English Language Arts (ELA)

All ELA review tools labeled v2.0 and v2.1 are part of EdReports’ "2.0 family," representing our most rigorous and current tools. These tools reflect the latest research and priorities for instructional materials, including alignment to the science of reading, enhanced multilingual learner criteria, and improved usability.

The v2.0 tools were developed in 2024 and served as the foundation for our inaugural 2.0 reviews. During the first review cycle in 2025, we made targeted refinements to our K–5 ELA tools. Because these changes were substantive, those tools are now labeled v2.1. The main areas of substantive change between v2.0 and v2.1 tools are:

• Gateway 1 (Foundational Skills) of our 3–5 tool
• Gateway 3 (Teacher and Student Supports) of our K–2 foundational skills supplements tool

ELA criteria for grades 6–12 have not changed since their initial draft release and continue to carry the v2.0 designation.

Guidance for Using Reports Created With Earlier ELA Review Tools

Reports created with earlier versions of our review tools (v1.0 and v1.5) contain valuable insights, but may not fully capture the most recent educational priorities and research. For instance, a green rating for a K–5 ELA report created using earlier tools may not mean that the materials fully address all science of reading requirements mandated by current state legislation.

Reports created with earlier versions of our review tools (v1.0 and v1.5) contain valuable insights, but may not fully capture the most recent educational priorities and research. When referencing a report created using earlier review tools, users should:

• Carefully evaluate specific elements in earlier tools
• Refer to v2.0 and v2.1 tools (above) for the most current best practices
• Compare earlier tools to current ones to understand potential gaps in earlier review tools

For further details, see the section below on how our ELA review tools have evolved and How to Use EdReports’ Earlier Reports and Review Tools.

Since publishing our first reviews of ELA curricula in 2016, we have made a range of enhancements to our ELA review tools and process. Many improvements have been driven by emerging findings in literacy research. Others are rooted in our own journey of learning and growth, and our commitment to know better and do better by more deeply understanding and applying longstanding research findings.

 

Overview of ELA Review Tools by Version

Version 2.0 & 2.1

Report year range: 2024–present

Grades covered: K–12

Key attributes and innovations: ELA-specific:

• Areas spanning K–12:

• • Integration of knowledge building throughout comprehension criteria.
  • Focus on a clear core instructional pathway plus guidance for using supplemental materials.
  • Enhanced emphasis on sentence-level writing and explicit reading-writing connections.
  • Evaluation for a range of full texts and excerpts, cohesive text sets that build knowledge, and varied perspectives and representation.

• Areas specific to K–5:

• • Tighter alignment to structured literacy and research-based practices, incorporating standards as appropriate.
  • Introduction of a dedicated indicator scoring materials based on the absence of three-cueing.
  • Increased focus on phonemic awareness.
  • Deepened foundational skills indicators in grades 3–5 to better align to research.

Key attributes and innovations: shared with math and science tools:

• Creation of dedicated, standalone MLL review tools for each K–12 content area.
• Tools standardized and streamlined across grade bands to increase efficiency and clarity.
• Indicators to evaluate the content and scope of assessments located in either Gateway 1 or 2 in all tools to ensure a larger percentage of programs receive ratings for this aspect of their assessments.
• Final review gateway renamed to “Teacher and Student Supports” to better reflect its intent and scope.

 

Version 1.5

Report year range: 2021–2024

Grades covered: K–12

Key attributes and innovations: ELA-specific:

• Clearer identification of “bloat” in materials: when a program is difficult to use because there is more content than can be feasibly taught in a single school year.
• Foundational skills indicators in core comprehensive review tools more closely aligned to our review tools for K–2 foundational skills supplements.
• Streamlined core comprehensive review tool by merging or bundling scoring indicators.

Key attributes and innovations: shared with math and science tools:

• Final review gateway largely standardized across K–12 ELA, math, and science review tools.
• Key innovations included:
  • Development of Learner Variance indicators addressing supports, grade-level engagement, unfinished learning, and varied learning approaches.
  • Indicators to evaluate materials’ multilingual learners (MLL) supports across all tools.
  • Introduction of a revised Technology Criteria Form detailing digital and distance learning components for publishers.

 

Version 1.0

Report year range: 2016–2021

Grades covered: K–12

Key attributes and innovations: ELA-specific:

• Developed to facilitate the first ever independent, national, free reviews of K–12 ELA instructional materials and K–2 ELA foundational skills supplements.
• Comprehensive reviews evaluated materials for:
  • Text quality and complexity.
  • Alignment to standards with tasks and questions grounded in evidence
  • Building knowledge with texts, vocabulary, and tasks

• Foundational skills supplements reviews evaluated materials for:

• • Print concepts and letter recognition
  • Phonological awareness
  • Phonics
  • Word recognition and word analysis
  • Decoding accuracy, decoding automaticity, and fluency

Key attributes and innovations: shared with math and science tools:

• Final review gateway evaluated materials for instructional supports and other aspects of quality design, including:
  • Effective lesson structure and pacing
  • Support for teacher learning and understanding of standards
  • Support for teachers to meet the needs of a range of learners
  • Support for effective use of technology to enhance student learning

 

Comparing Current and Earlier ELA Tools

While not exhaustive, the following information highlights some of the most important factors to consider when using ELA reports created using earlier review tools (v1.0 and v1.5). For more details, please refer to the full review criteria and evidence guides for each tool version linked above.

 

Areas Spanning K–12 ELA Comprehensive Materials

Knowledge building

In our current tools:

• Knowledge building is integrated throughout the indicators in Gateway 2: Comprehension Through Texts, Questions, and Tasks, in alignment with literacy research.

In earlier tools:

• Knowledge building was evaluated across an entire dedicated gateway: Building Knowledge with Texts, Vocabulary, and Tasks, but separately from text quality and complexity and from standards alignment with tasks and questions.

 

Instructional pathways and program “bloat”

In our current tools:

• To ensure teachers understand the core instructional pathway of a program, our current tools look for materials to include a clear core instructional pathway and to provide detailed explanations on when and how to use any supplemental materials.

In earlier tools:

• Version 1.5 indicators asked if a program contained more content than can be feasibly taught in a single school year, but did not explicitly look for guidance on distinguishing between a clear core pathway and supplemental materials.

 

Writing

In our current tools:

• Revised indicators elevate both sentence-level writing and the connection between reading and writing more explicitly, and tools contain separate indicators scoring both explicit writing instruction and student practice opportunities.

In earlier tools:

• Writing indicators looked for strong alignment to college and career-ready standards but did not focus on all of the research-aligned factors prioritized in version 2.0.

 

Vocabulary

In our current tools:

• Vocabulary indicators look for explicit instruction of vocabulary words and independent word-learning strategies, and tools contain separate indicators scoring both explicit vocabulary instruction and student practice and acquisition opportunities.

In earlier tools:

• Earlier tools looked for “a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary in and across texts” but did not focus on all of the research-aligned factors prioritized in version 2.0.

 

Text quality and complexity

In our current tools:

• Indicators look for a range of full texts and excerpts, for text sets to be designed cohesively to build knowledge, and for variety in text perspectives.

In earlier tools:

• Indicators looked for strong alignment to college and career-ready standards but did not focus on all of the research-aligned factors prioritized in version 2.0.

 

Assessments

In our current tools:

• Assessment indicators are located in Gateway 2 and 3, compared to only Gateway 3 in earlier tools.
• This ensures a larger percentage of programs receive ratings for their assessments, which are a core part of any instructional program.
• Formative and summative assessments are scored separately.

In earlier tools:

• Assessment indicators were located in Gateway 3; only programs that achieved passing scores in Gateways 1 and 2 were evaluated for their assessments.
• Formative and summative assessments were scored together.

 

Areas Specific to K–5 ELA Materials

This includes both K–5 comprehensive programs and K–2 foundational skills supplements.

 

Structured literacy practices and standards

In our current tools:

• While EdReports has always prioritized alignment to standards, we recognize that ELA foundational skills standards are a unique case.
• Feedback from the field, including standards authors, highlights that current standards don’t fully reflect the research and evidence-based practice behind how children learn to read. We agree, and our 2.0 ELA tools place stronger emphasis on alignment to structured literacy practices as a result.

In earlier tools:

• Earlier core ELA tools prioritized standards alignment in foundational skills instruction but did not look for structured literacy practices with the same depth or breadth as version 2.0 review tools.
• Version 1.0 tools for foundational skills supplements were more closely aligned to research-based practices than v1.0 core ELA tools, but not as tightly aligned as version 2.0 tools.

 

Phonics and three-cueing

In our current tools:

• Indicators look for materials to “emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of research-based and/or evidence-based phonics,” including a dedicated indicator scoring materials based on the absence of three-cueing.

In earlier tools:

• Earlier tools looked for systematic, and research-based explicit phonics instruction. Version 1.0 core ELA tools did not reference three-cueing explicitly. Version 1.5 core ELA tools and version 1.0 foundational skills supplement tools asked reviewers if materials relied on three-cueing and if its presence was distracting in materials.

 

Phonemic and phonological awareness

In our current tools:

• A dedicated criterion looks for materials to “emphasize explicit, systematic instruction of research-based and/or evidence-based phonemic awareness” in grades K and 1, reflecting the research highlighting this critical aspect of early literacy.

In earlier tools:

• Earlier tools looked at phonological awareness (awareness of the parts of spoken words, including whole words, syllables, and discrete sounds) as a whole, reflecting college and career-ready standards. They did not give phonemic awareness (awareness of the smallest, discrete sounds in words) the same research-based emphasis as version 2.0 tools.

 

Foundational skills: consistency across contexts

In our current tools:

• In version 2.0, there is effectively a single review tool for all program formats per grade band, ensuring a consistent approach for comparing foundational skills development across all variations of K–5 ELA materials.
• While we initially created a standalone 2.0 foundational skills tool in 2024, this tool is now embedded in its entirety into the K–12 tool as Gateway 1.

In earlier tools:

• In earlier core ELA tools, foundational skills indicators were located in Gateway 1, while we had a separate, dedicated tool for foundational skills supplements. The dedicated tool had scope for greater breadth and depth, making it harder to compare findings across materials formats.

 

Foundational skills: grades 3–5

In our current tools:

• Deepened foundational skills indicators in grades 3–5 to better align to research. Increased emphasis on phonics skills, especially decoding and encoding multisyllabic words; word recognition and word analysis skills embedded in the grade-level content; and fluency skills embedded in grade-level texts to increase comprehension.

In earlier tools:

• Foundational skills development in grades 3–5 was evaluated across three indicators in Gateway 1, but not with comparable breadth or depth to version 2.0 tools.