Strategic Reading and Math

This copyrighted curriculum was developed as a joint effort between general education and special education of Plano ISD. It was developed specifically for a student who receives special education services and whose cognitive development is significantly below that of his/her typically developing peer. Strategic Reading© is a developmental program that uses literacy strategies and techniques that are successful in flexible group instruction. The program is designed for elementary or secondary students who are reading at the emergent or transitional level.

The curriculum framework for Strategic Reading© includes a high frequency vocabulary that is structured sequentially and is introduced through text that builds on the student's expanding vocabulary. Skills and concepts are taught in a way that allows the student to develop strategies for literacy. The program provides for individual pacing, multisensory practice, and overlearning of the reading and writing skills so that the student acquires a strong foundation for literacy. Progress is noted in incremental steps. Benchmarks are identified as stages and provide a method by which administrators, teachers, and parents can monitor student progress. There is consistency in instruction from elementary through senior high. This consistency facilitates effective communication between student and teacher, teacher and parent, student and parent, teacher and administrator, and sending school and receiving school.

At least one teacher on the campus special education team has received specific instruction in Strategic Reading©. S/he is required to take staff development sessions as continuing contact throughout the school year. Student progress is monitored via the student data submitted at three week intervals.

Trends in the data indicate exceptional results in student progress due to the consistency of the curriculum, ongoing and consistent assessment, and professional development.

Strategic Language Arts

Strategic Language Arts is a developmental program which addresses receptive and expressive language skills primarily in the area of written expression. This developmental sequence for the instruction of language arts, primarily writing, integrates the district's literacy bands with the writing process. Available across the district at the secondary level, this continuous progress curriculum provides incremental benchmarks to guide the instruction for students whose writing skills are 5th grade and below. The progression is correlated to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills at each level. Corresponding textbooks (Write Away, Write on Track, and Writing Express) are on secondary campuses and are referenced in the curriculum guide.

Strategic Math

Strategic Math is a developmental math curriculum that sequences mathematical concepts from beginning numerical classification tasks at the pre-K level to internalized conservation tasks at the fifth grade level. This sequence will include concepts of numeration and ordination, mathematical operations, time, measurement, graph and chart representation, fractions, and reasoning problems at the student's instructional level. Manipulatives and texts will be provided for secondary campuses. Each level of the sequence is correlated to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.

For more information, you may contact:

Dr. Christie Duke, Reading and Language Arts Coordinator

Special Education Services Plano Independent School District

Special Education Services
Plano Independent School District