Reading & Writing Instruction

New Mexico Public Schools Adopt ThinkCERCA Literacy Platform

• By Kristal Kuykendall
• 01/05/22

ThinkCERCA, a digital platform focused on student reading and writing growth, has been adopted by the New Mexico Public Education Department for writing curriculum in English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Math for grades 3-12.

The move gives New Mexico educators access to ThinkCERCA’s digital platform to engage all learners while improving the students’ writing and reading.

Designed by teachers, National Council of Teachers of English authors, and literacy experts, ThinkCERCA aims to help students achieve two years of reading growth in one school year. The platform includes differentiated close reading and academic writing lessons built upon research-based methods for developing students' language and literacy skills, according to a news release.

“We have been working with districts like Central Consolidate and Farmington for years, helping these districts show what can happen when teams align around student growth, so it is an honor to be an adopted resource for the state,” said Eileen Murphy, ThinkCERCA's founder and CEO. “We're excited to partner with New Mexico districts and schools that believe in the power of personalized literacy instruction to help all students maximize learning.”

ThinkCERCA's personalized literacy platform includes:

• Direct instruction and self-paced lessons that introduce students to the underlying skills needed to master literacy
• A patented close reading and academic writing process that guide students through the process of analyzing content-rich texts and multimedia to construct cohesive argumentative, informational, or narrative writings
• CERCA Slides and Student Guides for helping teachers implement research-based literacy practices into their classrooms, regardless of technology access

ThinkCERCA's lessons are centered on discussion topics that get students thinking critically about real-world issues. These lessons are differentiated for 10 levels to fuel engaging debate among students of varying readiness levels, the company said.

ThinkCERCA counts among its client base schools in all 50 states, and the company touts several studies showing its platform has a significant impact on reading and writing capabilities by students who use it. An independent, controlled study of 26 ed-tech products by LEAP Innovations showed ThinkCERCA helped students achieve an extra year's worth of reading growth in one school year, and SRI Education found that students who used ThinkCERCA saw a 20 percent gain in their writing scores, according to a news release.

The winner of the 2019 Illinois Association of Teachers of English Classroom Essentials Award for secondary grades, ThinkCERCA has also been named one of the best tools in ed tech by Common Sense Media.