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Chariton Reading First Initiative. Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats. By Tracy Hall, Ben Schooley, Tim Milledge, Perry Lane and Jay Pierschbacher. What is Reading First?.
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Chariton Reading First Initiative Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats By Tracy Hall, Ben Schooley, Tim Milledge, Perry Lane and Jay Pierschbacher
What is Reading First? • Reading First is a national effort to support states to make every child a proficient reader.
Where are we at? • The Chariton School District began participation in the Reading First program in 2003 and were able to renew our participation in 2006. • This is the fifth year and final year of the program.
Data Phonemic Awareness – Kindergarten% Proficient Fall to Spring for 4 years of Grant These scores are used for 2 purposes: One to look at how our students are doing and 2nd to determine if the students met the performance benchmark which is 75% - and you can see that the kindergartners did have all 3 tests above that criteria.
Data Phonemic Awareness – 1st Grade% proficient Fall to Spring for 4 years of Grant Note that our fall 06-07 scores were higher than ever before!
Data Phonics First Grade % proficient Fall to Spring for 4 years of Grant Note: The incoming scores for each year show a larger percentage of students are entering 1st grade proficient.
Data Fluency% proficient Fall to Spring 4 years of Grant These fluency scores are obtained from the John’s Basic Reading inventory simultaneously as a word accuracy score and comprehension score are also taken. The wpm criteria changes from fall to spring, so this is the one test where there is a moving target. To increase achievement here, means that not only those proficient gained, but some students who were not proficient in the fall grew to that level and then on to the spring level.
Data Comprehension% proficient Fall to Spring 4 years of Grant Ses, males, disabilities students performing as well or better than student with economic advantage, females, or students without disabilities. Because of our work in fluency and the close tie between fluent reading and good comprehension, our comprehension scores continue to be our strength. With a different class every year, this will always be a focus.
Assessments • Basic Reading Inventory (BRI) data is used to monitor the program’s progress. • Students are tested three times a year in the areas of fluency (words per minute), accuracy, and comprehension. • The fall & spring tests use the same BRI testing form, the winter test uses a different form. • Accuracy Goal: 95% or higher; Comprehension Goal: 85% or higher; WPM goal is relative to the grade level.
What is intended? • To help every student reach proficiency in reading by the end of 3rd grade. • To identify the reading levels of each student. • To create interventions to help students improve their reading skills.
Strengths • Students are receiving 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading instruction per day. • Teachers have received training and are implementing scientifically based reading research strategies.
Strengths • Data shows that students are coming into each year performing stronger in certain areas of reading. • All teachers are on the “same page” for reading instruction. • Data is used for SAT, reported to parents, & drives instruction. • Makes teachers accountable.
Weaknesses Some of the weaknesses of the program include: • Time Requirements, 90 minutes uninterrupted reading. • Getting everyone involved with the initiative and applying strategies in their instruction. • Redundancy & repetition of some of the components. • Narrowing of the curriculum, difficult to allocate enough time to other areas of the curriculum.
Opportunities • Professional development to train teachers. • Funding to buy resources such as non-fiction books, PWIM posters, & other teaching materials. • Ability to better educate students in reading to help them reach proficient reading levels.
Threats • Will teachers continue to use the strategies learned through the program? • We will lose funding for resources. • Training new staff will be difficult. • The program requires a lot of training & takes a lot of time to implement. • Will teachers continue with multiple observations to monitor student progress?
What students need. Continued use of: • Non-fiction books • Leveled Books • Explicit Instruction • Repeated Reading • Highly Qualified Teachers
Recommendations • Define what are the essential components of the program that need to be continued. • Continue to have administrative support, evaluation, and staff dialogue. • Continue to periodically collect & analyze BRI data.