Lavinia Group is proud to continue our partnership with DiscoverWorks to bring the proven RISE Summer Learning Program to students and educators across Michigan and Washington, at no cost to participating sites. In Summer 2027, the partnership enters its fourth year in Michigan and second year in Washington.

Through DiscoverWorks, participating sites receive a comprehensive summer learning program that includes science of reading and standards-aligned curriculum, ready-to-use student materials, pre-program educator training, and caregiver communication, all designed to help students stay engaged, make measurable academic progress, and thrive over the summer.

SUMMER 2026 PROGRAM RESULTS

In the Summer of 2026, sites that partnered with Lavinia Group saw a ___x increase in the number of students scoring proficient on the math assessment and a ____x increase in the number of students scoring proficient on the ELA assessment.

Key Takeaways

18

percentage point increase in students scoring ‘proficient’

26

percentage point decrease in students scoring ‘below basic’ and ‘approaching’

Proficiency Growth: The percentage point change between the percent of participating students who are proficient on the pre-assessment and the percent of students who are proficient on the post-assessment.

Key Takeaways

23

percentage point increase in students scoring ‘proficient’

26

percentage point decrease in students scoring ‘below basic’ and ‘approaching’

$RISE-Math-2025$

RISE Summer Learning Program Overview

What RISE Includes:

RISE offers a 5-week (20 instructional days) curriculum aligned to the Common Core Standards and adaptable to state-specific standards.

Sample Student Schedule

5 Weeks of Standards-Aligned Curriculum

RISE provides pre-program training for both site leaders and educators. Leaders participate in a live, 3-hour virtual session, while teachers engage in a 3-day live virtual training focused on curriculum implementation. On-demand training modules are also available anytime to educators for added flexibility.

Sample Teacher Training Schedule

Professional Development

RISE uses standards-aligned pre- and post-assessments to measure student progress in both ELA and math and data analysis tools to track and review student performance.

Assessment Overview and Design

Pre- and Post-Assessments

RISE progress trackers give teachers data to make in-the-moment decisions and provide targeted student support throughout the program.

Sample Impact Report

Progress Monitoring Trackers

Access digital resources like progress updates, learning activities, support guides, and materials to extend learning at home.

Sample Caregiver Letter

Caregiver Communication

Access RISE On Demand for self-paced training modules and materials, available anytime on the RISE platform.

On-Demand Training Modules

Join live weekly office hours for real-time support, guidance, and the chance to ask RISE experts questions.

Live Weekly Office Hours

The Teaching Channel subscription offers on-demand access to thousands of expert-led videos to help educators improve their teaching practice.

Learn More

Teaching Channel Subscription

The program, including curriculum, professional development, and assessments, is provided at no cost; however, grantees should budget for the accompanying student materials. Click the button below to view the materials list!

Coming Soon: 2027 Materials List

Rise ELA Curriculum

We provide 90 minutes of engaging, science-of-reading–aligned literacy instruction, with two 45-minute instructional blocks tailored to each grade band. Students in Rising Kindergarten participate in Knowledge and Foundations blocks, with Foundations including foundational skills instruction and learning centers. Students in Rising 1st–2nd Grade engage in RedThread Foundations, a systematic phonics program, and Author Study. Students in Rising 3rd–10th Grade participate in Close Reading for Meaning and RedThread Knowledge, author study blocks.

Rising K RedThread RISE Foundations

Rising 1st - 2nd GradersRedThread RISE Foundations

Rising 3rd - 10th GradersRedThread RISE Close Reading for Meaning

Rising K - 10th GradersRedThread RISE
Knowledge

The Rising Kindergarten Foundations curriculum builds essential early literacy skills through explicit, systematic instruction grounded in the science of reading. Students develop phonological awareness, phonics, and handwriting skills through engaging lessons, multisensory activities, and learning centers that reinforce foundational skills and prepare students for reading success.

View a Sample of Our Phonics Curriculum

The systematic phonics curriculum, grounded in the science of reading, places a strong emphasis on phonics, ensuring a solid foundation for reading and language development. Lessons are explicit, cumulative, and sequential—building knowledge step by step—while incorporating multisensory activities that engage students through visual aids and manipulatives. To reinforce learning in context, students read paired decodable texts with carefully controlled vocabulary and phonics patterns. These RedThread Readers, designed for summer, offer rich, engaging stories that both captivate young readers and strengthen their decoding skills.

View a Sample of Our Phonics Curriculum

Explore Our Decodables

The RedThread RISE Close Reading Curriculum develops both foundational and comprehension skills through a structured five-day reading cycle. Students begin by focusing on foundational reading skills such as morphological awareness, decoding, and fluency, before using genre as an entry point to analyze a text’s main idea and the author’s craft. Throughout the cycle, genre-based, transferable questions prompt students to return to the text for evidence, sharpening critical thinking and building confidence in tackling complex texts. After engaging in this process with the teacher, students apply their learning independently to a paired passage, demonstrating their growing proficiency.

View a Close Reading for Meaning Elementary School Sample

View a Close Reading for Meaning Middle School Sample

Building on foundational reading skills, the RedThread RISE Knowledge curriculum, formerly known as Insight Humanities, teaches students to become thoughtful, engaged readers. By focusing on a single author or immersing in a full novel, students deepen comprehension, expand vocabulary, and develop a genuine love of reading. Each workshop features carefully curated texts that reflect diverse backgrounds and authentic experiences, ensuring representation while avoiding bias and stereotypes. The curriculum strategically connects Close Reading topics to Author and Novel Studies, helping students build knowledge networks that strengthen understanding of themes and ideas. Daily text-based writing tasks further reinforce comprehension and analytical skills, giving students meaningful opportunities to express their thinking with grade-appropriate vocabulary and language.

View an Elementary School Knowledge Sample

View a Middle School Knowledge Sample

Rise math Curriculum

We provide engaging, discourse-driven math instruction that builds problem-solving skills through real-world applications. Students in Rising Kindergarten participate in 45 minutes of Math Stories, combining math routines and story problems to develop foundational number sense. Students in Rising 1st–9th Grade engage in 75 minutes of Math Routines and Story Problems, while Rising 10th Grade students focus exclusively on Story Problems.

Rising KStory Problems

Rising 1st-10th GradersMath Story Problems

Rising 1st-9th GradersMath Routines

Grounded in the belief that all students are mathematicians, the Math Story Problems curriculum engages learners through real-world contexts—such as shopping, sports, or travel—encouraging them to see the relevance of math in everyday life. With a wide variety of grade-level problem types, students develop multiple strategies for solving unknowns, applying flexible thinking while participating in hands-on learning and rich mathematical discourse. By persevering through challenges and sharing their reasoning, students deepen understanding, build confidence, and strengthen precision, equipping them to tackle any mathematical task independently while mastering grade-level standards.

View a Math Story Problems Elementary School Sample

View a Math Story Problems Middle School Sample

View a Math Routines Elementary School Sample

View a Math Routines Middle School Sample

Created specifically for RISE, these short, structured math routines target common gaps in student knowledge while strengthening foundational skills and concepts such as counting, operations, place value, and proportional relationships. Designed for daily use, the routines build both conceptual understanding and fluency, helping students develop speed, accuracy, and confidence with essential math operations. With five consistent routine structures used across grades and content, teachers can easily integrate these targeted activities into instruction, ensuring students are well-prepared for success in the next grade.

View a Sample of Our Phonics Curriculum

Curriculum FAQ's

What standards are addressed in the curriculum?

RISE aligns to the Common Core State Standards and recognizes that states may present standards differently, even when addressing similar concepts. Using “crosswalks,” the program translates Common Core–aligned content to each state’s specific requirements. RISE prioritizes power standards, the most critical grade-level skills and concepts, and intentionally targets standards from the previous grade to bridge learning gaps. For example, students entering 5th grade engage with 4th-grade standards to reinforce foundational skills before tackling new content in the fall. This approach helps students build deeper mastery within the limited summer timeframe. [Click on the links to download the Common Core standards alignment for ELA and Math]

What comes with the curriculum?

The RISE curriculum includes 5 weeks (20 instructional days) of lessons with teacher guides for all math and literacy components, along with student lesson materials. Additional implementation resources are included as well, such as progress monitoring trackers, leader-facing observation tools, weekly caregiver communications for math and ELA, and more.

In what format will our site receive the curriculum materials?

All curriculum materials are accessible digitally through the RISE Summer Portal. Sites may choose to use them digitally or print as needed. Beginning in Summer 2026, a new procurement process will allow grantees to print and ship required curriculum materials directly to their sites.

What does my site need to procure outside of what’s provided by RISE?

All required classroom materials and texts are outlined in the provided materials list. Partners are responsible for procuring these items from a vendor of their choice. This includes items such as math manipulatives, white-boards, markers, etc. For returning applicants: In 2026, ELA texts for Rising Grades 3, 4, and 5 have been updated in response to feedback. Please plan accordingly in your budget if you intended to reuse last year’s materials. All other 2025 ELA texts (including the Rising 1st-2nd decodables) and math materials remain unchanged and can be reused.

Do my students and teachers need technology devices to participate in the program?

No. Technology is not required for students to participate successfully in the RISE program. However, teachers will need access to the RISE Summer Portal, which houses all curriculum materials, progress monitoring tools, professional development links, and other program resources. Sites may choose to administer pre- and post-assessments either digitally or on paper, but all student assessment data must be entered into the digital assessment platform.

How does the curriculum support ELL learners?

The RISE curriculum is intentionally designed to help MLLs build knowledge and skills through content that emphasizes morphology, fluency, and opportunities for rich discourse; benefiting all learners. In addition, every lesson includes specific supports for MLLs across three key domains: reading, writing, and speaking/listening.

How does the curriculum support SPED learners?

The RISE curriculum is intentionally designed with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) pedagogy embedded throughout every unit to ensure equitable access for all students, including those with disabilities. The curriculum itself is research-based in what content is covered, while UDL principles shape how that content is taught, through multiple means of engagement (diverse texts, project work, discourse), representation (read-alouds, graphic organizers, charts), and expression (student choice in projects and varied ways to show learning). To further support teachers, every lesson includes lesson-specific differentiation suggestions, and additional resources like the Differentiation Toolkit provide practical strategies for reteaching, small-group support, and adjusting instruction to meet individual student needs.

3 Ways to Engage with RISE Professional Development

If you are using the Lavinia RISE curriculum, teachers are expected to attend 3 days of pre-program training and encouraged to attend 60-minute weekly development meetings. This is estimated at 18 hours of PD for one subject and 24 hours of PD for two subjects. For school administrators, this is estimated at 3 hours of PD. You should plan to pay teachers for this time, so please factor this into your budget.

Pre-Program Leader Training

Pre-Program Teacher Training

Ongoing Support & Office Hours

Leaders will participate in training sessions prior to Teacher Training Week (estimated at approximately three hours in total).

The first leader training will provide a comprehensive overview of the RISE program, highlighting strategies for supporting educators in delivering a high-impact summer program and best practices for managing summer instruction.

The second session will focus on assessment training with LinkIt, covering rostering and administration, as well as platform functionality, to ensure leaders are fully equipped to oversee assessment implementation at their sites.

Across both sessions, leaders will gain access to tools and resources designed to help them strengthen educator practices quickly and effectively, setting the stage for a successful summer of teaching and learning.

Lavinia Group will lead a comprehensive training for Summer Discovery educators, designed to help teachers internalize the summer curriculum and feel fully prepared for launch. This interactive experience will include model lessons, guided planning and practice, and strategies for incorporating high-engagement activities and differentiated instruction to meet the diverse needs of students.

Teachers will also participate in assessment training with LinkIt, which will cover test administration, scoring, and related platform functionality, ensuring they are confident in using assessment data to inform instruction throughout the program.

Educators will have opportunities to ask questions, engage in rich content discussions, and collaborate with peers in a supportive learning environment that promotes reflection and practical application.

Once the summer begins, educators will also have access to ongoing weekly development opportunities and office hours facilitated by a Lavinia Group coach. These sessions are designed to provide support with intellectual preparation, data analysis, differentiation, and general program questions. Educators will be able to engage in these opportunities live through Zoom or access resources asynchronously.

A dedicated coach from Lavinia Group will work with your site to create a coaching agenda that aligns with your summer learning goals and priorities.

The coach will also help you implement accelerated learning strategies for math and ELA, specifically designed to target unfinished learning from the previous year and close critical achievement gaps.

Coaching services will include:

Three half-day, on-site visits
Email and phone access to the coach for ongoing support.

The RISE Process

Click on each stage below to learn more

Meet with Our Coaches
Prepare for a Successful Summer
Train with Experts
Receive Ongoing Support
Achieve Outstanding Results

Meet with Our Coaches

Share your vision and goals for the summer with us so our team can help you design and deliver a high-impact program.
Prepare for a Successful Summer

Before student programming begins, ensure all required materials are accessible, participate in training sessions, and explore the RISE Summer School Portal, packed with resources to help you design your program and confidently welcome students on day one.
Train with Experts

Participate in in-person training to ensure your educators feel confident and prepared to deliver the summer curriculum effectively.
Receive Ongoing Support

Access continuous guidance throughout the summer through virtual office hours, or invite an on-site coach to provide hands-on modeling and teaching support directly at your campus.
Achieve Outstanding Results

By the end of summer, your students will demonstrate meaningful growth, equipped to carry their learning confidently into the school year.