If your school or district is heading into next year with SPIRE 4th Edition, you already have something valuable in place: a comprehensive, Orton-Gillingham-based Structured Literacy intervention with decades of real-world evidence behind it and designed to meet the needs of your most challenged striving readers.
If this year’s data left you wanting to get even more from the program, summer is the perfect time to reflect on what went well with implementation last year, and what could be even stronger in the fall.
The Questions Worth Asking Right Now
Implementation science is clear: the conditions surrounding an intervention matter as much as the program itself. Even the strongest interventions produce stronger results when a few key conditions are in place.
As you reflect on this past school year, a handful of reflection questions can help you identify where shifts can lead to meaningful improvements for the school year ahead:
- Were intervention blocks for SPIRE protected in the master schedule—or did competing priorities impact consistent use over time?
- Did the educators delivering SPIRE feel confident and well-supported throughout the year, or were some of them still building confidence with the program?
- Were leaders familiar enough with SPIRE to recognize what strong implementation looks like, and to actively reinforce and support it?
- Were there new staff members who joined mid-year without sufficient onboarding and who might benefit from a strong start this fall?
- Did most students progress through approximately one SPIRE concept per week, the pace that enables them to complete about two SPIRE levels in a school year?
A Strong Start Begins Before Instruction is Underway
SPIRE’s soft-scripted, 10-step lesson structure enables every educator to deliver it well, but confidence grows with preparation, practice, and ongoing support. Whether you have teachers new to the program joining your team this fall, or experienced teachers who would benefit from refreshing and refining their practice, professional learning can help your staff start strong and sustain momentum this year.
EPS Learning offers new professional learning opportunities available this summer and into the fall—and we'd love to help you find the right fit for your school or district. Together, we can build on what you’ve already put in place and help make next year your strongest yet.
Connect with your EPS Learning representative to explore professional learning and implementation support for the year ahead.
