Arts & Letters + Really Great Reading Approved in Utah

Contact:
Nancy Zuckerbrod, nancy.zuckerbrod@greatminds.org
Phone: 202-499-6796

December 18, 2025 — The Utah State Board of Education has approved a joint submission from Arts & Letters™, developed by Great Minds PBC® Really Great Reading (RGR) for use in grades K–8 in schools statewide.

The board found the combined programs to be strongly aligned with Utah’s educational standards and fully compliant with state legislation aimed at improving literacy. The joint submission received a top evaluation score, noting “an overall threshold of 99 percent with zero red flags.”

“Arts & Letters and RGR make a powerful combination,” said Lorraine Griffith, Senior Content Architect for Humanities at Great Minds. “Both programs are evidence-based and rooted in the science of reading, and together they create joyful, rigorous learning experiences that help students build strong language comprehension and foundational reading skills. In districts where we’ve seen these literacy programs used together, student learning has followed.”

Arts & Letters is a knowledge-rich English language arts curriculum that builds reading, writing, and speaking and listening skills using award-winning whole books and other rich texts. Really Great Reading provides systematic, explicit foundational reading instruction through its Countdown, Blast, and HD Word programs, ensuring students develop essential decoding and word recognition skills.

The joint approval offers Utah schools a fully aligned K–8 literacy solution that connects knowledge-building and language comprehension with systematic foundational skills instruction. This combined approach equips educators to meet state literacy goals, close gaps early, and support students on the path to strong lifelong reading.

“By integrating knowledge-rich content with high-quality foundational skills instruction, Utah educators now have access to a truly comprehensive literacy solution,” said Amy Vanden Boogart, Vice President of Curriculum, Products, and Services at Really Great Reading. “We’re honored to partner with Great Minds to support the state’s goals and help teachers deliver the kind of reading instruction that leads to meaningful, lasting gains for students.”

Schools and districts that are interested in learning more can connect here.

About Great Minds

Great Minds PBC is a public benefit corporation. Teachers and content experts write Great Minds curricula, applying their experience to create materials that resonate with students, teachers, and families. Great Minds curricula include Arts & Letters™, Wit & Wisdom®,  Eureka Math², PhD Science®, and Geodes®, the latter of which consists of decodable books developed in cooperation with Wilson Language Training.

About the Really Great Reading Company

Really Great Reading® is a leader in PK–12 foundational literacy instruction, offering evidence-aligned, research-based tools that help teachers deliver systematic and explicit reading instruction. With expertly designed lessons, diagnostics, professional learning, and student materials, RGR supports schools in building strong decoding, word recognition, and early reading comprehension skills. Learn more at reallygreatreading.com.