American Reading Company, whose mission is to ensure every student is reading on or above grade level, today announced its rating with CURATE, a project of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The company’s flagship curriculum product, ARC Core, received “meets expectation” for grade levels K-2.

ARC Core is a basal alternative designed to improve outcomes for students and teachers by placing students and their individual needs at the center of instruction. The 12-page report identifies five key benchmarks for which to base its rating, including

• Text Quality and Organization

• Classroom Tasks and Instruction

• Accessibility for Students

• Usability for Teachers

• Impact on Learning

Overall, it was found that ARC Core “texts and tasks are of high quality and sequenced intentionally, and resources are flexible and accessible.”

"We are absolutely thrilled that the ARC Core curricula received the top rating from Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s CURATE project,” said Jane Hileman, founder and CEO of American Reading Company and co-author of ARC Core. “On the heels of our ‘All Green’ recognition from EdReports, CURATE’s analysis further lends credibility to our high-quality basal alternative that turns balanced literacy into transformative literacy for both students and teachers.”

ARC’s Comprehensive Core Curriculum (ARC Core) is a backward design, project-based curriculum, available in English and Spanish, that maximizes learning time by incorporating content-area research into daily reading and writing instruction. Every day, students engage with rich content, complex multiperspective texts, and rigorous writing instruction while carefully sequenced lessons, systematic instruction in foundational skills, expertly curated libraries, and a state-of-the-art formative assessment system provide appropriate supports to ensure all students succeed.

Read the Full Report>>

About American Reading Company

American Reading Company is a diverse, mission-driven organization that works to ensure every student is reading on or above grade level, in more than 5,320 schools and 1,070 districts, nationwide.

Headquartered in King of Prussia, PA, ARC employs more than 250 people, nationwide. The team works collaboratively to strengthen district and school capacity at every level by placing literacy and agency at the heart of school transformation, through:

• Thematic Inquiry Core Curriculum

• K-12 Reading Instruction & Assessment

• Teacher & Leader Learning

• Expertly Curated Classroom Libraries

As a result, all students read, write, discuss, think, investigate, and solve problems at ever-increasing levels of proficiency. Their academic performance is accelerated and their life prospects are fundamentally improved.