NWESD can help educators prepare for new state literacy standards

Washington educators are getting a year to explore, learn, and prepare as newly adopted English Language Arts learning standards move toward required implementation in 2027-28.

OSPI adopted the updated standards earlier this year after reviewing those from other states and drawing on Science of Reading research, along with other alignment research.

The revision focused on media literacy and digital citizenship, critical thinking, research-based thinking, usability, process-oriented learning, prioritization, and relevance.

The updated standards are intended to give educators a clearer, more usable framework for helping students build reading, writing, speaking, listening, research, and media literacy skills across grade levels. They also take an asset-based approach to language development by honoring students’ home languages.

That preparation year is also an opportunity for schools and districts to connect with regional support as they study the updates and plan local implementation.

Coordinators across the state, including one at NWESD, have created online resources to help educators understand the new standards, what has changed and what comes next.

At the NWESD, we’ve recently welcomed a new Regional Literacy Coordinator, Dr. Kristine Nugent-Ohls.

Kristine spent 17 years teaching middle school humanities and most recently taught at Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education. Her research focuses on multimodal literacy, nature journaling, and student well-being.

Kristine has a lifelong passion for reading, writing, and education equity. She lives for the “aha” moments when a reader picks up a book they love and gets lost in the story or writes something they are so passionate about, they can’t wait to share it. Helping students and educators find that same spark is what draws her to this work.

Kristine is excited to get out into districts across the region and work directly with educators on literacy goals and professional development. She is also eager to build NWESD’s teaching Fellows network; applications are open for the 26-27 school year.

Through this role, Kristine looks forward to supporting teachers, coaches, and administrators throughout NWESD’s service area.

Educators, administrators, and instructional coaches who support ELA instruction are encouraged to review the revised standards resources and register for one of the upcoming sessions to learn what has changed before the standards become required.

NWESD’s Regional Math Coordinator Tina Mott and Continuous Improvement & MLL Coordinator Danielle Peterson will host a free Zoom class for administrators and coaches on updated Math and ELA standards at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Another online course, led by multiple coordinators from across the state, offers ELA Standards Revision Awareness. This two-hour Zoom session is 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9. A second two-hour session on the same topic is 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, via Zoom.

For a full list of upcoming ELA sessions offered by the AESD, visit https://www.waesd.org/network/ela/.