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English Language Arts Department Program Review
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● Utilize writing/study labs to help students improve skill levels (York Suburban SD, Parkland SD
2019, and Unionville-Chadds Ford SD 2018).
● Utilize high school summer reading programs in a variety of ways for different classes and
purposes (York Suburban SD, Parkland SD, Unionville-Chadds Ford SD, and PATOY 2019).
● Implement literature circles and student-centered text choices in grades 6-12 ELA to promote
writing and reading fluency and a life-long love of reading (GarnettValley SD and PATOY
2019) PRSD Student Stakeholder Survey Results (2017 - 2019).
● Incorporate high-interest novels with classics (Unionville-Chadds Ford SD, 2020).

● Utilize real world, authentic writing assignments that leverage the core analytic skills required
for Text Dependent Analysis responses and make explicit to students the connection in these
common critical-thinking skills (PATOY, 2019).
● Evaluate texts to ensure the incorporation of diverse perspectives with deliberate focus on race,
socioeconomic status, religion, gender, etc. (Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures, 2019).
● Curriculum should be diversified in terms of different perspectives. Fiction does not always work
and fiction that is not recent does not work because students look at it in the historical context
(Godley - University of Pittsburgh, 2019).
● There should be a focus on using non-fiction and current dilemmas around our city and region
when it comes to diversifying the text selections in curriculum. Current, nonfiction articles about
local issues work the best (Godley - University of Pittsburgh, 2019).
● The focus on ELA instruction should be on independently comprehending, analyzing, and
synthesizing texts ((Godley - University of Pittsburgh, 2019)).
● In reference to plagiarism, teach students how to read online and identify biases and points of

view ((Godley - University of Pittsburgh, 2019)).
● Research has shown that high percentages of high school students cannot detect fake news and
cannot talk about the reliability of a website ((Godley - University of Pittsburgh, 2019)).
● Cultural awareness such as the "We Need Diverse Books" movement. Students should see/be
exposed to (diverse) authors who do not look like them. Also, be exposed to diverse perspectives
that people want to hear about (Pittsburgh Arts and Lecture, 2019).
● We should look to books to help us make sense of a complicated world. Issues are not going to
go away, but we can improve our cultural capacity (Pittsburgh Arts and Lecture, 2019).
● Literature provides a framework to engage in empathy and compassion for people with different
experiences. Bullying and compassion toward characters is addressed in literature (Pittsburgh
Arts and Lecture, 2019).
● Connections and interactions between readers and authors helps to "provide the mirror"
(Pittsburgh Arts and Lecture, 2019).
● Writing needs to occur across all content areas and in multiple forms. The more authentic the
audience for a piece of writing, the better (Moschetta - AIU, 2019).
● Students need to have choice in texts within the classroom (Moschetta - AIU, 2019).

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