Resources: English Language Arts

English Language Arts Instructional Resources  - External Resources

• AdLit.org: Resources and a digital community for secondary literacy teachers.
• IES Practice Guides: A practice guide is a publication that presents recommendations for educators to address challenges in their classrooms and schools. They are based on reviews of research, the experiences of practitioners, and the expert opinions of a panel of nationally recognized experts.
• Reading Rockets: Provides resources and a digital community for elementary and middle-school literacy teachers.
• WestEd: Provides resources focused on transitioning to and teaching to the standards.
• Regional Educational Laboratories West offers free resources and professional development on a range of topics, including early literacy.

English Language Arts Professional Development Opportunities

Literacy Professional Learning

ADE Professional Learning and Development (APLD)

AZ Instructional Hour Requirements

• Instructional Hour Requirement
• High School Graduation Requirements

DEFINING THE INSTRUCTIONAL CALENDAR

The purpose of these policies and procedures is to provide guidance to all school districts and charter districts throughout the State of Arizona on the rules and regulations, including Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) which must be followed in the reporting of information to the School Finance Unit of the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). These include calendar requirements, minimum annual school days, scheduling limitations, and minimum instructional time. Visit the School Finance External Guidelines page for more information.

Certification Information

• Educator Certification
• K-5 Literacy Endorsement
• Testing Information
• Reading Endorsement

Professional Organizations

 Local Organizations

• Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented: The AAGT is a nonprofit organization of educators, parents and community members working together to better meet the unique needs of gifted and talented students in Arizona.
• The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
• Arizona English Teachers Association: The AETA is the Arizona branch of the National Council of Teachers of English, and it offers resources, including a yearly conference, to support English educators.
• Read On Arizona: Read On Arizona is committed to helping create an early literacy system that delivers the right program at the right time for every child.

National Organizations

• American Federation of Teachers (AFT): AFT is a union of professionals that champions fairness, democracy, economic opportunity, high-quality public education, healthcare, and public services for our students, their families, and our communities.
• American Library Association (ALA): ALA is the oldest and largest library association in the world, providing association information, news, events, and advocacy resources for members, librarians, and library users.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA):ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for those who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel; and students.
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD): ASCD is a global community dedicated to excellence in learning, teaching, and leading. ASCD’s innovative solutions promote the success of each child.
• International Dyslexia Association (IDA): IDA disseminates research-based knowledge about the causes and early identification of dyslexia and other language-related learning difficulties and promotes the use of Structured Literacy for teaching reading and written expression.
• International Literacy Association (ILA): ILA’s mission is to empower educators, inspire students, and encourage leaders with the resources they need to make literacy accessible for all.
• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE):NCTE is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.
• National PTA (Parent Teacher Association): The overall purpose of PTA is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.
• Reading is Fundamental: Reading is Fundamental’s mission is to motivate young children to read by working with them, their parents, and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life

AZ ELA  Assessments

• Arizona Assessments: AASA (Arizona's Academic Standards Assessment) is the statewide achievement test for Arizona students in Grades 3-8.  All Arizona public school students in Grades 3 - 8 will take the grade level AASA assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Grades 9 and Grade 11 students will take the ACT Aspire assessment. Cohort 2023 (typically grade 11) students will take the ACT assessment. 
• AZELLA: AZELLA (Arizona’s English Language Learner Assessment) is a Standards-Based Assessment that measures a student’s English language proficiency based on the Arizona English Language Proficiency Standards.
• NAEP: NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) is a national assessment of academic content outlined in the NAEP Academic Frameworks. The assessments are given to a sample of students in Grades 4, 8, and 12

Parent Resources

ELA Standards Parent Video