Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series highlighting success in teaching the 3Rs in Lawrence public schools. Today's story is on the reading program at New York School.
A'Shaune Edwards zipped through a colorful book about Jake, a boy who wants to be more involved in family chores.
The theme of "Along Comes Jake" resonated with the New York School first-grader, whose teachers have convinced her that her most important chore is to become a splendid reader.
"I love to read," the 6-year-old said while drawing a picture of Jake. "I read all the time at my house and at school."
Edwards is part of one of the district's most intense elementary school literacy programs.
It is a proven success.
Despite enrolling the district's highest percentage of low-income students and grappling with a high rate of student turnover, New York's first-graders had the Lawrence school district's highest overall score on the 2001 Beginning Reading Inventory. All its second-graders read at or above grade level. And one-third of New York's fifth-graders performed at the highest level on the 2001 state reading assessment. No Lawrence school did better.
The results are attributed to a program that emphasizes hours of literacy-related study, teacher teamwork and rewards for actively involved parents.
Time, teamwork
It's a good bet none of Lawrence's 18 other elementary schools focus more attention on reading than the team of teachers assembled by New York Principal Sharen Steele.
"They believe that kids will learn," Steele said. "But there aren't any easy answers."
From 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., all activities for the school's 230 students revolve around literacy. The extra time is needed.
Teachers said that students arrive at New York with smaller vocabularies than students from more affluent areas of Lawrence. New York students frequently are from broken homes, know poverty and rarely have the same learning opportunities outside of school as other children in town.
Steele said success of the reading education program at New York depended on teamwork among teachers. Individual egos must be set aside for the school to collaborate on an effort that goes beyond the district's basic reading program.
"We have high expectations of students," said Connie Rhodes, a first-grade teacher. "Regardless of the teacher, the expectations are the same. It's about consistency."
New York kindergarten teachers Stephanie Rorick and Kim Gamble get the ball rolling with the district's "Reading Initiative" curriculum.
All-day advantage
Both teachers have an advantage over three-fourths of Lawrence's kindergarten teachers because New York has an all-day program. The extra hours in class allow teachers to push the curriculum envelope.
"There's more time to drive points home," Gamble said. "It's time they need."
Kindergartners start by learning the alphabet and letter combination sounds as part of a standard literacy program. They make lessons about Daisy Dragon and Hippy Hippo come to life with stories, songs, gestures and pictures.
"Winkie Walrus waddled to the well, Wish wash, wish wash," recited kindergartner Kristen Stalkfleet before adding: "This is fun."
Students build their phonemic awareness, sentence dictation and word recognition as they gain reading fluency in kindergarten.
New York employs supplemental programs to boost success.
One used in Gamble and Rorick's classes is simply called "packets." Envelopes, or packets, containing cards of basic shapes, colors, letters or words are sent home with students each day. The packet is individualized for the student's level of literary prowess.
Getting parents involved
Children work on the homework packets at night and return to school to go over each item with a teacher. If mastered to a teacher's satisfaction, materials in the packet are swapped for more complex items.
"Students work at their own pace," Rorick said. "Parents can help out and can see how their children are progressing in reading."
About 10 years ago, former New York reading teacher Carolyn Landgrebe started another supplemental reading program that benefits students in kindergarten through third grade.
It's called "home reading" and allows students to select a book each day from a classroom cart for reading after school. The carts each containing about 100 donated books are rotated among classes during the school year.
"There's no excuse," Rhodes said. "With this classroom library, there's not too much snow on the ground or not enough money in the bank to get a book."
The relentless push to read extends to FRED, or Families Read Every Day. Teachers view it as another opportunity to get parents or guardians on the reading bandwagon.
"It's hard at first," Gamble said. "We have high expectations of them, too."
Adults mark a calendar to record daily reading activities in the home. If students meet the standard, they earn a certificate and free book.
'Discovery Lab'
All these interventions lead to the golden nugget of New York's literacy campaign Discovery Lab. Funding for this operation comes, in part, from the school's allocation of state and federal funding for at-risk students.
Unique in the Lawrence district, New York's classroom lab allows students of all grades to work in small groups on reading, writing, math and computer skills. In many cases, they get one-on-one instruction.
It's the place Edwards read "Along Comes Jake" silently to herself and then out loud to an instructor.
"If they can reread the book successfully, they get a sticker," said Mary Ann Ring, a special-education resource teacher in the lab.
For Rhodes, the lab allows her first-graders to devote 40 minutes each morning to small-group literacy activities.
"That really helps build a foundation for the future," Rhodes said. "It's been very successful."
The lab has existed for five years at New York, but no other elementary in the district has adopted the concept.
Steele said the effort at New York was really about common sense. The idea is that students can only become better readers with practice. Repetition improves comprehension and vocabulary, which leads to higher test scores.
As a first-grader, Edwards doesn't comprehend the intricacies of literacy instruction. But she can read between the lines reading is fundamental to what her school experience is all about.
"Reading is cool," she said. "It would be sad not to read."
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