Today the curriculum-review group EdReports.org released its first round of analyses for K-2 reading materials.
The group has been rolling out reviews for instructional materials that purport to be aligned to the Common Core State Standards over the last two years. We’ve written previously about the ratings for K-8 math textbooks, high school math materials, and 3rd-8th grade reading materials. (We’ve also written about EdReports.org’s teacher-led review process and some of the controversy surrounding the group’s methodology.)
Today’s release looks at K-2 reading materials for the first time. The reviews showed:
- Two titles met the criteria for alignment to the common core: Core Knowledge Language Arts published by Amplify and ReadyGen published by Pearson
- Two titles partially met the criteria for alignment to the common core: Reading Wonders published by McGraw-Hill and Bookworms published by Comprehensive Reading Solutions
- Two titles did not meet the criteria for alignment: Journeys 2017 published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Reading Street published by Pearson
All of the texts were previously reviewed at other grade levels. The recent results were similar to those for the higher grades. Of the materials, Bookworms is the only open educational resource, meaning it can be freely used, changed, and shared.
Pearson’s Reading Street performed the worst among the batch, and was the only series in this round that didn’t pass the first “gateway,” or benchmark for alignment. Laura Howe, a spokeswoman for the company, refuted the review in an email, writing, “We strongly feel that Reading Street fully addresses common core expectations and prepares students for the next generation assessments.”