Theresa Gage, elementary English language arts and reading coordinator, said learning outcomes and teacher feedback have proven the implementation a success.
“The goal is to produce confident readers and writers, especially with our youngest learners,” she said at the Sept. 16 board meeting.
How it works
Gage said the UFLI curriculum is a structured literacy program that delivers explicit, systematic phonics instruction targeting skills, including:
- Blending and breaking apart sounds
- Matching letters to sounds
- Reading and spelling
- Irregular word recognition
- Reading sentences and paragraphs
Each UFLI lesson is 30 minutes long, forming part of the 140-minute literacy block, Gage said. The lessons are taught over two days in eight steps, which include practicing drills, learning new concepts and reading easy-to-sound-out books.
Digging deeper
Gage said data from the 2024-25 Measurement of Academic Progress exam for Reading Fluency highlights the program’s impact, with the number of kindergarten students flagged for potential reading difficulties dropping from 21% at the beginning of the year to 13% by year’s end.
Additionally, first- and second-graders demonstrated the highest reading growth across all grade levels in the district.
What else?
Gage said the program provides teachers with a year-long instructional calendar, face-to-face and on-demand professional development, and access to resources like virtual blending boards, letter tiles and decodable texts.
Meanwhile, parents receive guides and take-home practice sheets that align with classroom instruction, allowing them to reinforce skills at home without introducing new material.
To address earlier concerns about printing materials, Gage said the district now provides professionally printed decodable texts through its graphic arts department, available to teachers upon request.
What they’re saying
Gage read out testimonials from district teachers, including kindergarten teacher Jennifer Vilorio, who praised the instructional tools.
“I love UFLI—it gives clear, explicit routines that make phonics instructions easy to understand and deliver,” she said. “I have seen huge growth with my students the past two years we have used this program.”
Additionally, second-grade teacher Abe Mann said he has seen the long-term benefits of early literacy instruction over the last two years.
“UFLI Phonics program builds a strong foundation in phonics skills that students can continue to develop each year,” he said. “I've noticed that by the time students reach second grade, those who have been doing UFLI since kindergarten are more confident readers and writers.”
Looking ahead
While UFLI is primarily used in kindergarten through second-grade classrooms, Gage said it can also be used in small-group instruction for older students who need extra help with phonics.
For students in dual language programs, the district uses other phonics tools to ensure every child gets age-appropriate reading instruction.
