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Multitudes continues to grow alongside school communities across California, with more than one-third of districts now adopting it as their K–2 screener for reading difficulties. This expansion builds on early collaborations with districts such as Monterey Peninsula USD, Compton USD, and San Francisco USD—and on the leadership of districts like Anaheim Elementary School District.
Anaheim Elementary School District: Partnership in Action
Serving a dense, urban community in central Orange County with a highly diverse, multilingual student population, Anaheim Elementary School District offers dual-language programs at each of its twenty-four schools. As district leaders considered screening options, they were drawn to Multitudes for its validation in California classrooms, ensuring results would be meaningful for their students. Anaheim thoughtfully integrated Multitudes into its assessment calendar and is using results to inform both classroom practice and system-level decisions.
As early data became available, Anaheim partnered closely with our team to examine how results were being interpreted and used—surfacing questions that are guiding deeper analysis and instructional planning in this first year of implementation. Karen Gray, a curriculum specialist with Anaheim’s Department of Assessment, Translation, and Accountability (DATA), noted that the results aligned closely with other indicators the district uses to understand student learning. “It’s really eye-opening,” she shared, “we are learning about the intervention and remediation that is needed in our Tier One instruction.”
These insights are already informing broader decisions, including refinements to the instructional calendar. Anaheim currently screens earlier in the year than Multitudes recommends, creating an opportunity to examine how timing influences the interpretation and use of results. Their experience is contributing to broader state and field research on when and how often to screen.
The partnership with Anaheim is a two-way exchange. Anaheim educators have engaged directly with Multitudes researchers, asking questions and sharing feedback that continues to inform ongoing improvements. At the same time, Anaheim is sharing what they are learning from their instructional response—helping to answer a critical question for the field: What happens after screening?
Together, this work reflects what meaningful implementation looks like. It’s through collaborations like this that Multitudes continues to better serve students across California.
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