The Anne Arundel County school board has approved a $19.5 million contract for a new literacy curriculum, marking a significant investment in a program expected to improve literacy rates in the elementary grades.
The six-year contract with Amplify Education, Inc. will bring the Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum to all elementary schools in Anne Arundel County Public Schools, beginning with kindergarten through grade five in the 2024-2025 school year.
The new curriculum is based on research on the science of reading and emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as essential skills for reading comprehension.
“We are fully investing in and embracing the Science of Reading,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell said in a press release. “We will fully support our educators and our families in the this new curriculum as we put it in place I am excited about what this will mean to our earlier learners.”
The school system has said that the new curriculum will provide a more comprehensive foundation for students and help them to become strong readers, writers, and thinkers. The contract also includes professional development support for teachers and staff using the new curriculum.
