RSU 73 literacy coach cites early gains after first year with HMH Into Reading

Julie Baldock, the district’s K–5 literacy coach, told the RSU 73 school board that the district’s first year using HMH Into Reading produced notable early gains in vocabulary and reading outcomes and established a K–5 vertical curriculum.

"We started this year with different materials at each grade," Baldock said in a presentation to the board, adding that HMH Into Reading provides aligned online and print materials, embedded assessments and professional supports. She said the program’s unit structure emphasizes repeated exposure to topics and vocabulary across grade levels and ties reading, writing and language instruction together.

Baldock said the district paired HMH with a phonics program, Really Great Reading (RGR), for foundational instruction. "We're at a point where we're actually meeting the national norms and so we won't have to be doing the phonics program into fourth and fifth grade anymore," she said, noting that cohort-level data showed a drop in struggling third-graders from about 35 students to nine since RGR implementation.

Baldock outlined a phased rollout: vendors led work days in October, December and March, teachers completed online and in-person training, and administrators adjusted schedules to provide the instructional blocks the program recommends. She said the district purchased the program on a five-year contract and has scheduled two summer professional-development days per grade level to complete module preparation.

Board members asked about assessment cadence and differentiation. Baldock described the program’s weekly progress-monitoring assessments, which feed into an online portal that highlights strands and suggests targeted resources for small-group instruction. She said staff have built local data walls and tiered supports to respond to assessment results rather than relying on a single measure.

Board members praised classroom results and asked about program longevity. Baldock said teachers have largely embraced the program and that the district intends to continue the five-year implementation, noting the current data and teachers’ feedback as reasons to maintain the adoption.

The presentation closed with staff questions about scheduling and assessment implementation; Baldock said administration already adjusted next year’s schedule to provide more instructional time and that the district will rely on HMH-embedded checks and STAR assessment for diagnostic needs at K–2 going forward.