Title:                      ELA Proficiency Scale Drafts

Date:                     March 13, 2026

To:                         All Administrators

From:                    Dr. Chelsea Malouf, Director-Literacy and ALS

                              Adrienne Kumik, Literacy Supervisor

Teaching & Learning

Subject:                Teacher Feedback on Draft District Proficiency Scales

Summary

Over the past several months, the district literacy team has developed draft proficiency scales aligned to the Utah Core ELA Standards. These scales are intended to provide greater clarity around grade-level expectations and to support instructional conversations within professional learning communities.

Before these scales are finalized, we are asking teachers across the district to review the drafts and provide feedback. Your support in sharing this information with faculty and encouraging teacher participation will help ensure the scales are clear, instructionally useful, and aligned to classroom practice.

Timeline

Now – March 27: Teachers review the draft proficiency scales and complete the feedback survey

Teacher feedback should be submitted no later than March 27.

March–April: District team reviews feedback and identifies needed revisions

Spring–Summer: Scales are refined and finalized

2027–2028 School Year: Final proficiency scales available for district use

Finalized scales will be introduced at the August opening days

Rationale

Teachers are the professionals who work most directly with the standards and who will ultimately determine how useful these tools are in practice. Inviting teacher feedback serves several important purposes:

• Ensures the scales accurately reflect grade-level expectations and classroom realities
• Identifies areas where language or learning progressions may need greater clarity
• Helps determine whether the examples of evidence of learning are practical and observable in classroom settings
• Strengthens teacher ownership of the work by incorporating professional expertise from across the district

The goal is to refine the scales so they are clear, instructionally meaningful, and supportive of collaborative PLC work.

Expectations for Implementation:

1.      Communication

• Administrators are asked to:
  • Inform and/or remind teachers to watch for an email from Chelsea Malouf with a video explanation and link to the scales and survey.
  • Encourage teachers to review the scales and complete the survey by March 27.

2.      Collaboration:

• Reach out to your literacy coach for additional questions
  
  

3.      Evaluation

• Survey responses will be reviewed for patterns across the district. Feedback will be used to:
  • clarify language
  • adjust learning progressions where needed
  • revise examples of evidence of learning
  • improve overall usability of the scales
  • Updated versions will be shared once revisions are complete.

Keywords: Proficiency Scales, feedback