Several Urban Districts Post Gains But Most Score Below Nation in Nation's Report Card for Reading

/PRNewswire/ -- Several of the 18 participating U.S. urban school districts produced reading scores that exceeded the average for large cities, and a few posted gains over their scores in previous years, according to the results of a special survey by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "The Nation's Report Card." However, overall scores for fourth and eighth graders in most of these districts continue to lag behind their peers nationwide.

The NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) tested representative samples of between 800 and 2,400 fourth and eighth grade students in each of the 18 large school districts to gauge performance in reading. Overall scores in 2009 were lower for most participating districts when compared to the national average. The nation showed a one-point gain at grade 8 but no change in grade 4 from 2007. However, some districts showed progress on TUDA at each grade level. NAEP is administered and analyzed by the National Center for Education Statistics.

At grade 4, scores for 2009 increased for students in 4 districts--Boston, the District of Columbia, Houston, and New York City--compared to 2007. Moreover, scores were higher in 2009 than in 2002 for 5 districts--Atlanta, Chicago, the District of Columbia, Los Angeles, and New York City. At grade 8, Atlanta and Los Angeles were the only two districts that showed reading gains in 2009 compared to 2007 and 2002, the first assessment year of TUDA.

"Despite promising gains in some districts, clearly the ongoing challenge in urban education is great," said David Driscoll, Chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, the independent, bipartisan body that sets policy for NAEP. "The results underscore the importance of reliable measures like NAEP to spotlight education gaps while also highlighting school districts that have produced solid results."

NAEP is the only nationally representative measure of what American students know and can do. NAEP TUDA is a voluntary program that assesses the educational progress of large, urban school districts with a majority of either non-White or low-income students. Participation in NAEP TUDA has grown from 6 districts in 2002 to 18 school districts in 14 states and the District of Columbia in 2009. The Governing Board selects from among urban districts that volunteer to participate.

The 11 districts that participated in both 2007 and 2009 are Atlanta Public Schools, Austin Independent School District, Boston Public Schools, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Chicago Public Schools, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, District of Columbia Public Schools, Houston Independent School District, Los Angeles Unified School District, New York City Department of Education, and San Diego Unified School District.

Districts added in 2009 are Baltimore City Public Schools, Detroit Public Schools, Fresno Unified School District, Jefferson County Public Schools (Louisville, KY) Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Milwaukee Public Schools, and School District of Philadelphia.

NAEP TUDA results compare the 18 districts not only to each other and the nation, but also to large cities (cities with a population of 250,000 or more that may or may not have a TUDA district). Fourth graders in 6 districts--Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Jefferson County, Miami-Dade, and New York City--scored higher than fourth graders in large cities overall. In 5 districts--Austin, Boston, Charlotte Jefferson County, and Miami-Dade--eighth grade scores were higher than those of large cities overall.

Differences in average NAEP scores between TUDA districts and large cities as a whole sometimes varied among student groups. Among the 9 districts where average scores were lower than the scores for large cities at grade 4, only Detroit and Philadelphia showed lower scores for all categories of students by race/ethnicity and eligibility for free/reduced-price school lunch with samples large enough to report results, for example. And among the 5 districts where overall scores were higher than the average score for large cities at both grades, Charlotte was the only district to have higher scores for White, Black, and Hispanic students and for lower-income students at grade 4.

It should be noted that when comparing the urban districts to the nation, demographic characteristics in the TUDA districts are often different from those in many other school systems in the country. The percentage of TUDA eighth-grade students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch ranges from 46 percent in Charlotte to 100 percent in Cleveland. By contrast, in the nation, it is 43 percent at grade 8 and 47 percent at grade 4. In addition, the percentage of English language learners (ELL) in large cities for grade 4 is twice as high--18 percent--as in the nation, and it ranges within the TUDA districts from 41 percent in Los Angeles to just 1 percent in Atlanta, Baltimore City, and Jefferson County, KY.

Like the results of the NAEP Reading Report Card released in March, the results of TUDA are reported as average scores on a 0 to 500 scale, and as percentages of students performing at or above three achievement levels: Basic, Proficient, or Advanced. The total number of districts in TUDA will grow to 21 in 2011 as 3 more jurisdictions have agreed to participate--Dallas Independent School District, Hillsborough County (FL.) Public Schools (including Tampa), and Albuquerque (NM) Public Schools. The Governing Board late last year approved the inclusion of these districts.

The 2009 Reading Assessment is based on a new framework, developed by the Governing Board, which includes several changes aimed at improving the way NAEP measures reading comprehension. Informed by the latest scientific research and extensive input from educational experts and others, the new framework provides a more well-defined measure of reading comprehension. It requires using more high-quality literature and a broader range of text types to challenge students; including poetry in grades 4, 8, and 12; and assessing vocabulary in a new way that shows students understand the meaning of words as used in the passage.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter:  @GAFrontPage

Early Intervention Program Helps Struggling Readers

A Georgia State University reading program has been shown to help struggling readers defy the “fourth-grade slump” – a time in later elementary school when many students can have difficulty with reading.

In a recent study, GSU professors found that students who participated in a university program called Reading Recovery consistently achieved or exceeded expectations on the reading portion of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT).

Even more impressive, these students were identified as the lowest performing readers and writers in first grade but outperformed their peers by the fourth grade.

“Rather than slipping back, they continued to move forward,” said Floretta Thornton-Reid, executive director of Reading Recovery and Literacy Collaborative programs in GSU’s College of Education. ”This study reaffirms the power of Reading Recovery and the power of early intervention.”

Through Reading Recovery, children receive 30-minute daily lessons taught by specially trained teachers for 12-20 weeks. The one-on-one tutoring sessions include reading instruction on phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension that supplement classroom lessons.

The GSU study looked at 1,574 children who participated in the Reading Recovery program and compared their performance on the reading comprehension portion of CRCT to 31,271 peers. The students were in grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 in metro Atlanta county schools.

“We asked, ‘Do the children continue to make adequate progress?’ And the answer is yes, they are continuing to perform,” said Susan Duncan, director of Reading Recovery at Georgia State.
GSU is a regional training center for educators in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Bermuda. Teacher leaders come to the university to learn the Reading Recovery program and then go back to their schools and train teachers in their systems.

Over the last decade, GSU has trained 66 teacher leaders and served more than 47,000 students. Teachers say the program makes a big difference in their student’s academic performance.

“Reading Recovery breaks the cycle of failure because struggling students don’t have to wait until third or fourth grade to get help from special education,” said Mary Sangerster, a teacher leader for Habersham County School system. “The percentage of students who pass the CRCT goes up every year after they’ve received this intervention.”

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Educators Prepare to Spread the “Good News” about Reading

Monday, March 2, 2009, Dr. Seuss’ birthday, will mark the twelfth year of NEA’s Read Across America, an event that in our “online” society has become “viral” in its own right. The Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) is planning a kick-off event on March 2.

It will be a fun-filled morning at Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta located across from Olympic Centennial Park from 11 am to 1pm. The event will feature a Read-A-Thon that consists of three to four “reading stations” throughout the museum. The children (up to age eight) will move from station to station listening to “celebrity” readers. Some of those readers at this point are volunteers from Georgia Shakespeare, Ms. Rickey Bevington, host of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s (GPB) Georgia Gazette, and Nwandi Lawson, co-anchor of GPB’s LawMakers. Visit www.imagineit-cma.org for admission prices and directions.

The idea that began in 1996 with a “Green Eggs and Ham” read-in, has become an annual national testament to the written word. Just as over the past 11 years, the GAE, the state sponsor of the event, expects thousands of Georgians -- boys and girls, men and women (maybe even a few pets here and there) – to don the familiar red and white striped, stove-piped hats that signal the annual effort aimed at reminding everyone of the critical importance of reading to children.

“In this age of MySpace and Facebook, any effort to remind adults and young children of the importance of regularly picking up a book feels even more critical," said GAE President Jeff Hubbard. “There is no doubt that if given the opportunity, our young people would literally live online. While that’s one reality we live in today, another reality is that a strong foundation in reading still provides the best chance for success in academics and life.”

“I get more excited about this event every year,” Hubbard exclaimed. “So many individuals and organizations continue to join this meaningful effort. Together they make each successive year more successful than the last, and I’d like to thank every participant on behalf of Georgia’s children. Our lofty goal is still to have every child in Georgia read a book that day.”

GAE sources say you can get involved by contacting your local public library or school to see if they have a need for readers. Events’ partners such as the Georgia Library Association, Georgia Public Library Service, and Barnes and Noble Bookstores also have events scheduled around that time. GAE, in conjunction with the Georgia Public Library Service, has produced a pamphlet entitled “The Parent’s Guide to Read Across America.” The pamphlet contains information on the event and reading tips and resources for parents. The pamphlet can be picked up at your local Georgia public library.

Note that the simplest way to get involved is to take time to read to, and with, a child in your life and try to make it a regular part of your daily routine.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Georgia Department of Education Approves Scientific Learning Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant Products for Adoption

/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Scientific Learning Corp. (http://www.scilearn.com/) (NASDAQ:SCIL) today announced that the Georgia Department of Education has selected the Fast ForWord(R) (http://tinyurl.com/6j3qcp) and Reading Assistant(TM) (http://tinyurl.com/55qjzz) family of products as an approved 2008 K-8 Language Arts/Reading program for Georgia schools and districts. The products included in the adoption are: Fast ForWord Language v2, Fast ForWord Language to Reading v2, Fast ForWord Reading 1-5, Fast ForWord Literacy Series, and Reading Assistant with Curriculum Levels 1-5.

The Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant family of products are scientifically-proven intervention programs that apply neuroscience principles to build the fundamental cognitive skills (http://tinyurl.com/6aarpd) required to read and learn. The strengthening of these skills results in a wide range of improved critical language and reading abilities, such as phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, decoding, working memory, syntax and grammar. More than 500,000 learners in Georgia schools have used Fast ForWord products.

"The purpose of this program is to identify appropriate, standards-based instructional materials to be recommended to local school systems," said Robert C. Bowen (http://tinyurl.com/6k935g), chairman and CEO of Scientific Learning. "We're delighted to have the opportunity to provide Georgia districts and schools with research-proven products that increase brain processing efficiency, and build critical reading and language skills. By helping students strengthen the underlying cognitive skills needed for effective reading and learning, schools can make the most of their instructional programs, accelerate the learning process, and create enduring gains."

The Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant products were approved as State Recommended Learning Resources for English Language Arts/Reading for kindergarten through eighth grade. As part of the adoption process, the learning resources were evaluated in all 13 congressional districts across the state. All State Recommended Learning Resources must be correlated to the Georgia Performance Standards. The adoption will be in effect through June 30, 2015.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Chattahoochee Students Raise Scores After One Year With SRA/McGraw-Hill's Imagine It! Reading and Language Arts Curriculum

PRNewswire/ -- Reading scores are on the rise at the Chattahoochee County Education Center after only one year with SRA/McGraw-Hill's researched-based elementary reading and language arts program Imagine It! On average, scores increased by nearly 12%.

Teachers implemented Imagine It! in Grades K-5 in the fall of 2007. One year later, reading scores on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) rose across the board. Grade 1 increased the percentage of students meeting or exceeding reading standards on the CRCT from 78% in 2007 to 91% in 2008. Grade 2 rose from 84% to 90%, and Grade 3 jumped from 71% to 82%. The best results occurred in Grade 4, where scores rose by more than 28%.

Principal Tabitha Walton said Imagine It! works because Chattahoochee educators implement it with fidelity.

"Our teachers focus on accountability, and not just at state testing time," she explained. "They know they are accountable for their students' progress every day. For example, they routinely turn in their benchmark scores so we can focus on what needs to improve or change. I'm also in and out of their classrooms daily so I can provide feedback."

Walton said one of the program's key strengths is its comprehensive nature, which means all components work together and complement each other.

"All the materials are right there in front of you, like Differentiated Instruction," she said. "If teachers want to customize a lesson, they don't have to dig for information and conduct research on their own. The components are right there for them."

One way Chattahoochee teachers provide Differentiated Instruction is through the program's workshops. Walton said workshops are advantageous because they give teachers an opportunity to do two very important things.

"First, they can pre-teach concepts they know students might struggle with. When they introduce the concept again the next day, students are already beginning to understand it. Second, teachers use workshops to target struggling students. Many kids need that extra one-on-one time with the teacher to practice concepts," Walton said. "Differentiated Instruction is very powerful in a workshop. In fact, workshops work so well with our children that we're carrying the concept over into our math program."

Walton said another of the program's key strengths is consistency from grade level to grade level.

"We're really looking forward to students' reading scores in 2009 because they will reflect two solid years with the program," she said. "Overall, we're very pleased with Imagine It! This program will work if you carefully and diligently 'work' it."

About Chattahoochee County Education Center

This Title I school serves nearly 300 students in Grades Pre-K-5: 58% of students are Caucasian, 34% African American, 1% Hispanic, 1% Asian, and 6% multicultural. Seventy-five percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. For more information, please visit chattahoochee.k12.ga.us. (http://www.chattahoochee.k12.ga.us/)

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page