Reading Apprenticeship

READING APPRENTICESHIP ACADEMIC LITERACY LEARNING (RA4ALL): 2025-2028

Grant Supported Curriculum and Professional Learning for 8th And 9th Grade

WestEd invites school districts to collaborate on an effort to support 8th and 9th grade students in developing literacy skills. RA4ALL is an EIR-funded project that will combine curriculum and professional learning designed to accelerate reading and academic achievement for 8th and 9th graders reading below grade level. It builds on the evidence-based Reading Apprenticeship program and incorporates additional foundational skills instruction by integrating the Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics, and Sight Words (SIPPS). This integration addresses disciplinary reading comprehension practices necessary for success in content-area classes as well as the foundational skills necessary for building fluency and stamina.

 

Be in one of these states: Illinois, New Mexico, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, Utah, Nevada

  • Districts must have at least 2 eligible middle schools (schools that end at grade 8) OR 2 eligible high schools (schools that start at grade 9) — Districts can have EITHER middle OR high schools participate in the study, but not both.
  • Schools must offer reading intervention classes to support developing readers in 8th or 9th grade AND have an instructional coach who supports teachers in that grade level.
  • The instructional coach who works with teachers in that grade level cannot work in more than one school in the study.
  • Intervention classes must be taught in English.
  • Must offer this course, “Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy” for two school years: 2025-26 and 2026-27.
  • Allow teachers of the intervention and an instructional coach to participate in professional learning
  • Students are eligible if they are reading no more than 5 grade levels below what is expected (grade level) and are identified by school policy to be enrolled in those intervention reading classes.
  • Work with our external evaluator, SRI, to collect data

Please fill out the interest form to check your districts’ eligibility.

 

Teachers: RA4ALL will help you and your students thrive!

  • Engage in collaborative, enjoyable, evidence-based professional learning and coaching, both in-person and online
  • Learn to enact highly designed curriculum with teacher guides, peer and expert support
  • Learn ways to establish a positive, collaborative classroom culture
  • Receive Continuing Education Credits

Students: Accelerate literacy and learning skills!

  • Gain foundational literacy skills and reading comprehension strategies through engaging curriculum and peer collaboration
  • Build knowledge and literacy skills through reading a broad range of complex academic and workplace texts across multiple content areas
  • Engage in problem-solving and text-based reasoning – independently and collaboratively
  • Gain literacy skills and strategies that support perseverance and stamina and independence

 

WestEd’s Reading Apprenticeship Experts will Provide:

  • RAAL and SIPPS Curriculum
  • Reading Apprenticeship professional learning to integrate and accelerate students’ subject area learning and literacy
  • A total of about 50 hours — 3 days in summer and 3 days over the school year
  • For Instructional Coaches: two years of professional learning to support teachers in your district with classroom implementation
  • For site leaders: professional learning to support schoolwide implementation in order to grow and sustain literacy gains
  • Detailed professional learning schedule

 

What is the focus of the RA4ALL impact evaluation?
An independent research organization, SRI Education, will be leading the RA4ALL evaluation. SRI will examine the effects of RA4ALL on teachers’ perceptions of the curriculum, teachers’ instructional practices, students’ perceptions of the curriculum, and students’ reading outcomes. Within participating districts, schools will be randomly assigned to “early-start” (treatment) and “late-start” (control) groups. Schools in the early-start group will participate in RA4ALL professional learning starting in 2025-26 and continuing into 2026-27. Schools in the late-start group will participate in RA4ALL professional learning in Summer 2027. All participating teachers at study schools, both early- and late-start, will participate in evaluation activities.

Research Activity Time Commitment Teachers and Students Involved
Foundational skills (FS) assessment: Students take a short online screener at the beginning and end of the school year 2 assessments/year: 6-12 min/assessment Treatment and control
Reading comprehension (RC) assessment: Students take an online scenario-based reading assessment 1 assessment/year: 1-2 hours Treatment and control
Surveys: Teachers complete one end-of-year survey to document their reading intervention teaching 1 survey: 25 minutes Treatment and control
Logs: Teachers complete implementation logs to document instructional practices 15 weeks: 10 minutes/log Treatment only
Classroom observations and interviews: Researchers observe instruction and interview teachers once in spring 1 observation period and a 1-hour interview Selected Early Start teachers only

 

Interested in applying?
Please fill out the interest form to check your districts’ eligibility. A Reading Apprenticeship staff member will contact you shortly after receiving your form!  Additionally, you can call or email us – see the contact tab.

For more information, register here for upcoming webinars.

 

For more information about this opportunity contact:
Diane Lee, [email protected]
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