A United States-based literacy expert this week provided professional development to teachers on a curriculum said to be significantly improving reading outcomes.

Valentina Contesse, coauthor of the programme at the University of Florida Literacy Institute, led two days of training at Saltus and Somersfield Academy — both of which have adopted the programme at the primary level.

Dr Contesse was invited to the island by Mark Pacheco, assistant professor at the School of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education at the University of Florida, and a resident of Bermuda.

UFLI is an effort by the university faculty, students and staff to improve literacy outcomes for children learning to read, that focuses on teacher and reader development.

Jesse Sheppard, the director of curriculum at Saltus, said that within one full academic year of implementation of the UFLI programme, the school had seen marked improvements in student literacy. He said: “We have had tremendous success.”

Mr Sheppard explained that progress could be measured with data from three checkpoints carried out using the Dibels, or Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills screening.

He said: “It has been designed to go from foundation to P3 — but, based on data, we are taking it up into higher year levels to meet the needs of students. There is really great use in all primary grades.”

Mr Sheppard said the programme was “led by the science of reading”, with older techniques, such as the Fountas and Pinnell system, no longer in use at the school.

“Some of the strategies used in systems like that are known to not be as effective as the systematic approach of UFLI, which is research and evidence-based,” he said.

Implementation took about a year at Saltus and the programme started last October.

The school was able to implement the curriculum using resources provided by UFLI, including a manual and online videos.

Mr Sheppard added: “We have seen in our youngest learners, in their ability to decode words, their recognition of sounds, letters, graphemes and other factors, major improvement in a very short amount of time, far shorter that we would have seen with Fountas and Pinnell.”

Since implementing UFLI’s techniques, there were notable increases in Saltus students meeting or exceeding grade-level benchmarks.

Using Dibels measurements taken at the end of the 2023-24 school year, P1 showed an increase of 40 per cent of students meeting or exceeding.

That figure was 32 per cent for the P2 and P3 years.

Dr Contesse said successful implementation in schools was closely linked to improved student reading outcomes.

She added: “The professional development focuses on supporting implementation of UFLI Foundations, which is a programme designed for foundation to P3.

“The programme focuses on supporting students in decoding and foundational reading skills.”

Mr Sheppard said teachers found the programme to be user-friendly.

He said: “It took away a lot of their stress. They knew what they were teaching and how to teach it.

“By the end of the year, they were saying it was the best thing they had done and they had never seen the results they were seeing in their students.”

Trista Riihiluoma, a P3 teacher at Saltus, said: “UFLI’s systematic approach to teaching the key skills for reading helped students, even the strongest readers, to build fluency and confidence.

“The decodable texts that accompany the programme were a great tool for parents to be able to support their child at home.

“The repetitive nature of UFLI meant that there were lots of opportunities to practise each skill and ensure retention.”

Mr Sheppard said the key difference of the UFLI programme to previous teaching methods was its systematic approach.

He said: “It is part of our daily schedule, we have 30 minutes a day from our English Language Arts block.

“Each lesson takes two days to complete; there are four stages in each of the lessons. Within that, there are a lot of opportunities for students to practise the skills that are being taught and there is modelling that is taking place.

“The students understand the format of the lessons, they understand what will come next, the gestures that go with it, the articulation of the sounds and letters, but it is also very clear for our teachers to deliver it effectively.

“That is different from other programmes like Fountas and Pinnell that would allow a lot more flexibility but didn’t have the same structures and systematic approach.”

Dr Pacheco added: “In the States, there has been a real resurgence of approaches that use phonics. There is lots of buy-in, and it is taking off.

“I have talked with government educators here and it seems like people are very interested in it, but there hasn’t been a systematic approach.

“If things continue to go well, there is no reason that this isn’t something that can be used across the island.

“We would be happy to be a model and support other educators in this pathway.”

Following the Budget in February, Becky Ausenda, executive director of the Bermuda Education Network, which has expertise in curriculum development, said: “Recent educational research has conclusively demonstrated that the ‘whole language’ approach is ineffective for many children, emphasising the urgency for a shift towards evidence-based methodologies.

“In line with this, the upcoming introduction of a phonics programme from the University of Florida Literacy Institute in Bermuda's public primary schools is a significant step towards addressing this fundamental need.

“To propel the transformation of the education system, the Government must prioritise this initiative in its Budget, providing not only curriculum materials but allocating additional teaching resources, coaches and a project management team, which will be required for successful implementation.”

The Department of Education has been approached about whether the option is still being considered for Bermuda’s public schools.

• For more information about UFLI, visitufli.education.ufl.edu