not being made, students may also be moved to test in lower-grade-level TEKS. 

The “Tracking Student Growth” report is intended to track goals and “focus areas” for each student based on the reports from the ISIP. The tracking sheet is the same for all the grade levels and can be used to work with students to practice individual goal setting to “help them build motivation and maximize student growth.” “Tracking Individual Student Growth” can be used for the student to track their own yearly progress based on monthly results from the ISIP assessments. The tracking charts list the school year’s months; students fill in their score (points) to complete a graph that tracks their progress from month to month. These charts help the students visually track their own progress. Additionally, after students have completed the ISIP Assessment, teachers will have access to reports by logging in to www.istation.com. The reports include ISIP Summary Report, Classroom Summary Report, ISIP Skill Growth, The Priority Report, The Student Summary Handout, The Progress Report, and The Usage Trend Report.

Evaluation for 6.1
Materials include guidance, scaffolds, supports, and extensions that maximize student learning potential.

The materials include guidance, scaffolds, support, and extensions that maximize student learning potential. Materials provide recommended targeted instruction and activities for students who have not yet mastered the content. The materials provide some targeted instruction and activities for students who have mastered the content. However, the materials do not provide additional enrichment activities for all levels of learners.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials provide guidance, scaffolds, support, and extensions, as well as recommended targeted instruction and activities for students who have not yet mastered the content. A placement assessment assigns activities according to students’ screening testing results. In Cycle 7, Lesson 1, “Identify the sequence of events of a text,” the materials provide targeted instruction for students who have not yet mastered the content. The lesson provides the text ¿Cómo crecen las plantas? as well as illustration cards for each student and an answer key for the teacher. Students receive direct instruction, guided practice, and independent practice. First, the teacher tells students that identifying the right order and sequence in a story is an important strategy to understand texts. The teacher reads a story out loud twice and asks questions about the sequence of events. Students answer those questions (“Brinde apoyo si es necesario”).

In Cycle 7, Lesson 2, high-frequency words activities provide targeted instruction for students who have not yet mastered the content. Students use the “Reading Fluency Passage: ‘Helena and Hugo,’ written by ISIP.” This passage helps students who need support with high-frequency words. Students play bingo with the high-frequency words they are learning: “Vamos a jugar bingo de palabras. Yo voy a decir una palabra y ustedes van a buscarla en el tablero.” In Lesson 3, the materials provide targeted instruction for students who have not yet mastered the content. Students receive direct instruction, guided practice, and independent practice with high-frequency words. Materials provide a list of resources and a teaching portion, which tells the teacher what to say, what resources to use, and the order of the activities. During instruction, the teacher reads a story to students; the teacher shows high-frequency word cards, and students repeat and identify them. Materials guide: “Muestre las tarjetas con las palabras y espere a que los estudiantes encuentren la palabra en el tablero. Brinde apoyo si es necesario”. 

Printable activities offer guidance, scaffolds, and support the learning of specific skills in order to help students to master the content. In Cycle 8, Lesson 1, “Vocabulario,” there is targeted instruction for students who have not yet mastered the content. Students act out verbs as they learn to recognize high-frequency words. The teacher explains that verbs “expresan una acción, como correr, comer y brincar.” Students then take out a card, and the teacher says “mira la ilustración de la acción en silencio.” Students act out the word seen on the card while the rest of the students guess what word is on the card. These activities target students struggling with verbs. 

The materials include some targeted instruction and activities for students who have mastered content. After each “ISIP” assessment, students who have mastered the content are assigned activities according to their level, which may move them up to other cycles, even if these cycles do not belong to the student’s grade level. For example, if a kindergarten student masters the assessment, the program may assign activities from grade 1 or another grade level. No evidence was located of teachers directing students who have mastered a skill to work on a different activity while the teacher works with those who have not yet mastered the skill.

The materials provide additional activities for all levels of learners. After the assessment, students are placed in a cycle according to their level; the program suggests lessons and printed activities to use according to the student’s needs. Each cycle includes the “Teachers Resources” section, which provides guidance for differentiating support for students struggling to master content.

The materials do not include enrichment activities that provide students opportunities to explore and apply new learning in a variety of ways. The materials state: “Early reading assessments of Spanish literacy development need to (a) identify students at risk for reading difficulties, students that may need extra instruction or intensive intervention if they are to progress toward grade-level standards in reading by year end; (b) monitor student progress for skill growth on a frequent and ongoing basis and identify students that are falling behind; (c) provide information about students who will be helpful ISIP Español Technical Manual 1-4 Chapter 1: Introduction in planning instruction to meet their needs; and (d) assess whether students achieved grade-level reading standards at the end of the school year. The program targets most students to fill in areas of weakness to help students achieve grade level.” 

Evaluation for 6.2
Materials provide a variety of instructional methods that appeal to a variety of learning interests and needs.

The materials provide a variety of instructional methods that appeal to a variety of learning interests and needs. A variety of instructional approaches engage students in the mastery of the content and support some developmentally appropriate multimodal instructional strategies (visuals). The materials support multiple types of practices and provide guidance and structures to achieve effective implementation. The materials support flexible grouping. However, there is no guidance to differentiate lessons, and the materials do not provide multiple types of lessons. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include a variety of instructional approaches to engage students in mastery of the content through indirect learning and discovery while teachers observe, guide, and confer with students. For example, in Cycle 8, Lesson 1, “Comprensión de lectura,” students identify the main characteristics of the informative article “The History of Human Flight.” During the lesson, students work with a partner to identify the characteristics of the text. The lesson uses a graphic organizer and cards with the different text characteristics to support student learning. In Lesson 2, the teacher introduces text structure with “Tipos de estructuras.” The lesson uses the following texts: “Insectos” and “El mar y el lago.” During the lesson the teacher says, “En este cuadro van a encontrar las imágenes claves que los ayudarán a reconocer cada una de estas estructuras de texto”. Students use “Tipos de estructuras” as a guide for text structure identification. For independent practice, students identify text structure: “Ahora van a leer dos pasajes y decidirán la estructura de texto que el autor utilizó para cada pasaje.” This activity creates opportunities to problem solve with teacher support. 

In Cycle 9, Lesson 1, Comprensión de lectura, students identify details in stories. The teacher guides students to name and identify details: “Primero vamos a nombrar y a hacer un círculo alrededor de los detalles.” “¿Pueden identificar algún otro detalle? ¿Qué les dicen todos estos detalles sobre lo que trata el dibujo?” The teacher confirms and provides student feedback throughout the lesson. 

The materials support some developmentally appropriate multimodal instructional strategies through the use of visuals. The cycle lessons guide teachers in using strategies for each lesson that allow students to explore with concrete, hands-on materials and teacher modeling or “thinking aloud” about the new concept. This creates opportunities for students to problem solve with teacher support. For example, in Cycle 6, Lesson 4, students identify the sequence of events in the text ¿Cómo crecen las plantas? using sequential cards. The teacher models how to identify the sequence of a story during the read-aloud. Then, students use story cards to identify the sequence of the story.

In Cycle 9, Lesson 2, students use graphic organizers to identify the character traits of two narrative texts: “The Red Balloon” and “Kika.” Students read each text and fill in the graphic organizer based on text information. 

The materials provide direct instruction and flexible grouping (i.e., individual, small, or whole groups) for students who are struggling. The teacher uses reports and targeted lessons with students who are struggling on a specific TEKS. The materials provide activities designed for “Tier 2 and 3” students as well as more opportunities for oral language development. Teachers have specific opportunities to scaffold lessons. Although the lessons are set up in “Cycles,” the curriculum is not developed to be connected; it is more geared towards helping students work on their developmental areas. 

The materials offer flexible grouping. For example, in ISIP, Level 3, Lesson 1, “Comunicación escrita,” the teacher targets high-frequency words with one syllable. The teacher directs the whole class: “Ahora vamos a combinar sonidos para formar palabras y escribirlas.” Teachers observe each student and provide support as needed. Materials state: “Students must have multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of the skill. Observe and mark the progress of the students. Use this information to plan training instruction for small groups.” The materials do not include read-aloud books, morning message, or interactive writing activities. The materials do include read-aloud passages or text in cycle lessons 2 to 8 that provide explicit opportunities for teachers to read aloud to students.

The materials support multiple types of practices and provide guidance and structures to achieve effective implementation. The lessons included in Cycles 5–9 follow the gradual release model—“Materiales, Enseñanza, Práctica dirigida, Práctica independiente”—moving from teacher-led instruction to independent practice. For example, in Cycle 8, Lesson 2, students identify the sequence of events using sequential cards. After direct teaching, the teacher guides students in a collaborative game: “Ahora vamos a jugar. Hay varias tarjetas con cuatro actividades diferentes. [Ahora] ustedes van a identificar cuáles tarjetas pertenecen a cada actividad y van a ponerlas en la secuencia correcta.” 

Evaluation for 6.3
Materials include supports for English Learners (ELs) to meet grade-level learning expectations.

The materials do not support English Learners (ELs) in meeting grade-level learning expectations. They do not include linguistic accommodations (communicated, sequenced, and scaffolded) commensurate with various levels of English language proficiency. The materials do not encourage strategic use of students’ primary language to develop linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic skills in the target language. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials do not include linguistic accommodations for ELs with various levels of English language proficiency. The materials are in Spanish, and there is no guidance or support for English instruction. The program description states: “Istation Español is different from a translated literacy program that has been trans-adapted from English to Spanish. Learning is enhanced through purposeful lessons with Latin culture and literature.” The materials do not use Spanish to develop linguistic, affective, cognitive, and academic skills in English; the intent of the materials is to develop Spanish literacy skills. The materials include, in some instances, translations of vocabulary words into English, but there is no guidance regarding how to use these translations.

Evaluation for 7.1
Materials include year-long plans with practice and review opportunities that support instruction.

The materials lack a year-long plan, but there are some practice and review opportunities that support instruction. Although the materials provide a vertical alignment document that is intended to build instruction year to year, the document shows alignment of two grade levels at a time; it lacks a cohesive, year-long plan to build students’ knowledge and skills in all domains throughout the span of the curriculum. There is some spiraled review and practice of knowledge and skills in all domains throughout the span of the curriculum, including various methods for instruction and review such as cutting, pasting, partner work, songs, and movement. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials lack a cohesive, year-long plan that builds students’ concept development. The materials are accompanied by a “Spanish Language Arts and Reading Strands Summary” and a “Scope and Sequence” outlining the essential knowledge and skills that are taught in the program. However, the scope and sequence shows how knowledge and skills build and connect across two grades levels at a time, thus limiting the visualization of a vertical alignment of the whole program. Due to Istation's adaptive nature, the Scope and Sequence reference what cycles a student could progress through depending on their ISIP score. The Spanish Language Arts and Reading Strands Summary reflects the alignment of most skills taught in “ISIP” year to year. However, the summary is organized by SLAR-TEKS and not in chronological order as presented in the lessons. The summary includes the TEKS, the online activities that address the SLAR-TEKS, the “Cycles” in which the SLAR-TEKS are targeted, and the teacher-directed lessons. The document does not specify skills taught in each strand. 

The materials provide some spiraled review and practice of knowledge and skills in all domains throughout the span of the curriculum. ISIP integrates computerized adaptive testing that accurately reflects the reading ability level of each student and measures growth over time. The “Interactive Reading Curriculum” is organized into “Cycles of Instruction.” Each cycle provides intensive and direct instruction, practice, and repetition, with multiple opportunities for skill application. The “Adaptive Assessments” use interactive content to measure a student’s reading ability and skill development and designs a personalized plan based on the student’s assessment results. Although overall the online portal provides many opportunities for students to review and practice knowledge and skills when they struggle, materials do not spiral for students that master the TEKS. The teacher can plan face-to-face intervention based on “Priority Report” recommendations.

The “Istation Español Curriculum Correlated to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Spanish Language Arts and Reading” document lists a spiral review of knowledge and skills that spans the curriculum. Skills are grouped by general categories (domains): Listening, Book and Print Awareness, Phonological and Phonemic Awareness, Phonics and Word Analysis, Letter Writing and Spelling, Technology, Vocabulary, Fluency, Comprehension.” These general categories are broken into skills. The document also lists the skills taught in each “Cycle.” The materials provide some spiral review. For instance, in grade K, TEKS K (1)B, TEKS 1.2(A) “Demonstrate phonological awareness by: (iv) segmenting spoken words into individual syllables,” is targeted with phonics in Cycles 3–8. The materials indicate that the TEKS is covered in several cycles across the grade 1 curriculum, not just in the beginning or at the end. The materials span Cycles 3–8. The TEKS is also included in several online activities, such as a high-frequency word game and decodable books, as well as teacher-directed lessons. In grade K, TEKS 1(A), students recognize that spoken words can be represented by print for communication; in grade 1, TEKS 1(A), students recognize that spoken words are represented in written Spanish by specific sequences of letters.

Evaluation for 7.2
Materials include implementation support for teachers and administrators.

The materials include some implementation support for teachers and administrators. An SLAR TEKS-aligned scope and sequence outlines the essential knowledge and skills that are taught in the program, the order in which they are presented, and how knowledge and skills build and connect across grade levels. Support helps teachers implement the materials as intended. Resources and guidance help administrators support teachers in implementing the materials as intended. The materials include a school year’s worth of literacy instruction and routines; however, realistic pacing guidance is difficult to gauge since this is based on student performance. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials are accompanied by an SLAR TEKS-aligned scope and sequence outlining the essential knowledge and skills that are taught in the program. The scope and sequence shows how knowledge and skills build and connect across two grade levels at a time. The “Spanish Language Arts and Reading Strands Summary” reflects the alignment of skills taught in “ISIP” year to year. Due to Istation’s adaptive nature, the Scope and Sequence reference what cycles a student could progress through depending on their ISIP score. The summary is separated by TEKS; the SLAR-TEKS are addressed through online activities such as books and songs. “Cycles” are online and target the SLAR-TEKS; there are also teacher-directed lessons. The summary shows lessons in alignment with TEKS, rather than showing the lessons according to skill progression. 

The materials include teacher support to implement the materials as intended. In the “User’s Guide,” “Getting Students and Teachers Started with Istation,” the materials provide guidance for setting up the program in the classroom (e.g., setting up student accounts, login information, and best practices). There is guidance on using and applying the data gathered through assessments for instructional planning. The User’s Guide is the same for all the grades. The “Beginning of Year Implementation Guide” includes the “Before the First Assessment, Monthly Activities, Weekly Activities, Recommended Weekly Usage, and Reports” section, which provides teachers with information on how to implement the program. There is support for teachers to plan student use of technology, face-to-face intervention based on “Priority Report” recommendations, and daily student usage (e.g., 30 minutes per day for Tier 1). “Teacher Resources” include reports for student progress monitoring and implementation of classroom materials. In the “Data Analysis” section, the materials provide guidance for small group work, mini-lessons and reteach lessons, tutorial videos for best practices (e.g., on setting up the program, on using reports), and on tiers and progress reports. The materials include board cards that have personalized teaching tips.

Resources and guidance help administrators support teachers with program implementation. The online portal includes an administrator page for campus and/or district administrators and a user guide. Videos with technical instructions help the administrator navigate the program; they cover, for instance, adding and removing users, reports for usage, and reports for assessment compilation. The user guide addresses class setup, student data imports, and reports. The “Administration” tab provides school administrators access to district or campus information at a glance, classroom reports, and student progress monitoring. Administrators have the ability to share reports with teachers for collaborative purposes. The “Administrator Implementation Checklist” addresses technology requirements for program usage and implementation. Guidance for administrators focuses on the technology aspect and overseeing the usage of the program on the campus rather than providing resources and guidance to help the administrator serve as the educational leader of the campus. 

As stated in the “Interactive Instruction Guide,” once students have completed their initial assessments, they are placed on their own instructional path. The Teacher Resource section in the guide states: “Students move through Istation Interactive Instruction at their own pace after being placed in their instructional path based on their initial ISIP score. The initial placement cannot be changed by students or teachers; however, students can advance their learning path based on subsequent ISIP scores.” Therefore, the materials do not offer a pacing guide. Students advance on their learning path and continue to work on TEKS-based instruction throughout the year. The materials include teacher-directed lessons for teachers to enhance the learning experience. Through these lessons, teachers can pick and choose which direct instruction lessons to use. The materials lack teacher-directed lessons to cover the entire year.

Evaluation for 7.3
Materials provide implementation guidance to meet variability in programmatic design and scheduling considerations.

The materials provide implementation guidance to meet variability in programmatic design and scheduling considerations. The materials provide guidance for strategic implementation without disrupting the sequence of content that must be taught in a specific order following a developmental progression. The materials are designed in a way that allows LEAs the ability to incorporate the curriculum into district, campus, and teacher programmatic design and scheduling considerations.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials include strategic guidance on implementation to ensure the content sequence is taught consistently with the developmental progression of foundational literacy skills. This adaptive program allows students to work at their own pace and at their own level. The materials provide guidance to support the teaching “Cycles” most appropriate to the classroom. The scope and sequence includes information on the developmental progression of skills across the various grade levels. The document lists the SLAR-TEKS and the corresponding cycles in which they are taught. The scope and sequence document is presented in order by TEKS.

The materials are designed to allow LEAs the ability to incorporate the curriculum into district, campus, and teacher programmatic design and scheduling considerations. The materials are designed to be easily assimilated into any district curriculum framework. The different curriculum components (digital, teacher station, teacher-directed lessons) can be tailored to meet the scheduling needs of the classroom while still meeting the academic needs of the students. The materials include instructional planning templates to help teachers, districts, and schools decide how they want to implement and use the curriculum. The suggested usage for the digital component is 30–40 minutes. There are no specific days and times for each lesson. The curriculum provides the teacher with resources to implement lessons and target skills as needed in the “Teacher Station” and “Teacher-Directed Lessons.” Each lesson is TEKS-based and can be implemented in any curriculum. Although the materials can be adjusted to fit scheduling and program needs, they do not provide guidance on the strategic implementation of the materials since the adaptive technology adjusts to each individual student’s needs.

Evaluation for 7.4
Materials provide guidance on fostering connections between home and school.

The materials provide guidance on fostering connections between home and school. Materials support the development of strong relationships between teachers and families and specify activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development.

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

The materials support the development of strong relationships between teachers and families. They include multiple ways for teachers to stay connected with families to help continue students’ reading development at home. Activities are provided in both English and Spanish. Parents receive a monthly “ISIP” results letter, the “Carta para padres de ISIP Español.” The letter describes the program to the parents and the areas of assessment. The letter includes the areas on which the teachers will be working with the students and how they will work together to help the students succeed in reading. The letter also communicates to parents the value of their partnership: “¡Estamos seguros de que con su ayuda y compromiso su hijo(a) desarrollará su máximo potencial de lectura!” 

The materials specify activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development. A “Parent Portal Walkthrough Video” provides parents with an in-depth description of how the program works and helps them learn how they can help their students at home. “Guia para Padres” includes a welcome letter for parents and a program overview. The parent introduction section includes an “Istation at Home Manual.” The parent guide covers all of the sections and “Cycles” of the program (across all grades). It also provides advice for parents on how to use the program at home, shows the design of the program, explains how to connect at home, and provides other resources they can use at home. A section with parent tips includes ideas for establishing a routine for children as they learn from home, creating a classroom at home, integrating the vocabulary the child is learning throughout the day, giving students breaks in between lessons, creating a schedule, and rewarding students for their work. The materials also provide a “Planning for a Powerful School Year” resource: “This new parent guide is practical and easy to use with simple tips for parents, including daily and weekly schedule samples for home.” 

The “Manual de Istation para el hogar” guides parents on navigating the program at home. The manual features high-level teaching tips and video series and provides specific activities for use at home to support students’ learning and development. There is parental guidance on the various sections of the program and on using the parent portal. The parent portal provides a wealth of information to help parents work with their students at home and help support their learning. The portal also provides printable resources specific to students’ academic needs, printable books in different Lexile reading levels and passages, parent-facing data on the student’s work in the program, and a summary of the skills the student is working on and their progress. The portal allows parents to monitor their students in the same way the teacher does at school; they are able to view the accumulated data and help students in areas of need. The Manual de Istation para el hogar is for all the Istation instructional materials and is not grade-specific. 

“La conexión desde el hogar: Ipractice” explains in detail how the program has been developed, so parents can understand how the digital lessons and interactive books engage students through songs and games; it also guides the parents on what is available for the students to use at home. “Ipractice” has lessons, games, and activities that the students can use to practice skills. The home practice section includes activities the parents can complete at home to help support their student’s learning, such as “Tarjetas de fonogramas” and “Tarjetas del banco de palabras.” Many available resources help parents support their student’s learning at home. The guide also provides parents with practical tutorials and webinars to help their children using “Read-Alouds,” “Vocabulary Development,” “Interactive Writing,” and “Segmenting Syllables” at home. These resources provide specific at-home activities to support students’ learning and development. The “Registro de estudiantes” guides the parents through downloading and using the program at home.

Evaluation for 7.5
The visual design of student and teacher materials (whether in print or digital) is neither distracting nor chaotic.

The visual design of the student and teacher materials (whether print or digital) is neither distracting nor chaotic. Materials use white space appropriately and employ design that supports and does not distract from student learning. Pictures and graphics are supportive of student learning and engagement without being visually distracting. 

Evidence includes but is not limited to:

Cycle 1, Lesson 4, “Comunicación escrita,” appropriately uses white space. Sections are easy to focus on and read, as specified by User Interface Guidelines. The fonts used are not too small or large. There is appropriate space between the sections. The section headers are in a different font size and appear centered at the top. Sections are easy to locate and follow the same format in all the lessons. 

In Cycle 3, Lesson 2, “Fonética,” picture and letter cards support students in making letter-sound connections. The lesson includes cards for teaching the sounds for the letters m and s. One card has an apple on one side and the answer on the back. The other card includes a sun with the letter s on the back. The teacher prepares the cards so that the answer is on the back of the card. The graphics are clear and help the students make the letter-sound connections. The lesson includes more cards for independent practice for the letters g, b, and v. The cards all follow the same format. The materials’ design includes instructional support for the teachers with information that is clearly stated and easily identified on the pages. 

The design of Cycle 8, Lesson 1, “Reading Comprehension,” includes a short description of the skills the students are going to be learning; this is followed by a list of materials the teacher will need to teach the lesson, an explicit teacher script, guided practice instruction, and independent practice for the students. The teacher’s script is in bold to draw the teacher’s attention to what needs to be said. The student materials are visually clear and demonstrate appropriate use of white space. 

In Cycle 10, Lesson 1, “Comprensión de lectura,” the “Organizador gráfico para hacer inferencias” includes clear pictures to help students make a connection between text clues (a magnifying glass), their ideas (a thought bubble), and inferences (a question mark). The organizer uses pictures that the students are familiar with to help them make connections and support them while completing the graphic organizer. 

The design of Level 1, Lesson 2, “Fluency,” includes a short description of the skills the students are going to be learning; this is followed by a list of materials the teacher will need to teach the lesson, an explicit teacher script, guided practice instruction, and independent practice for the students. The teacher’s script is in bold to draw the teacher’s attention to what needs to be said. In Lesson 8, Fonética, the materials include a lesson on syllables. The student activity has picture cards with graphics, “Tarjetas de sílabas.” The pictures are realistic and match the sounds. The students are able to associate the syllables with the graphics. This also includes “Un mensaje secreto” that supports student learning. 

In Level 2, Lesson 5, “Comunicación escrita,” teacher instructions are written in bold print, which helps the teacher to easily follow the lesson. During “Prueba de ortografía,” students write spelling words. The activity is clearly labeled, has direct instructions for the teacher and students, and has plenty of space for the students to write. The lesson contains clear large headings to guide the teacher.