Act 20 states that all Wisconsin schools are required to provide science-based early literacy instruction in both universal and intervention settings. Science-based early literacy instruction is defined as the following. Instruction that is systematic and explicit and consists of all the following:

• Phonological awareness
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Building background knowledge
• Oral language development
• Vocabulary building
• Instruction in writing
• Instruction in comprehension
• Reading fluency

Phonics is defined as the study of the relationships between sounds and words; this includes alphabetic principle, decoding, orthographic knowledge, encoding, and fluency

School boards retain the independent authority to select the early literacy instructional materials they will adopt and implement. Those instructional materials are required to meet the definition of “science-based early literacy instruction” found in Act 20. Instructional materials are comprehensive and aligned to the Wisconsin Standards for English Language Arts(2020) across all ELA domains (foundational skills, reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening). Currently, students are provided grade level instruction in literacy using our approved literacy resource, From Phonics to Reading. In addition, we use teacher-developed units to provide instruction in building background knowledge, oral language development, vocabulary, writing, and comprehension. We do not employ the three-cueing model in our literacy instruction.

We continue to review what curricular resources best meet the requirements of ACT 20 and the needs of our students. During the 24-25 school year, we will be evaluating recommended resources from DPI and possibly implementing new and/or additional resources in the 25-26 school year.