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The Right Tool for the Job Improving Reading and Writing in the Classroom

This collection of in-depth reviews identifies nine promising digital learning tools for English language arts (ELA) resources, including writing tools. Three of these feature text sets, i.e., collections of texts tightly focused on a specific topic, designed to build students’ content knowledge, vocabulary, and conceptual understanding. Overall, reviewers found these new resources mostly reflect the instructional shifts called for by Common Core (such as including a balance of text types and text-dependent questions for reading and writing). They also lauded the innovative nature and usefulness of text sets as instructional tools, as well as online resources’ student assessment and data reporting capabilities. They cite a lack of information regarding accessibility and accommodations for students with learning disabilities.