How to Reach the 90% Reading Goal
Increased Resources
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| Each elementary school shall identify and alter decade-old
paradigms that limit the existing resources that are spent on
reading. Each school as part of their improvement plan will
identify existing resources, reallocate resources, and request
additional resources based on proven research in instructional
practices. Each elementary school shall review the time spent
on reading at all grade levels, practice sound instructional
techniques in reading, and report on these practices to the
Instruction Committee on a annual basis. |
Increased Resources
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1. Parents as a resource in the classroom or supporting
academics
First Father
Dr. Donald Fekete, retired superintendent of Finley
School District, tells this story. When he keynoted
the "Partnership for Learning" breakfast
attended by community members from local school
districts, he stressed the need for parents to spend
twenty minutes a day reading aloud with children
and helping their children with homework in the
evenings.
After the presentation, a disgruntled listener came
up and asked in a hostile tone, "What are we
paying teachers for? I shouldn't be expected to
help my child at home. Are you going to pay me?'
Don replied, "No, I thought it would be something
you would want to do as a parent."
"No way," snapped the man. "That's
what I send 'em to school for. I send them to school
to learn."
Don explained: "Students who do well in kindergarten
and first grade have parents who read to them. They
see their parents reading at home- showing them
that reading and learning are lifelong behaviors.
You don't wait until you get to school to start
reading to them, and you don't stop when the school
bell rings at the end of the day."
The man was listening. Don concluded, "We don't
advocate that parents sit down and formally instruct
their preschoolers in reading. The idea is just
to read to them. As a byproduct, the children learn
a love of reading. They develop a desire to learn
to read themselves. And then, at some future wonderful
moment they will read to you instead of you reading
to them.' |
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| 2. After school academic programs for at-risk grade
1-3 students |
| 3. Training for paraprofessionals and a shift in the
service delivery model of paraprofessionals |
| 4. Funding for training for professional development,
including differentiated instruction |
| 5. Funding for supplemental materials to teach reading
in addition to Houghton-Mifflin to meet the needs of the
students |
| 6. Using in-district teachers as resources for professional
development |
| 7. Reduce Class sizes equitably |
| 8. Identify an appropriate district-wide early childhood
assessment and purchase it for consistent implementation
for grades K-1 |
| 9. Add Curriculum Personnel for professional development
focused on reading instruction |
| 10. Allocate funds to mobilize community involvement |
Kathy Blasdel's family
had been busy all moaning with Saturday yard work, laundry,
house cleaning, and packing a picnic so hay could spend
the afternoon at the river on their ski boat. When the
jobs were done, Kathy said, We can go now! Everybody
go get your swimsuits on!"
Her eight-year-old cried,
"We can't go yet. We haven't read for twenty minutes."
Kathy reflected, "I
don't know what's going on nationwide, but I can tell
you that everyone around here knows that you read twenty
minutes a day with your children."
-Kathy
Blasdel, Kennewick Washington
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| 11. Increase Reading Specialists to focus on K-3 |
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| Items from Reading Specialist and Early Intervention
Strategies to Explore |
| National Reading Panel findings |
| Graphic Organizer |
| Reaching the 90% Reading Goal for Third Graders and
Beyond |
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