About Springboard
SpringBoard English Language Arts:
Engaging Students, Supporting Educators
When students participate in SpringBoard English Language Arts instruction, they’re part of an active, energetic learning experience. Students are involved, engaged. They work both individually and collaboratively, reading and reflecting on a variety of complex texts, and learning skills that will help them reach their goals in school and beyond.
Program at a Glance
SpringBoard English Language Arts is fully aligned to California Common Core State Standards and includes focused content and instruction aligned to the state’s English Language Development (ELD) standards. SpringBoard will help California students develop important academic vocabulary, skills in writing in several styles and genres, and skills in using evidence in their written responses and oral discussions. SpringBoard is designed to help students progress logically through a series of carefully selected texts and content, connecting what they learn across grade levels, so they build strong skill, knowledge, and abilities as they move forward in their school experiences.
Nearly 2 million students in more than 1,000 school districts nationwide. Each year, the SpringBoard team of Professional Learning experts train thousands of teachers and administrators to help them use the program with even greater levels of success and student achievement.
SpringBoard bases its approach to English Language Arts instruction around what’s called an embedded assessment – an assessment students are introduced to at the beginning of every instructional unit. It’s a clear roadmap for students and teachers alike and it gives every child the opportunity to take personal responsibility for their own progress and learning. Throughout each unit, there are other tests and quizzes that give students and teachers the opportunity to address gaps or misconceptions, so they can stay on track to perform well based on standards.
The SpringBoard instructional program uses a broad mix of well-researched, proven teaching and learning strategies. It keeps students interested and motivated and helps students express their growing abilities in close reading, writing, analysis, reasoning, and communication. You can see more about the strategies in the sample materials available here.
Students at each grade level read a variety of complex, rich, and engaging texts, emphasizing nonfiction, balanced with fiction, poetry, drama, and non-print texts. The program emphasizes the use of textual evidence as support for students’ written and spoken claims and uses text-based activities as models of writing and as subjects of critical study. Your child will learn to read closely and critically, prompted by text-dependent questions.
The English Language Development (ELD) components of SpringBoard are designed to give students the resources they need to interact in meaningful ways, make meaning of texts, and express themselves effectively in collaborative academic discussions, both in written and oral forms. Through challenging tasks and content, students in the ELD classroom using SpringBoard will increase language awareness and delve explicitly into how English works. You can see all the sample ELD materials for grades 6-8 here.
Each school year, all SpringBoard students receive their own personal work texts, in print and in the digital version too. Owning that book and that digital work area gives students an enhanced, personalized learning experience because they can take notes, highlight texts, develop their own writing and analysis, and track their progress. Current and former SpringBoard students will tell you that having their own books makes a difference.