Language Arts Lab – Wayne Community Schools

1. Language Arts Lab – Wayne Community Schools Presented by: Heather Fortune Melanie Halferty Mary Roberts Fred Wilker

2. Wayne Community Schools Mission • It is the mission of the Wayne Community Schools to provide students with the opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge needed to succeed beyond the structure of our school system, including but not limited to being: • Productive Citizens • Effective Parents • Proficient, Dedicated, and Knowledgeable Wage Earners • Students Prepared for all Facets of Post-Secondary Education • Moral and Ethical Leaders

3. What type of reading programs were offered to address the mission of our school? • Prior to the 2006-2007, Wayne Community School did not offer any reading remediation for students at the high school level • Every student K-8 was enrolled in a reading class. • Vocabulary Strategies and QAR were being implemented district wide. • Wayne Community was not “needy” enough to be a Reading First school at this time. (We have received the Reading First grant since.)

4. How much of a need existed? • Approximately one-sixth of the high school students tested below proficiency on the 2006 ITED’s. (approx. 27 of 190) • Of those 27 students, 8 were IEP students with reading goals. • Teachers needed additional training in assisting these students with their reading.

5. What was the Vision? • To raise student achievement in the area of reading • To provide teachers with the knowledge needed to address the reading concerns and deficits of the students. • To provide motivation for students to perform well on the standardized tests. • To provide an additional opportunity for team teaching and collaboration between general and special education.

6. What were the Values? • Reading Standards and Benchmarks • Demonstrates Competence in the General Skills and Reading Strategies. • Uses general skills and strategies of the reading process • Uses reading skills and strategies to interpret and discuss a variety of literary texts. • Uses reading skills and strategies to interpret and discuss a variety of informational texts. • Applies reading skills and strategies to a variety of informational texts. • Extends general and specialized reading vocabulary.

7. What were the goals of language arts lab? • To provide specific reading strategies to students and teachers to assist in raising student achievement in reading. • To provide motivation for student who are “non-motivated” test takers. • To raise ITBS/ITED scores.

8. How did we start? • Teachers and administration selected the Second Chance Reading Program developed by Dr. Beverly Showers • 1 general education teacher, 3 special education teachers, and the building administrator attended a 3 day training provided by the state.

9. How was the district involved? • All students who did not test at a proficient level on the 2005 ITED/ITBS tests were required to take the Language Arts Lab during the 2006-2007 school year. • These students were identified by the trained administrator and lead teacher. • Implemented with all high school staff through staff development • Trained staff presented strategies to staff. • Teachers are expected to provide documentation and notification of classroom implementation.

10. What are the Strengths? • Students became more motivated when taking the standardized tests. • Student achievement is increasing. • Teachers began to implement strategies to improve learning in all students. • Increased collaboration between general education and special education.

11. What are the Weaknesses? • Program is not appropriate for self contained special education students with significant delays in reading. • In our small district it creates scheduling issues for elective and enhancement programs. • Time commitment of teachers preparing lessons.

12. What are the Opportunities? • Allows for reading instruction at the high school level. • Students are motivated to do well on the ITED. • Parental involvement is increased through reading log verification. • Students are motivated to test out of Language Arts Lab to open up their schedule for elective and enhancement programs.

13. What are the Threats? • Some elective teachers are threatened by the lack of opportunity for Language Arts Lab students. • What will we do if these strategies “quit” working? • How do we keep all staff motivated to use the strategies?

14. What did the students need? • Direct instruction in reading at the high school level. • Specific strategies to improve reading comprehension. • Support from all staff in reading skills. • Motivation and accountability to perform to their personal best.

15. What did the students get? • Direct instruction in reading at the high school level. • Specific strategies to improve reading comprehension. • Support from all staff in reading skills. • Motivation and accountability to perform to their personal best.

16. What did the teachers need? • Specific skills to give the students. • Training to implement the program • Support from administration • Money for supplies and books.

17. What did the teachers get? • Specific skills to give the students. • Training to implement the program • Support from administration • Money for supplies and books. • Additional compensation for training and planning time outside of contract time.

18. What were the outcomes of the 1st year? • 19 of 27 students showed an average growth of 13.4 percentile points on the 2006 ITED. • 22 of 27 showed an average of 2.24 GE growth. • 11 of 27 became proficient.

19. Where do we go from here? • We are currently in our 2nd year of implementation. • We will continue to focus on: • Staff development • Implementation of strategies to all students • Assessment of data • Student/parent feedback • Administrative support