ARC Core

1 Where it came from

Peabody is not connected to American Reading Company, and nothing here is written or checked by the company. American Reading Company is based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Its page names ARC Core for kindergarten to grade 5, a Spanish edition for kindergarten to grade 5, and a version called ARC Core K-3 with Fundations. The independent review site EdReports lists ARC Core as K-12, with materials copyrighted 2017.

2 The big ideas

• Writing comes first. The company's page calls it a writing-first English language arts curriculum, with daily writing in several forms.
• Units mix subjects. The page says units combine science, social studies and literature topics.
• Four units make the year. The page describes four units across the school year, with topics such as marine life, U.S. states and traditional tales.
• Foundational skills are listed by name. The page says the program gives explicit, systematic instruction in print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition, word study, spelling, morphology and fluency.

3 What a lesson looks like

The company's page does not give lesson-level detail, so this page does not invent a lesson. What it does say is the shape of the year: four units, each built around a topic such as marine life, U.S. states or traditional tales, with writing every day in several forms. The page lists the foundational skills the program teaches: print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, word recognition, word study, spelling, morphology and fluency. Before you adopt it, use the digital samples the page offers and read a real lesson in the grade you teach, so you can see how much of the day is writing and how much is word work.

4 The adult's job

The pages read do not describe the adult's job in detail. Because the program is writing-first, you can expect the teacher to spend a good share of the day guiding and reading children's writing; the company's page is where to check how lessons are written out. Whatever the program asks, the adult also needs to watch whether children are learning to decode, since a writing-first program still relies on children being able to read their own sentences.

5 How progress is checked

The pages read for this page do not describe how ARC Core checks progress. The EdReports review reports scores for foundational skills, covered under the evidence below. Ask the publisher for sample assessments and what they measure.

6 Strengths and criticisms

7 What the research says

EdReports released its report on ARC Core on 17 September 2018, for materials copyrighted in 2017. It rated the program as meeting expectations on all three gateways for every grade band from kindergarten to grade 12, using an earlier review tool. Its foundational skills score was 74% overall, with grades 3 and 4 at 50%. The company's page also cites an ESSA Level 1 rating from the Evidence for ESSA project. EdReports reviews look at how the materials are built, not at how children score, and the pages read report no study of children's results. This page reports only what those pages say.

8 How to try it

1. Request the digital samples and read one unit's lessons for the grade you teach before you decide.
2. Notice how many days a week children write, and keep a folder of each child's writing to see growth across a unit.
3. Check which foundational skills lessons are in your edition; the K-3 version with Fundations is listed separately.
4. In grades 3 and 4, where the review scored foundational skills lower, check whether children who stumble on long words are getting enough word work.
5. Add short daily fluency practice on text a child can already read, so writing and reading grow together.

9 Using Peabody with it

• Fluency practiceHave children reread one short passage over several days beside the program's own work, to build speed and ease.
• Book standardsUse it to check what a trade book asks of a reader when you add books to a topic unit.
• DecodablesFor a child in grade 3 or 4 who struggles with decoding, hand them a decodable text that practices the sound pattern they are missing.
• Anchor chartsPrint or copy a chart for a word-study or writing skill and keep it on the wall while children write.

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10 Programs that follow it

Programs and materials often named with this approach: ARC Core, ARC Core K-3 with Fundations.