--- title: "From Balanced to Structured Literacy: How AIM Institute and Clara Barton Elementary Partnered for Long-Term Success" description: Learn how Clara Barton Elementary and AIM Institute provided consistent, evidence-based PD to teachers to significantly improve student reading outcomes. image: https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/hubfs/Hubspot%20Blog%20Image%201200x628%20(1)-2.png --- [![AIM Institute 2025 Landscape Subtitle CMYK (1)-1](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/hs-fs/hubfs/AIM%20Institute%202025%20Landscape%20Subtitle%20CMYK%20(1)-1.png?width=2725&height=750&name=AIM%20Institute%202025%20Landscape%20Subtitle%20CMYK%20(1)-1.png "AIM Institute 2025 Landscape Subtitle CMYK (1)-1")](https://institute.aimpa.org/) Search Search Translate Website Select Language Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Assamese Aymara Azerbaijani Bambara Basque Belarusian Bengali Bhojpuri Bosnian Bulgarian Catalan Cebuano Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dhivehi Dogri Dutch Esperanto Estonian Ewe Filipino Finnish French Frisian Galician Georgian German Greek Guarani Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Ilocano Indonesian Irish Gaelic Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Kinyarwanda Konkani Korean Krio Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kurdish (Sorani) Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lingala Lithuanian Luganda Luxembourgish Macedonian Maithili Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Meiteilon (Manipuri) Mizo Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Odia (Oriya) Oromo Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Quechua Romanian Russian Samoan Sanskrit Scots Gaelic Sepedi Serbian Sesotho Shona Sindhi Sinhala Slovak Slovenian Somali Spanish Sundanese Swahili Swedish Tajik Tamil Tatar Telugu Thai Tigrinya Tsonga Turkish Turkmen Twi Ukrainian Urdu Uyghur Uzbek Vietnamese Welsh Xhosa Yiddish Yoruba Zulu - 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[Who We Are](https://institute.aimpa.org/who-we-are) - [Who We Serve](https://institute.aimpa.org/who-we-serve) - [What We Provide](https://institute.aimpa.org/what-we-provide) - [Research & Impact](https://institute.aimpa.org/research-impact) - [Connect & Learn](https://institute.aimpa.org/connect-learn) ![](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/hubfs/Hubspot%20Blog%20Image%201200x628%20(1)-2.png) # From Balanced to Structured Literacy: How AIM Institute and Clara Barton Elementary Partnered for Long-Term Success Published by [AIM Institute](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/author/aim-institute) on Jun 25, 2024, 1:39:50 PM In 2020, Clara Barton Elementary School in Philadelphia set forth on a challenging but necessary journey: to transform its literacy instruction model and close the reading gap for its diverse group of learners. To achieve these goals, the school partnered with the AIM Institute to shift from a balanced literacy model to a structured literacy framework. In this blog, we discuss this transition, highlighting how Clara Barton Elementary and AIM Institute provided consistent, high-quality, evidence-based professional development to teachers to significantly improve student reading outcomes. ### Identifying the Problem Prior to 2020, Clara Barton Elementary prided itself on being a model school for balanced literacy using the Readers-Writers Workshop approach. Classrooms were visually pleasing, and students seemed engaged, yet the data showed many were struggling with foundational reading skills. According to the school's principal and literacy lead, the learning gaps became evident in the assessment data, which revealed that students were failing to break the reading code effectively. Even those who appeared to be on grade level often relied on guessing, memorization, and repetition rather than true decoding skills. Faced with this reality, the school leadership recognized that despite their best intentions, the balanced literacy approach was not meeting the instructional needs of their diverse student body, which includes 40% English Language Learners and 15% students with Individualized Education Programs. The leadership acknowledged that to provide an equitable education, they needed to shift to a more evidence-based approach that prioritized the development of foundational skills essential for literacy success. ### Implementing Structured Literacy with AIM Institute The school used several of AIM Institute’s Pathways programs, which gave their educators the tools they needed to transform literacy instruction: - [**Pathways to Proficient Reading:**](https://institute.aimpa.org/aim-pathways/aim-pathways-individual-cohort/ppr)This program played a pivotal role in filling knowledge gaps for educators. Teachers learned to integrate explicit and systematic instruction into their daily lessons, equipping students with the skills to decode and comprehend text confidently. - [**Pathways to Proficient Writing:**](https://institute.aimpa.org/aim-pathways/aim-pathways-individual-cohort/ppw)Recognizing that literacy extends beyond reading, Clara Barton's educators embraced the Pathways to Proficient Writing program to help students become strong, confident writers. They learned strategies for teaching students how to encode (write words using sound-letter patterns), develop sentences, and structure written text coherently, all while reinforcing reading skills. - [**Pathways to Literacy Leadership:**](https://institute.aimpa.org/aim-pathways/aim-pathways-individual-cohort/pll) This program was designed to guide principals and instructional leads in fostering a school-wide culture of literacy improvement. Leaders gained insights into creating systems that support structured literacy, evaluating the effectiveness of reading programs, and providing meaningful professional development. By participating in this program, Clara Barton's principal and literacy leads could align school goals with evidence-based practices, ensuring a consistent, high-impact instructional approach across all classrooms. ### Clara Barton’s Key Instructional Strategies To ensure that the shift to structured literacy was impactful, Clara Barton Elementary adopted several targeted instructional strategies guided by AIM Institute's training programs: - **Systematic, Explicit Foundational Skills Instruction:** Using what they learned on the platform, teachers intentionally built early readers’ skills in a systematic, explicit manner. Rather than teaching skills in a random order, teachers followed a scope and sequence that ensured students’ learned skills in a logical order moving from simple to more complex concepts with lots of repetition and opportunities for practice. - **Diagnostic, Prescriptive Literacy Instruction:** With data-driven decision-making, teachers could identify students' specific needs and offer targeted support, helping them decode words with greater confidence. - **Morphology Lessons:** Inspired by the understanding that word structure and spelling is guided by more than just letters representing sounds, teachers introduced short morphology lessons each week. Students explored morphemes- the smallest unit of meaning in a word, leading to an increased awareness of word structure and meaning across content areas.  ### Achieving Data-Driven Success The data from the STAR Assessments painted a promising picture. In 2021, only 12% of K-2 students were reading on grade level. By spring 2023, 76% of kindergarteners were reading on grade level, and first grade saw 61% reading on or above grade level. These gains were most notable in kindergarten, where students learned foundational skills using structured literacy from the start. Second grade remained a concern, but through targeted interventions and additional support from teachers, these students also showed progress. The school realized that foundational skills needed to be solidified throughout the spring to prevent summer learning loss. As teachers and leaders continue to support this transformation, they recognize the importance of sustaining a collaborative culture centered around the science of reading. ### Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction with AIM Institute Are you looking to delve deeper into building effective structured literacy systems? If you'd like to discover more about equipping all your staff members, from leaders and teachers to specialists and paraeducators, with effective learning opportunities, [let’s start a conversation](https://info.institute.aimpa.org/lets-connect).  **About AIM Institute:** The AIM Institute for Learning & Research® is a non-profit center for educational excellence and professional development, providing educators with the latest research, technology, and  evidence-based practices in the fields of literacy and language-based learning disabilities. Tags: [Literacy](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/tag/literacy) [Back to Blog](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ## Related Articles ## [Advanced Strategies for Building Background Knowledge](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/advanced-strategies-for-building-background-knowledge) Just like the multifaceted journey towards literacy proficiency explored in Part 1, content area... [Read More](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/advanced-strategies-for-building-background-knowledge) ## [Unlocking Emergent Literacy: Transitioning through Phases with Evidence-Based Instruction](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/unlocking-emergent-literacy) Emergent literacy, the vital period of time in which young children interact with and gain... [Read More](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/unlocking-emergent-literacy) ## [Back to School with AIM Institute: Professional Learning Highlights](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/back-to-school-with-aim-institute-professional-learning-highlights) AIM is proud to partner with educators and leaders in over 39 states to provide high-quality... [Read More](https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/back-to-school-with-aim-institute-professional-learning-highlights) **AIM Institute for Learning & Research** 1200 River Road Conshohocken, PA 19428 (215) 483-2461 F: (215) 483-4597 [consulting@aimpa.org](mailto:consulting@aimpa.org) **The AIM Institute for Learning & Research provides evidence-based professional development to build strong, sustainable literacy instruction.** *The Academy In Manayunk (DBA as AIM Institute for Learning & Research and AIM Academy) is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Federal Tax ID# is 01-0849648. Contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law.* - [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/company/aiminstitutepa/) - [X](https://x.com/AIMtoLearn) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/aiminstitutepa/) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/aiminstitutepa) - [Find Your Training Pathway](https://institute.aimpa.org/what-we-provide) - [Get AIM News](https://institute.aimpa.org/who-we-are/institute-news) - [Contact Us](https://institute.aimpa.org/who-we-are/contact-us) - [Research to Practice Symposium](https://institute.aimpa.org/research-impact/research-to-practice-symposium) - [Careers at AIM](https://institute.aimpa.org/who-we-are/careers) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "AIM Institute", "url" : "https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/author/aim-institute" }, "dateModified" : "2024-06-25T18:14:10.465Z", "datePublished" : "2024-06-25T17:39:50.000Z", "headline" : "From Balanced to Structured Literacy: How AIM Institute and Clara Barton Elementary Partnered for Long-Term Success", "image" : [ "https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/hubfs/Hubspot%20Blog%20Image%201200x628%20(1)-2.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/aim-resources/from-balanced-to-structured-literacy-how-aim-institute-and-clara-barton-elementary-partnered-for-long-term-success", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.institute.aimpa.org/hubfs/AIM%20Institute%202025%20Landscape%20Subtitle%20CMYK%20(1).png" }, "name" : "AIM Institute for Learning & Research" } } ```