Local News
Monday, August 25, 2008
Reading gets some help from 'rithmeticSTAFF WRITER
Sometimes the best way to teach reading is to switch to math and crunch the numbers.
The Ohio Department of Education, through the Region 1 Support Team, has implemented a new analysis method in Fostoria Schools.
“It's taking the data we're collecting, analyzing the data, making changes in the instruction, implementing the changes, collecting evidence and seeing if we're finding what we need to find,” Riley Principal Barb Peterson explained.
The data and evidence being collected comes from the assessment test scores students are required to take that shows the progress they are making in their reading skills.
“We're training teams of teachers to follow this protocol,” Peterson said.
A Literacy Leadership Team (LLT) model allows teachers to look over the scores and progress and find ways to change teaching methods as needed to bring about higher numbers on the achievement tests.
There will be teacher team meetings to review and assess student performance. These meetings will help teachers isolate problems and adjust instruction in the classroom accordingly, according to the model.
Peterson said the teachers will monitor the progress of the students by taking questions from past achievement tests, released by ODE, and using them as “mini-tests” to determine how adjusted instruction will work. Then, the cycle will begin again with teachers learning and improving on each new phase, hopefully as the number of correct answers rise.
“This project will just enhance what we've already been doing,” Superintendent Cynthia Lemmerman said.
The LLT model was introduced to the schools this year for the first time and Ohio is the first state to invest in the model, according to a press release from Pearson Education, Inc., a company out of Santa Monica, Calif.
The project is a four year program and costs $6 million which is funded by the ODE.
The most important part of the project, according to Lemmerman, is not only to bring the average test scores up and understand what the numbers mean, but to help children in reading, which she said is the basis of everything.
“Student success begins with reading,” Susan Tave Zelman, state superintendent of public instruction, said in the release. “Reading skills are instrumental for success in other subject areas. By coordinating literacy efforts throughout the academic curricula, we can help establish a strong foundation of literacy.”
As part of a five-year rotation regarding classes and courses at the schools, Lemmerman said this is an ideal year to begin the program.
“This is a year, too, that we'll review our language arts curriculum and resources and textbooks,” Lemmerman said.
Peterson said the staff is dedicated to making the project work and explained that teachers are not obligated to stay at the school past 3:45 p.m., but they do in order to understand the scores and data and utilize them in a practical way in the classroom and to discuss the numbers and progress with each other.
“Our plan is to continue to improve reading achievement and learn from the conversations we have with other literary teams,” Lemmerman said.
Lemmerman and Peterson are both eager to see how using the model will help bring the numbers up and the amount of incorrect answers on achievement tests down.
“From our 15 years of research, we know that with the Learning Teams model, teachers benefit from each other's strengths and that together they become much more effective than they were individually, said Beth Wray, CEO of the Learning Teams initiative. “The ultimate goal, of course, is to help teachers improve student performance at every grade level.”
Contact staff writer Chandra Niklewski at: Send an e-mail to Chandra Niklewski.
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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