How to Prevent Summer Learning Loss Correcting with
Transcription
How to Prevent Summer Learning Loss Correcting with
For Teachers, Coaches and Principals in the Voyager Community How to Prevent Summer Learning Loss Correcting with Confidence Effective feedback for struggling readers Teaching English Language Learners Research-based strategies that work for ELL Great Strides for Special Education How IDEA 2004 will affect reading instruction Hoosiers Score Big With Professional Development Spring 2005 Letter from the CEO It is with great pleasure that I introduce myself to each of you in the Voyager community. This January, Voyager became a part of ProQuest— a publicly-held company. Some of you may be familiar with ProQuest Information and Learning, a leader in collecting, organizing, and publishing information worldwide for researchers, faculty, and students. We provide libraries and schools—perhaps your schools—with high-quality, online educational resources, including eLibrary, SIRS and XanEdu. For a number of years, we have wanted to increase our growth and influence in the K-12 market, particularly in providing effective curriculum. We searched for a company with curriculum programs that didn’t just claim results, but had proven it could deliver. When we found Voyager, we knew we had found the perfect partner. Voyager programs not only reflect the research-based, high-quality material that is at the heart of our Information and Learning division, it is a leader in designing and supporting learning solutions. We are great believers in efficacy—that is, not just delivering resources, but investing equally in making sure they are used effectively. Voyager makes that commitment. Voyager is an independent division of ProQuest and, we are delighted to say, continues with the same executive management team that has guided its tremendous growth. Randy Best, founder and former CEO, will join the ProQuest Board and continue to actively support Voyager. Ron Klausner, President of ProQuest Information and Learning, is acting as Voyager’s General Manager. In this issue of Voyager Connection, we bring you more success stories from campuses and districts across the United States, as well as information about how research-based strategies and recent legislative reforms are having an impact on reading results. I am proud to be aligned with a company that is not only dedicated to improving education in our nation’s schools, but also has a track record of achievement. We value your hard work in making this happen, and thank you for being part of our extended family. JERI NOWAKOWSKI EVP of Product Development, Research & Marketing LESLIE J. THOMPSON Managing Editor MICHELLE SULZER Creative Director KAREN NELSON Contributing Writer PEGGY MARRIN Contributing Writer KRISTEN HURST Writer at Large DAWN MORTON-NELSON Writer at Large Voyager Connection is published by Voyager Expanded Learning and is provided free of charge to teachers, principals, coaches and superintendents in the Voyager community. Customers can also download the magazine in PDF format after logging into the Voyager Website.To request additional print copies, please email [email protected] or call Laurie Knox at (888) 399-1995. Share your own stories, photos and teaching tips, and you may be featured in the next issue of Voyager Connection! Send an email to Leslie J. Thompson at [email protected], or call (888) 399-1995 ext. 9458.Thank you for being a part of the Voyager community! VOYAGER EXPANDED LEARNING 1800 Valley View Lane, Suite 400 Dallas, TX 75234 Ph: (888) 399-1995 Fx: (214) 932-3236 www.voyagerlearning.com Alan Aldworth CEO ProQuest Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 spring 2005 4 TEACHER TIPS contents Universal Literacy 15 6 COACHES’ CORNER A Year-End Boost for Emerging Readers 7 JUST IN TIME Correcting with Confidence 8 VOYAGER HELPS BOAZ STUDENTS EXCEL IN READING Children learn phonics curriculum to bridge the gap between kindergarten and first grade 10 HELPING SPANISH-SPEAKING STUDENTS Voyager uses research-based strategies to change reading outcomes for English Language Learners Passport 15 SERVING SPECIAL ED STUDENTS 10 The impact of the new IDEA legislative reforms on teaching reading to children with disabilities VoyagerU 18 HOOSIERS SCORE BIG WITH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Indiana Reading Academy takes teacher training to a higher level Feature 20 PREVENTING SUMMER LEARNING LOSS How reading for ten weeks can make a difference for a lifetime Our Community 29 VOYAGER IN ACTION Teachers and students using Voyager’s reading programs share recent achievements Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 8 YOUR OPINION COUNTS! In a continuing effort to improve Voyager Connection, we will be conducting a short survey with a select group of readers later this month.Voyager values your input regarding the magazine’s content and format, and if chosen, you will receive a $10 gift card from Amazon.com for participating. 3 Teacher Tips Universal Literacy Passport A B C K 1 2 3 The Meaning is Transparent Here’s a fun way to play concentration with the whole class. 1 2 3 4 5 On a 5” x 5” or 6” x 6” overhead transparency grid, write vocabulary words on half the squares with their corresponding definitions on the other half. Be sure to mix the words and definitions. 20 Questions Here’s a clever version of the classic road trip game, adapted from Critical Components of Reading: Vocabulary Divide the class into two teams. Activities on www.texasreading.org. To begin, tell Cover each square on the transparency with a Post-It Note®, so the words are no longer visible. students you are thinking about one of their Call on one team to choose a square. Uncover the square and read what it contains. Instruct the team to choose another square in the other half of the grid. If the word and definition match, cross both squares off and award that team one point. If the squares do not match, cover the spaces back up and call on the second team. or “no” questions to help them determine which Continue play until the board is completely uncovered. For younger students, you may wish to use a smaller grid. game for a time, let Team Leaders think of a word vocabulary words. The students must ask you “yes” word you have in mind. The goal is for students to ask specific questions and guess the answer in less than 20 questions. As an added incentive, you can reward your students for each word guessed correctly in less than 20 questions. After modeling this while other students guess. A TOWER OF WORDS 1 Make photocopies of a paper cube cut-out so you have one per student. Cut-out templates can often be found in language arts, math or science workbooks. 2 Distribute the paper cubes and have students write their vocabulary words on the six sides, one word per side. 3 Have students cut out and carefully tape their cube together. 4 Students begin building a vocabulary word tower with their cubes. The first student places his or her word cube on the floor with the word of his or her choice facing up. The student reads the word, defines the word, and uses the word in a sentence. Older students may also give a list of synonyms for that word. The next student then places his or her cube atop the first cube and repeats the same procedure, but the student must use a different word than the one just given. 5 Students continue to create a word tower with their cubes until it ultimately collapses, at which point play resumes with the next student beginning the tower once again. 4 Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 D E F G Snip ‘n’ Switch This game is good for students who are learning more complex vocabulary. First, assign several vocabulary words to each student. Have each student write his or her assigned words on a sentence strip, and cut the words apart. For example, if the word is lobster, the student should cut the word apart after the b and before the s (lob-ster). Group students in pairs and ask them to shuffle their cards and trade all their cards with their partner. Each student then tries to rebuild the words by matching the word parts. Vocabulary Match Game Picture This! Many students have an easier time retaining information when they see it in pictures. Letting students create visual vocabulary aids can help solidify their knowledge and understanding of new words from their daily lessons. First, introduce the words to the whole class. Assign one word per student or pair of students, depending on the number of words there are, and direct students to create a visual art display of their word. The poster or chart should include the word and a pronunciation key (if grade appropriate),a pictorial depiction of what the word means or looks like to the student, and a written line at the bottom of the poster using the word in a sentence. For older students, have them use the word in different contexts if applicable. Students can present their posters or charts to the class, explaining their word. Older students may also write each word as it is presented with its definition. 1 On note cards, write a vocabulary word on one end of the card and the definition of a different vocabulary word on the other. Make sure there is one card for each student plus one for you. If necessary, repeat the words and definitions to ensure that everyone can participate. 2 Review the words with the class. 3 Pass out the note cards.Allow students enough time to silently read their word and the definition. 4 Begin the game by reading the definition on your card. The student who has the word that is defined by what you read will then read his or her definition. The student who has the word that is defined by what the student read will then continue the game until everyone has participated at least once. TELL US ABOUT the projects, activities and unique ideas that make learning come alive in your classroom! Contact Managing Editor Leslie J. Thompson at [email protected]. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 5 Universal Literacy COACHES’ CORNER Targeting Emerging Readers By Karen Nelson It’s springtime, and maintaining the focus for young children on reading improvement can be challenging. But, the first months of the calendar year provide a perfect opportunity to move students with emergent reading skills ahead to achieve proficiency on high-stakes assessments. This is the time to focus on fluency at all grade levels. For kindergartners, building fluency at the word level will lead to fluency with connected text. At this time of year, students practice reading words the “fast way”, without sounding them out phonetically, to build automaticity. To make practice more fun, teachers can create flash cards of sight words to use at the Teaching 6 Station, or have on-track students create them to practice spelling in an independent station. You can also incorporate duplicate sets of the cards in a matching game at independent stations, and send the cards home with students for extra practice. In first grade and beyond, the focus is on fluency with connected text. The period between the final two benchmarks is prime time to give emerging readers the boost they need to end the year on track. Following are tips for research-based strategies and clever incentives to enhance fluency instruction before the end of the school year using the Voyager Universal Literacy System®. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Reaching New Heights Teachers in Marengo County, Alabama, use the Blast Off to Reading materials for fluency instruction. At Sweet Water School, a K-12 campus, Reading First Coordinator Stephanie Pope, Reading Coach Bobette Huggins, and Assistant Principal Michael Bedsole added a reading rotation in the afternoon to provide additional fluency practice. Teachers use Blast Off passages during this small group instruction time and in small group instruction during the morning reading block. The fluency work really pays off for young learners. The Blast Off to Reading minibooks can be downloaded from the Voyager VIP Website and printed out for the classroom. Teachers can customize each student’s independent level text by downloading Blast Off passages from grade level, or a grade level behind or ahead, depending on individual student needs. Once students are proficient with the partner-reading and timing routines, they can use any text for independent practice. In addition to the Blast Off passages, the Decodable Books—also available online—provide alternative text for children building fluency. Getting a Boost from Technology Marengo County teachers also figured out a way to address two needs at once during reading practice. They aligned the science and social studies topics in the Coaches’ Corner section of the VIP Website to state standards. They now use afternoon time to have students practice fluency on text that meets the standards for science and social studies. Further north, in Philadelphia, teachers are using the first-grade SeaCastles eVoyages with struggling students in the second grade. The interactive lessons on the eVoyages CD-Rom include all the decoding skills they need to get back on track Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 before the end of the year. The eVoyages lessons can be downloaded on any campus computer, because the site license includes all computers on one campus. These last few months of school give students the chance to blossom by improving their reading fluency, so they can comprehend what they read. From this comprehension springboard, children develop a love of reading that can last a lifetime. just in time CORRECTING WITH CONFIDENCE Kim Wagner, a special education teacher from Oxford Elementary School in Oxford, Alabama, shares her insights concerning the use of Correction Procedures within the Voyager Passport Reading Intervention System®. In years past, I prodded, pleaded, prompted, begged, and many times tried to bribe students into giving the correct response during reading instruction. What I did not realize in all of my educated glory was that if the students were capable of providing those correct answers, they would have gladly done so. Through Passport, I now know that providing immediate corrective feedback is not only researched-based, but also best practice for effective instruction. Passport provides a matter-of-fact and uniform manner in which to give this corrective feedback to students without causing them undue embarrassment or frustration. Providing instant correct responses and having students repeat the procedure gives them a measure of immediate success. I began to focus my attention more closely on the correction procedures outlined for each skill within the daily lesson, making sure to “keep my language consistent.” By following the correction procedures, I had full confidence that I was correcting students using the same language and manner with which I just provided instruction. The students are even using the same corrective language with each other! After seeing the tremendous growth in my students, I attribute much of their success to this constant reinforcement and repetition. The greatest benefit to me is witnessing the students’ increased selfconfidence and lessened frustration. The students know exactly how I will respond to a mistake and they aren’t afraid to make them anymore. 7 Universal Literacy Boaz Elementary School teacher Sandy Sims works with first-grade students on reading and writing activities as part of Voyager’s Universal Literacy System curriculum. As of the second benchmark assessment for the year, Sims had only one struggling reader in her class. Voyager Helps Boaz Children learn phonics curriculum to Local news outlets across the country frequently report on the success of schools using Voyager reading programs. The following article appeared in the Sand Mountain Reporter this winter and touts the tremendous gains made by students in Boaz, Alabama, using Voyager’s Universal Literacy System®. The article is reprinted with permission from the Sand Mountain Reporter, all rights reserved. 8 Kindergarten students are walking down the hallways of Boaz Elementary School, looking at words on the walls and sounding out the first letters. Sounds of “Ka” for C and “Ma” for M have their teachers excited and grateful for a new reading curriculum the school has implemented. The rising test scores have the administration and central office hopeful the curriculum is making a difference in the students’ education. BES Principal Randall Morton says the school’s mediocre test scores had him and his faculty frustrated about the curriculum. “We have the best teachers, but it was like someone Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 put a lid on top of the students’ potential. They couldn’t rise like they should’ve been,” Morton says. Morton identified the “lid” as a lack of unification among the curricula in first grade and kindergarten. Teachers were pulling from different resources to supplement the reading curriculum, and where the first-grade curriculum began was not necessarily where the kindergarten curriculum ended. Enter the Voyager Universal Literacy System. The curriculum is a complete package that provides teachers with the resources they would need to teach the research-based program. Because kindergarten and first grade are using the same program, their two curricula flow seamlessly together. “There are no more gaps between first grade and kindergarten,” says firstgrade teacher Brooke Willoughby. First grade teacher Michele Noles says, “We would work so hard, but there were always one or two children who you felt were not getting what they needed. We would get together as a group and just cry and cry.” “We didn’t know what else to do,” "This program has changed the way teachers are teaching." – Vivian Hallman, Federal Programs Coordinator, Boaz City Schools, Boaz, Alabama learning various study and writing techniques that they can build on later.” Kindergarten teacher Lisa Tarvin says she was “amazed” at how the program has helped her Spanish-speaking students. “I have one student who doesn’t speak any English. He didn’t know any of the letters. Now, he knows all 26,” Tarvin says. “I feel like this program has made me a better teacher. I am more on task, and I have gotten to know my students better than I ever have,” says kindergarten teacher Tommie Childress. The success of the program coupled with the hard work of the teachers and students are evident in the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills™ (DIBELS), the standardized test used to measure younger students’ progress. The DIBELS test looks at three year. This year’s kindergarten students, however, have reached 43 percent during the first nine weeks of school. Only 44 percent of last year’s first grade students were established in nonsense word fluency and 77 percent in phoneme segmentation fluency by midyear. This year, 50 percent of the students are established in nonsense word fluency and 93 percent in phoneme segmentation fluency in the first nine weeks. “This program has changed the way teachers are teaching,” says Federal Programs Coordinator Vivian Hallman. “This curriculum places the emphasis on the things that are most important, student achievement. It puts in the hands of the teachers everything they need to teach. It removes the obstacles for failure.” The curriculum incorporates group time as well as small “work stations,” Students Excel in Reading bridge the gap between kindergarten and first grade By Shelley F. Smith, Managing Editor, Sand Mountain Reporter says Willoughby. With the Voyager program, the students learn to identify letters and sounds, incorporating phonics to set the foundation for reading. The program even provides lessons for the “crazy” words that are the exceptions to the rules. “It’s refreshing. It fits the needs of all the students. There are intervention lessons for struggling readers, and it challenges our high readers,” says firstgrade teacher Christy Marsh. “They are Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 indicators, initial sound fluency (which is a focus for kindergartners during the first semester of school), nonsense word fluency (a focus for kindergartners during the second semester and first-graders during the first semester), and phoneme segmentation fluency (a focus for firstgraders during the second semester). According to last year’s DIBELS scores, 38 percent of the kindergarten students were established in initial sound fluency by the middle of the school which allow the students to practice what they learn through various activities in small groups. The teachers also have the opportunity to work one-on-one with the students through the small groups. Each work station—three in total—has a team leader to serve as a helper for the group. Each student gets a turn being a team leader, and the teachers say the distinction builds confidence and responsibility skills within the students. 9 Universal Literacy Helping Spanish-Speaking Students Voyager uses research-based strategies to change reading outcomes for English language learners By Kristy Hurst Since the beginning of our nation’s history, America has been a destination for immigrant families from around the world in search of opportunity and freedom. Today, a growing percentage of the English language learner population in America’s schools is comprised of Spanish-speaking students, the majority of whom are recent transplants to the U.S. from regions like Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Although states and districts make different decisions about whether these children should be taught in English or their native Spanish, new research is making one thing clear: Reading instruction needs to be explicit and systematic for all English language learners to be successful. 10 Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 11 “Some Spanish-speaking children will struggle to become readers, regardless of the language of instruction.” – Dr. Sylvia Linan-Thompson, Department of Special Education, The University of Texas at Austin In fact, instructional methods are more important than the language of instruction, notes Sylvia Linan-Thompson, assistant professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. In other words, whether taught in English or in Spanish, children can master fundamental reading skills so long as the lessons use research-based strategies. Because Voyager works with districts that teach ELL students to read in English and others that use Spanish-language instruction, it has developed programs for both. The key, as Linan-Thompson points out, is that each child needs to be taught explicitly and systematically to read, beginning with phonemic awareness. Voyager’s Universal Literacy System® and Passport Reading Intervention System® embrace these principles in English, while Pasaporte, released this year, is the first reading program to provide 12 systematic instruction for struggling readers in Spanish. “Some Spanish-speaking children will struggle to become readers, regardless of the language of instruction,” says Linan-Thompson. “The key, in terms of breaking the code for kids that struggle, is that it has to be systematic, and you have to build on those skills gradually,” she says. “If you throw too much at them, they don’t get it. These kids need additional practice, opportunities to respond, and feedback on what they’re doing and what they need to know.” Linan-Thompson’s research shows that English learners who struggle with reading benefit from comprehensive, systematic, explicit instruction, whether learning to read in English or in their native Spanish. Not only do these kinds of programs produce immediate results, the children tend to maintain their average. For English-language instruction, creating a consistent pattern of learning in the classroom, using models, and providing feedback as students move through the lesson all help non-English speakers understand what’s expected of them. As a result, the children don’t just learn to read, they learn the structure of how English works, which helps them generalize their knowledge to learn new words. What Works with English Language Learners As a general rule, English learners who already read proficiently in their native language have an easier time learning to read in English. Vocabulary and comprehension may still be a challenge, but they’ll be able to pick up decoding more easily, Linan-Thompson says. “I’ve always believed that success in a second language depends on success in the first language,” says Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Susan Iniguez, district reading coach at the Roosevelt School District in Phoenix, Arizona, which uses the Voyager Universal Literacy System as the core reading program in ten of its elementary schools. “A child’s literacy skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing—in that first language are going to have a direct correlation to their success in the second language.” For school districts that choose not to implement a bilingual program, teaching reading in English using a scaffolded model and explicit instruction ensures English learners acquire the fundamental skills they need to maintain grade level proficiency in their second language. But, when any given classroom is composed of children at various levels of English language proficiency, what’s the most effective way for teachers to teach English reading to every child? Preview and review. Linan-Thompson suggests keeping reading lessons moving at a good pace, but working closely with English learners to practice vocabulary and to preview or review material. In the Roosevelt district, teachers are encouraged to pre-teach vocabulary words to English learners, work with them closely on comprehension, and focus students’ attention on key aspects of the lesson. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Changing Demographics Demand New Resources Researchers are concluding that instructional methods are more important than the language of instruction for non-English speaking students to learn English as a second language. In fact, teaching children to read in their native language can facilitate the transition to an English language program. “Developing literacy in the first language provides a shortcut to English literacy,” writes Stephen Krashen, Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Southern California, in a recent article. Voyager Pasaporte is the first reading intervention program to apply a scientifically based, systematic approach to help Spanish-speaking students in grades K-1 master fundamental reading skills in their native language, providing a firm foundation for future academic success, whether in Spanish or in English. Several Texas school districts, including Dallas, El Paso, and Laredo, began implementing Pasaporte this January. However, as our country’s demographics continue to shift, demand for the Spanish-language program is growing nationwide, including places like the Waukegan Public School District in Waukegan, Illinois, which has a 63 percent Hispanic student population; Seymour Elementary in Syracuse, New York, where 46 percent of students are Hispanic; and in rural North Carolina, to help meet the needs of 55 percent of students in the Iredell-Statesville School District whose first language is Spanish. Students using Pasaporte develop phonemic awareness and make connections between oral language and print. The program also teaches idiomatic expressions and includes a detailed and structured vocabulary and comprehension component. Designed to supplement Spanish-language core reading programs and taught as a 30-40 minute daily intervention, Pasaporte moves the majority of struggling kindergartners and first-graders to grade level in a few short months. “It is a great intervention program, and the progress of the students is evident in their daily work,” says Frances Perez, Reading Coach at James Bowie Elementary School in Dallas, Texas, which launched Pasaporte last October. “Every time they hear one of their vocabulary words being used throughout the day, they raise their thumbs up right away [to signal the word is from the daily lesson]. I have also noticed that they are using the recently acquired vocabulary in their daily journal writings,” she says. With programs like Pasaporte, educators are helping to ensure that native Spanish speakers are not left behind. -Jamie Batson 13 Getting Results at Roosevelt In the Roosevelt School District in Phoenix, Arizona, visitors to the schools shouldn’t be surprised to hear children’s voices ringing out in the halls in two languages: English and Spanish. About 40 percent of the district’s students are English language learners, almost all of them growing up in Spanish-speaking homes. Of the district’s 4,600 English-learning students, about 800 are classified as “new immigrants,” meaning they came to the U.S. within the last three academic years. Because such a large percentage of the district’s students come from Hispanic backgrounds, all the classrooms in the district are structured for English immersion as mandated by Arizona’s Proposition 203, which requires that all public school instruction be conducted in English. “Voyager came along and focused our energies in a positive way toward using English for instruction,” says Susan Iniguez, Roosevelt’s district reading coach and a former bilingual teacher in the district for 17 years. After receiving a Reading First grant to cover reading education at six of its schools, in the 2003-2004 school year the district introduced Voyager’s Universal Literacy System® in kindergarten through third grade. Today, more than 50 percent of K-3 students in the Roosevelt district are learning to read with Universal Literacy. Compared to second-graders in the non-Voyager schools in the district, English language learners in the Voyager schools scored higher on the SAT 9 test. Based on DIBELS scores,the Voyager students in all four grades also scored 20 percent higher than non-Voyager students. And, three times more ELL students in the Voyager schools met DIBELS benchmarks than ELL students in non-Voyager schools. “It was great to see the effects that the Voyager program had on helping our English learners get to those DIBELS benchmarks,” Iniguez says. “We could see across the board that it really made a big difference.” – KH 14 Says Isabel Chanley, a second-grade teacher in Arizona’s Mesa Unified School District, “You have to be able and willing to be flexible enough to simplify some of the assignments and activities—and by that, I don’t mean dummy down the curriculum, but just simplify it. You have to know how much your students can understand at a certain point in their education while learning a new language. But you always want to challenge them, to stay ahead of the curve, so they are wanting and needing to learn more.” Provide targeted instruction. Voyager’s Universal Literacy System is designed to teach children in smaller groups, which helps increase students’ opportunities to respond and “The content really bridges the cultures, and it brings the world into our classroom, which I find fascinating.” – Isabel Chanley, second-grade teacher at Eisenhower Elementary, Mesa, Arizona practice—a must for students who lag behind in language skills. Likewise, Voyager’s Spanish-language reading intervention program for kindergarten and first-grade students, Pasaporte, uses a small-group instructional model to accelerate struggling readers to grade level in their native language. (See “Changing Demographics” sidebar.) Use visual aides. Teachers in both the Roosevelt and Mesa districts have found it helpful to use sheltered strategies— for example, graphic visual images to illustrate words and ideas—which can aid comprehension for English learners. “Voyager’s graphic organizers are wonderful,” Iniguez says. “It’s great to walk into a classroom where we have a high population of English learners, and to see the graphic organizers all over. It really helps to make the lesson more meaningful for these kids.” Other helpful hands-on tools for ELL students—as well as new readers fluent in English—include picture cards, letter cards, magnetic letters and whiteboards. “Adapting our reading instruction to accommodate children with different needs is something we’ve worked on quite a bit this year, and we’re continuing to make it an emphasis,” says Iniguez. continued on page 28 Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Passport Serving Special Ed Students The impact of the new IDEA legislative reforms on teaching reading to students in special education programs By Leslie J. Thompson When Mikela Williams* entered Rita Robinson’s first grade class at OverbySheppard Elementary in Richmond, Virginia, she had almost no reading skills. Having only mastered the alphabet, the soft-spoken girl was already far behind her peers at the start of the school year. Intervention in kindergarten and additional reading instruction in summer school had little effect, and she was referred to the special education program upon entering the first grade. But, Mikela was lucky. Because of the instruction she received in Robinson’s class, she was not only reading at grade level by the end of the year, she also moved out of special ed. It is not uncommon for children to be diagnosed as having a disability simply because they struggle with reading, notes Bob Pasternack, former Assistant Secretary of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services under George W. Bush. “If you look at the 13 categories [of eligibility for special education], 60 percent of the kids are in the category labeled Learning Disability, and 80 to 90 percent of those kids are there because they can’t read,” he says. “For many of those kids, if they’re identified early and we intervene appropriately, we can fundamentally change their trajectory in school from risk to resiliency.” Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 * Not her real name 15 Passport Recent legislative reforms to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will allow districts to do just that, by providing pre-referral intervention options and revising diagnostic requirements, teacher qualifications, instructional models, and accountability measures. Pasternack and other educators and lawmakers behind IDEA 2004 hope the revised legislation will dramatically decrease referrals to special ed and boost literacy rates and academic achievement nationwide in an effort to improve outcomes and results for students with disabilities. with only mild disabilities were often tracked into special ed indefinitely. Meant to be a revolving door back into the general education classroom, remediation programs became a trap door for many students with disabilities, adversely affecting their academic achievement and increasing their risk of dropping out of school. “The dropout rate for students with disabilities is twice the rate of nondisabled students,” notes Pasternack. In addition, referrals to special education for English language learners are markedly higher than for their Englishspeaking peers, and referral rates for “The dropout rate for students wi is twice the rate of non-disab – Bob Pasternack, former Assistant Secretary The Road to Reform Originally signed by President Gerald Ford in 1975, IDEA was intended to guarantee access to a free appropriate public education for students with special needs. Over the past 30 years, teachers and parents have seen a dramatic improvement in the quality of instruction for students receiving special education and related services. However, as much as the original legislation has benefited students requiring special ed, it has also created a wealth of new challenges in our nation’s schools. Complex funding rules and compliance-driven paperwork requirements became an endless source of frustration for special educators and parents. In addition, children 16 minority students, particularly African American children, are dramatically disproportionate to that of white students in some parts of the United States. What’s more, over the past 10 years, the number of U.S. students enrolled in special education programs has risen 30 percent. Referrals continue to increase, despite attempts to move children back into general ed. Although as a nation we should be proud of how we have improved our view of students with disabilities and the educational opportunities afforded them, “we are not yet at the point where we have a special education system that consistently produces excellent results,” Pasternack says. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 A Sea-Change in Special Ed It took nearly three years of bipartisan work to create the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (H.R. 1350), which was approved by both the House and the Senate last fall and signed into law by President Bush on December 3, 2004. The legislative reforms take effect July 1, 2005, and will have a direct impact on nearly 7 million children and youth with disabilities. The inclusion of the word “improvement” in the full title of IDEA 2004 clearly indicates the reauthorized legislation’s primary goal. Among the th disabilities led students.” of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services changes to special education instruction, the new law requires that children with disabilities be taught by highly qualified teachers using research-based curricula, including scientifically based early reading programs. Schools must provide “high-quality, intensive preservice preparation and professional development for all personnel who work with children with disabilities” to ensure they have the requisite skills and knowledge to improve the academic achievement and functional performance of these students. In addition, the legislation includes specific language aimed at increasing accountability, designed to improve continued on page 24 Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Bob Pasternack: Committed to the Underserved Bob Pasternack decided at a young age to dedicate his life to serving people with disabilities. Growing up with a brother who had Down Syndrome, Pasternack witnessed firsthand the injustices that disabled children and adults once faced in America, and made a personal commitment to change the way the system worked. “My brother, Maurice, was born and lived in an era where we had incredibly low expectations of people with disabilities,” says Pasternack, who served as Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services under President George W. Bush and Secretary of Education Rod Paige.“At that point, our society segregated and warehoused and mistreated and abused people like him.” His brother never went to public school or had the opportunity to receive the free appropriate public education that has become the fundamental civil right entitlement under current federal law, he explains. For more than 30 years, Pasternack has worked with students with disabilities, their families, as well as state and federal administrators to help shape today’s more inclusive educational system. After graduating from the University of South Florida, Pasternack took a job at a state hospital in Miami teaching children with autism. He later earned a Master’s degree in guidance and counseling from New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and a doctorate in special education with a minor in neuropsychology from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He is a nationally certified school psychologist, certified educational diagnostician, licensed special education teacher for grades K-12 and licensed school administrator. Pasternack’s career has placed him in a variety of leadership roles in health, education, and all levels of government. In 1980, he worked as a school psychologist at the New Mexico Boys’ School, the state institution for adjudicated delinquents, and was superintendent from 1990-1993. After leaving the Boys’ School, he was CEO of New Mexico’s first licensed Comprehensive Children’s Community Mental Health Center, and was later named New Mexico’s State Director of Special Education, leading the effort to develop the New Mexico Reading Initiative. In 2001, Pasternack was sworn in as a key member of the U.S. Department of Education. As the legal guardian for his late brother for nearly 20 years and throughout his career, Pasternack says his overriding goal was for society to stop excluding the disabled and instead “celebrate the incredible contribution that people with disabilities can make to the fabric of our society.” The landmark legislative reforms of the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) passed by Congress and signed into law by the President on December 3, 2004, are a testimony to Pasternack’s success. – LJT 17 VoyagerU Hoosie with Prof INDIANA READING 18 Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Teaching teachers the science behind teaching. It may be a tongue twister, but in the State of Indiana, the Department of Education’s Reading First program is doing whatever it takes to see that their kindergartners through third-graders succeed at learning to read. As the academic cornerstone of No Child Left Behind, Reading First recognizes the importance of both improving student reading achievement and executing programs and strategies proven to help of Voyager Expanded Learning’s VoyagerU program promotes teachers coming together with guidance and support to develop solutions. The state really felt that Voyager offered them the best program to achieve their goals.” Dubbed the Indiana Reading Academy, the professional development program for teachers came into fruition in the fall of 2004. The first month. Together, these components total 80 hours of professional development. “The design lends itself to innovation,” notes Dr. Ban. Teachers learn how to perform informal assessments to find out where their students are in their reading and, in a sense, customize a system of learning that works best for the students involved. Says Amanda Whitlock, Reading BIG rs Score essional Development ACADEMY TAKES TEACHER TRAINING TO A HIGHER LEVEL By Dawn Morton Nelson all children become successful, fluent readers by the end of the third grade. Indiana was the 22nd state in the nation to be awarded Reading First funds and to implement the federal program. To meet the rigorous standards set forth by Reading First, the Indiana Department of Education turned to Indiana University and Voyager Expanded Learning to look for solid and creative solutions—starting with teachers and professional development. The VoyagerU professional development program was selected to give teachers a fundamental understanding of scientifically based reading research, and an effective array of tools and strategies to teach reading in the elementary grades. Remarks Dr. Eric Ban, project director at Indiana University, “The professional development design Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 “[The program] Consultant in the Indiana Department of Education’s Reading First division, increases our knowledge of teaching reading “The program helps provide a way to some common language to our students. We can articulate across grade levels, as well as be assured that we are expand the repertoire of skills and teaching those skills that strategies of participating teachers. are required to produce Indiana Reading First administrators are also involved with [the Reading competent readers.” Academy], so they, too, are able to – Marsha Bird, Reading First Coach at James A. Garfield School in Indianapolis course in the curriculum, Foundations of Reading, consists of eight modules, each encompassing three hours of self-paced online learning, three hours of study group interaction and discussion, as well as four hours of actual classroom practice activities each enhance their learning of the five essential components [of reading] and the use of the DIBELS™ assessments to drive instruction within classrooms.” A Double Dose of Professional Development Indiana teachers will complete the first course this spring and begin the second instructional series, Reading for continued on page 27 19 Feature Prevent S umme 20 Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 ing By Leslie J. Thompson How reading for ten weeks can make a difference for a lifetime g n i L n o r s a s r Le Summer has traditionally been viewed as a time to take a break from school for three months of fun in the sun. As the temperatures rise in the late spring, students eagerly anticipate the coming hiatus from their educational routine. But, the long summer vacation has a dramatic impact on student learning. Elementary students who struggle with reading lose considerable ground academically,and low-income students lose substantially more than their peers, causing an ever-widening achievement gap as they progress through school. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 ›› 21 “Teach ers were literally beggi ng me to allow them to use these materials during the regular school year in F ortunately, summer learning loss can be prevented, and increasing numbers of districts are using summer school as a cost-effective solution to closing the achievement gap. Summer school also provides an effective and final intervention opportunity for third-graders who otherwise would be retained. Young learners spend each school year mastering fundamental reading skills, but for many, those skills are quickly lost again every summer vacation. Research has shown that lower-income children generally lose one to five months of learning during the summer hiatus in the elementary grades, because they have little opportunity to practice reading outside of school. Although student achievement for both middle- and lower-income students improves at similar rates during the school year, economically disadvantaged students experience cumulative summer learning losses over the elementary school grades, according to sociologists Dr. Karl Alexander and Dr. Doris Entwisle at Johns Hopkins University. Their research indicates this loss may be the major factor for the achievement gap between poor students and their more affluent peers. The summer months represent a crucial time for disadvantaged students and struggling readers to practice and 22 build on their reading skills, and delve into material that can broaden their understanding of the world around them. Although middle- and upper-income students are generally encouraged to read throughout the summer and have the opportunity to practice and improve their skills, poor students all too often enter a learning void. Implementing a First-graders started the summer reading 23 words per minute and six weeks later read 36 words per minute. motivational, high-quality reading program during the summer months could increase the time these students spend engaged in learning activities by nearly a third, offering struggling readers the opportunity to catch up to their grade-level peers. Broad Benefits Teachers have grown accustomed to spending the first several weeks of the school year re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer. That means students not only lose at least a month’s learning from the previous year, but also an additional four to eight weeks during which they could be learning new material. However, research indicates that a comprehensive summer school program can accelerate student learning in a matter of weeks, which in many cases is all it takes to close the achievement gap and prevent children from being retained in the third grade. Over the last seven years, Voyager Expanded Learning has commissioned independent researchers to evaluate the impact of a 4-6 week summer immersion program in reading. In Alabama, for example, a statewide summer school program tracked the progress of firstgraders who started the summer reading 23 words per minute and six weeks later read 36 words per minute—nearly hitting the 40 words per minute first-grade goal. Comparable gains for third-graders in Georgia kept hundreds of students from being retained. Likewise, in an independent study in Louisville, Kentucky, students measured before and after four weeks of Voyager’s TimeWarp® Summer Reading Intervention program gained three months on the SAT IV. Implementing a comprehensive summer program also provides an opportunity to improve learning for children in special education programs. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 chers saw less evidence of the ‘summer slide’ at the start o a e t , e r o m s ’ f the scho hat ol year their classes. W .” – John Cavanaugh,Principal of Summer School Programs for Holyoke Public Schools Special education students need, and are eligible for, extended school year services (ESY). Summer school can ensure that progress made during the year in reading is maintained, preventing the loss of critical, hard-won skills. The summer school setting offers unique and appropriate opportunities for enhancing and practicing skills. Special ed staff, in collaboration with summer school teachers and administrators, can make sure the summer learning experience is tailored to the needs of each student. Continued Learning In the Holyoke School District in Holyoke, Massachusetts, administrators have taken active steps to facilitate learn- ing all year long, and children are having a great time in the process. Dr. Eduardo Carballo made it his goal to curtail summer learning loss for students when he took over as the superintendent of schools in early 2002. Eighteen months after taking office, he implemented a summer school program district-wide to continued on page 26 Intersession Intervention LAUSD Adopts Voyager’s TimeWarp Summer Program for Year-Round Use One of the primary components of No Child Left Behind requires that specific schools provide supplemental educational academic services to eligible students. In the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the Beyond the Bell Branch offers extended learning and enrichment programs to more than 230,000 students eligible for these services. Among the many resources provided is Voyager’s TimeWarp Summer Reading Intervention program, which in the past six months has made a tremendous impact on student achievement. Beyond the Bell implemented the TimeWarp reading intervention curriculum in 15 middle schools as part of the district’s Intersession program, which together with the Extended Learning Program and Summer School provide additional learning opportunities to K-8 students in need of intervention. “It’s the first time we have brought in a program specifically for our year-round schools” during their off-track time, says Joan Mezori, a Director for LAUSD Beyond the Bell Branch. “In the past, when middle school students went to Intersession or Summer School, they were, for the most Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 part, repeating a course in which they have had difficulty. We wanted to provide a program that would get the kids there, grab their attention, and help improve their skills.” Qualifying secondary students in grades 6–9 participate in TimeWarp for two hours a day, five days a week for six weeks,for a total of 60 hours.Since the district uses a three-track, year-round system, students receive two opportunities for intervention in a single school year. So far, the intersession curriculum is having a huge impact on students’ performance and excitement about reading. After the first six week track, the effect sizes ranged from 0.20-1.12 for one group of students in grades 6-8. These numbers are impressive when compared to the average effect size of 0.26 noted in a landmark study that comprised more than 100 evaluations of effective summer school programs over a 20 year period. “The results are outstanding,” says Mezori. “Some schools are really off the charts.” -LJT 23 Special Ed Students, continued from page 17 instruction and provide a means of egress for students no longer requiring special education services. “There’s a recognition in this law that the way we monitored IDEA in the past was too focused on bureaucratic compliance and process,” says Pasternack. “We cared more about who had an [Individualized Education Program] than what was in the IEP.” Under the new law, special education and related services included in IEPs must include a statement of measurable For the first time, children who cannot read will not be prematurely measured by a battery of diagnostic tests to determine their classification and eligibility for special ed. Instead, they will receive scientifically based reading instruction, and their response to the instruction will be measured regularly to accurately assess student progress prior to making a referral for possible placement in special education. “The three-tiered model or “If they’re caught early, we can improve their academic skills absent of putting a label on them and placing them in special education.” – Bob Pasternack, former Assistant Secretary of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services academic and functional goals, and specific guidelines for how and when the child’s progress toward meeting those goals will be measured. Such requirements are designed to ensure that children have the opportunity to move back into the general education environment once those goals are met. The focus now is no longer on process, but on outcomes and results, explains Pasternack, to ensure the same kind of accountability for students with disabilities mandated for all students under No Child Left Behind. Preventative Medicine The new legislation also seeks to reduce referrals into special ed by providing opportunities for educators to intervene early. Several studies have shown that special education instructional-reme- 24 diation programs are not effective for students who are poor readers. However, proven methods exist for effective intervention in reading, particularly when reading difficulties are identified early, and evidence-based interventions are provided by highly qualified, well-trained teachers. School districts will now be able to use up to 15 percent of federal IDEA funds for pre-referral interventions that apply scientifically based reading research to keep students out of special education. Providing targeted intervention within the general ed environment will help ensure that children like Mikela have an opportunity to catch up with their peers before being diagnosed as having a disability simply because they have not mastered fundamental reading skills. problem-solving model…will allow kids to be identified earlier, and it will allow the diagnostic process to focus more on their specific problem,” says Pasternack. Rather than wasting time and precious resources to do a diagnostic evaluation to come up with a classification or label, educators will be able to focus on the academic area that has been resistant to intervention, which most often is reading, he says. “Most of those kids, if they’re caught early, we can improve their academic skills absent of putting a label on them and placing them in special education.” Under the new legislation, thousands of young learners like Mikela will have the opportunity to receive the instruction they need and be challenged to realize their full academic potential. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 LD Students See Big Gains with Passport When Learning Disability Specialist Gail Moss heard her district was using Voyager’s Passport Reading Intervention System, she was curious to learn more. The program was adopted by Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson, Arizona, last fall for grades K-8 systemwide. Designed to dramatically improve fundamental skills for students who struggle with learning to read, Passport sounded like a useful instructional tool for learning disabled students, as well. The results, says Moss, have been better than she imagined. “I have had kids who literally went from not being able to read anything—first-graders [who] knew very few letters and sounds—now they’re reading the words,” she says, proudly. Moss teaches LD students in grades K-5 and says she has seen a big increase in students’ reading level and fluency since using Passport as part of special ed instruction. What’s more, she notes, the curriculum correlates perfectly with the goals and objectives on the students’ Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). “They need phonemic awareness, they need rhyming, word recognition, word study and spelling. Everything that’s covered in the [Passport] lesson is what’s covered in the IEPs every day,” she says. Ocotillo Elementary School, where Moss teaches, has a predominantly Hispanic population—nearly half the students are English language learners— and she admits that many children end up in special ed simply because they cannot read or speak English proficiently. “Unfortunately, they don’t have parents at home who speak English to read with them,” she says. As a solution, ELL students often practice reading skills with teachers during an after-school “homework help” program. Because teachers are using Passport in the general ed classrooms, as well, students make a smoother transition out of special ed when their reading skills improve. In the past year, two of Moss’ students have already made the move. “I think that special ed should jump on this,” says Moss of the Passport curriculum, adding, “The whole program—the way it’s put together—is a sure shot for kids having success and learning to read.” – Leslie J. Thompson Above: Dr. Daniel Wegener, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in Tucson’s Sunnyside Unified School District, congratulates fourth-grader Jazzia Vega on her reading achievement. Left: Ocotillo Elementary School thirdgraders Luis Pena, Rena Murillo, Rey Murillo, and Rene Soto show off the certificates of achievement and Voyager T-shirts they were awarded by teacher Gail Moss. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 25 Summer Learning Loss, continued from page 23 promote continued learning among elementary and middle school students. Funded through Title 1 and the 21st Century Grants from the Massachusetts Department of Education, the program is provided at no cost to families. Summer is a time when “parents are scrambling to find something constructive for their kids to get involved in,” notes John Cavanaugh, Principal of Summer School Programs for Holyoke Public Schools. “We’re offering a fiveand-a-half-hour day, four days a week, which includes transportation if necessary, breakfast and lunch time, plus quality instruction and fun activities— and we’re offering it to parents for free,” he adds. Since 2003, hundreds of elementary and middle school students have spent the summer months traveling through history to explore ancient civilizations using Voyager’s TimeWarp Summer Reading Intervention Program. Students learn and improve fundamental reading and writing skills while engaging in fun, hands-on learning projects that allow them to express themselves creatively. Each grade has a different focus, such as Egypt, Greece, Rome and Africa. Through whole- and 26 small-group lessons and collaborative activities, students discover other cultures and traditions while keeping their academic skills up to par. Eager Learners Rather than balk at having to attend school for part of their vacation, children can’t get enough of the summer pro- In Holyoke School District, ELA scores in grades 1-5 increased 17 percent, while grades 6-8 saw a 12 percent increase. gram—which, incidentally, is purely optional. Since launching the TimeWarp series, summer school attendance in Holyoke has increased from 350 students in 2002 to more than 1400 last year. Teachers are smitten with the program, as well, notes Cavanaugh, who says the district chose the Voyager program because the easy-to-follow, scripted curriculum would allow teachers “the opportunity to let their hair down during the summer.” TimeWarp was such a hit, he says, “Teachers were literally begging me to allow them to use these materials during the regular school year in their classes.” What’s more, teachers saw less evidence of the “summer slide” at the start of the school year. Pre- and post-test scores bear this out: ELA scores in grades 1-5 increased 17 percent at the end of summer 2004, while grades 6-8 saw a 12 percent increase. In the late 1970s, only half of public schools offered summer school to their students. A little more than 20 years later, a survey of the nation’s 100 largest school districts found that every one had some type of summer program. Although the trend toward providing increased opportunities for learning during the summer months is positive, the call to meet the needs of disadvantaged students is urgent. The dramatic success of high-quality summer programs, like TimeWarp, which build fundamental skills and promote reading for pleasure, illustrates that a few short weeks during the summer can make a difference in closing the achievement gap and keeping all children on track for success. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Hoosiers Score Big, continued from page 19 Understanding, in the fall. Research National Reading Panel Report,” she has shown there are four essential says. “I am impressed with the proingredients of comprehension: fluency, gram. It not only gives the theory and motivation, knowledge, and strategy. rationale for teaching these five eleThe research-based Reading for ments, but engages the teachers in the Understanding course focuses on assessment of each skill with each overcoming the problems that inhibit individual student and then provides reading comprehension by adjusting strategies and activities for the delivery the teaching habits of participants of appropriate instruction based on according to the unique needs of each the data collected.” Adds Bird, “Most of the teachers student and classroom. In the first several modules, teachers use an informal involved in [the Reading Academy] assessment to discover where each of appreciate the insights into teaching their students stands in terms of reading reading. Many have said to me that comprehension. They learn motivational they never understood the importance strategies, tools for furthering compre- of phonemic awareness until studying hension skills, and how to keep children the material presented in VoyagerU. in their ideal learning zone. Subsequent [The program] increases our knowledge modules are aimed at developing focused, strategic readers by studying and practicing the strategies set forth in the 2000 National Reading Panel “The design lends Report, which include monitoring itself to innovation. comprehension, cooperative Teachers learn how to learning, actively reading and perform informal assessments listening, forming mental images, using prior knowledge, and to find out where their students generating and responding to are in their reading, and questions using story structure customize a system of and summarizing. learning that works best Kindergarten through thirdgrade teachers, together with for the student.” administrators, special education – Dr. Eric Ban, project director at Indiana University teachers and ESL instructors, participate in each nine-month course with specialized coaches supporting them each step of the way. Currently, 49 of teaching reading to our students. Reading First schools and 720 teachers We can be assured that we are teaching are participating in the program those skills that are required to produce competent readers.” throughout the State of Indiana. Enthusiasm about the opportunities for group discussion dominates teachers’ A Warm Reception positive remarks. Participants appreciate from Teachers Marsha Bird, a Reading First Coach at the opportunity to join other teachers James A. Garfield School 31 in within their school system to discuss Indianapolis, knows firsthand the effect reading successes and setbacks where the teacher training program has on they can improve and practice their student reading comprehension. “We teaching skills. As further incentive, are currently covering the five essen- teachers who complete the professional tial areas of reading outlined in the development course receive six graduate Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 credit hours in Language Education from Indiana University. For Dr. Ban, the success of the Indiana Reading Academy can be attributed to the focused attention on the four key elements that are essential for professional learning with teachers. First, students and teachers have clear expectations of the reading performance in their classrooms. Next, trained local reading coaches provide a safe learning environment where participants are encouraged to take the risks essential in expanded learning. Third, teachers work together to learn and implement the tools that are the best fit for their students. And, most importantly, teachers are empowered in the learning experience. They have authentic choice in drawing on their colleagues for guidance and a variety of quality resources to successfully teach children to read. Indiana’s professional development initiative, still in its early roll-out, recognizes that teachers, as well as students, need a firm start for reading success. With VoyagerU, state officials feel they have a proven, research-based model that can scale rapidly across districts, connecting and supporting thousands of teachers statewide. 27 Helping Spanish-Speaking Students, continued from page 14 “You have to have high expectations of [children]; that’s really important. When they are held accountable, they do rise to the occasion.” – Isabel Chanley, second-grade teacher, Eisenhower Elementary Take time to teach. Teaching young readers—especially those new to the English language—is a time-intensive effort. That’s why the Universal Literacy program, which can provide two to three hours a day of curriculum and instruction, depending on grade level and intervention needs, is an especially good fit for English language learners. “If you’re spending two hours a day working on reading, whether it’s comprehension, phonics, or another area of emphasis, the kids are bound to learn all the skills that go with it,” Chanley says. “How else are they going to learn to read if they don’t actually do it?” The Story Behind the Words Although it’s important for children of 28 all language backgrounds to grasp the concept of reading, the most effective reading instruction also calls for content that can hold young readers’ interest—whatever their cultural or ethnic background. The content of the Voyager programs is designed to challenge students, expanding their vocabularies as well as their knowledge of other cultures and the world they live in. The entire class is learning about cultures around the world,” Chanley says. “The content really bridges the cultures, and it brings the world into our classroom, which I find fascinating. The students are learning a lot of geography and culture, science and social studies.” But bridging that cultural gap calls for high-level vocabulary that is particularly challenging for students new to the English language. “The vocabulary is very rich, and it’s very intense,” says Iniguez. “So for English learners, it’s all in how we present it. We need to go out of our way to make accommodations without watering down the curriculum. We want them not just to learn the content, but to understand it.” Pick teams. One method for helping English learners grasp the content is a “buddy system,” such as the one used at Eisenhower Elementary. English language learners in Chanley’s class are paired with bilingual students who can help them understand the meaning of words and keep up with the rest of the class. Enlist help. Additionally, Chanley’s bilingual classroom assistant usually mans the first Voyager reading station, helping students at all levels of English proficiency understand the content, vocabulary and lesson plan. Expect the best. Another key to success with English learners, says Chanley, is simply to expect them to succeed. “You do need to hold them up a little bit, so you have to be available,” notes Chanley. “You can’t just sit back and expect them to be able to do it, and that’s true for any program. But I think you have to have high expectations of them; that’s really important. When they are held accountable, they do rise to the occasion.” With explicit, systematic instruction, as well as some accommodations, teachers can open up a whole new world of reading and language to their English-learning students. “As No Child Left Behind tells us, we need to have all children reading by end of third grade,” says Iniguez. “Our goal is to get our kids there— even the ones who are just learning English. We want to do everything we can to help them.” Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Our Community Voyager In Action LOVE LETTERS FROM LUBBOCK In a room wallpapered with thank you letters and photos of elementary school students, teary eyed Voyager employees enjoyed a heartfelt presentation from the Lubbock Independent School District during the company’s Thanksgiving potluck last November. Julee Becker, Lubbock’s Reading First Coordinator, and Dawn Gray, Bayless Elementary Campus Reading Coach, recognized that many employees never have the opportunity to see the effect of Voyager’s reading programs in the classroom. During their presentation, the duo shared remarkable success stories from the district and thanked Voyager staffers from every department for their commitment to teaching all children to read. Lubbock has had great success with Voyager’s Universal Literacy System ® at all grade levels. By the end of 2003-2004, the first year of the implementation, the number of struggling readers in first grade fell from 24 percent to 4 percent. The number of struggling second-graders decreased by 14 percent. And, in third grade, the average child was reading 21 more words per minute than the previous year’s incoming third-graders. After the presentation and potluck, Voyager employees read the many thank you letters from Lubbock students who learned to read with Universal Literacy. One letter from second-grader Anthony Ruiz illustrates how students build confidence when they learn to read. "I feel great about myself because I can read," he writes. "Thank you for helping me learn how to read." Other letters not only thanked Voyager, but told of favorite stories in the reading curriculum. Third-grader Jesse Palos writes, “Thank you for the books. It helps us learn about the rainforest. My favorite story is the Awesome Andes. It was a good story.” The Lubbock letters and photos are displayed in a special book located in the lobby at Voyager’s corporate office in Dallas. -Shannan Walsh Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 29 Our Community First Avenue Elementary Wins Accolades Congratulations to teachers and students at First Avenue Elementary in Arizona’s Mammoth-San Manuel Unified School District. In August 2004, the Arizona Department of Education awarded First Avenue the status of “Excelling,” the state’s highest-ranking recognition, based on results from Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS). A few months before, First Avenue Elementary had received a Silver Medal banner from Voyager Expanded Learning recognizing the school’s outstanding VIP scores following the year-end benchmark assessment. The special banner goes to schools that have reached the goal of 80-89 percent of students in Voyager’s Universal Literacy System reading at grade level. The district started using Universal Literacy in grades K-3 at First Avenue Elementary and Mammoth Elementary in 2003-2004. Both schools have seen stellar results, and students’ VIP scores are well above the targeted goals in all grade levels so far this year. “Voyager is an excellent program,” says First Avenue Principal Elizabeth Dorgan. “We now have only one struggling reader in kindergarten.” Mammoth-San Manuel has also embraced Voyager’s Passport Reading Intervention System. Mary Kyle, curriculum director for First Avenue Elementary, says she is “very pleased” with the impressive gains made in reading scores that she has seen thus far, and she anticipates expanding Passport in 2005-2006. To celebrate their achievements, First Avenue Elementary teachers and staff gathered at San Manuel High School on November 16, 2004 (see photo), where they received their Silver Medal banner. In addition to recognition from the Arizona Department of Education and Voyager, the school received a framed proclamation from Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. Voyager is pleased to acknowledge First Avenue’s astonishing strides toward 100 percent literacy. -Brooke Brockway 30 STUDENTS GALLOP TO READING SUCCESS For the past four years, first-grade students at Drexel Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona, have participated in a literacy project called “Black Stallion.” Each child is given a copy of the book The Black Stallion, and students learn about horses as part of the daily lessons and classroom activities. As a special bonus, horses are brought to the campus sites of participating schools so children can see them up close and actually get to touch them. “Every year, the students get really excited about seeing the horses on our playground and never really pay attention to the books, mainly because they could not read them on their own,” says Drexel Principal Lorena Escarcega.“Not this year!” she adds, proudly. Thanks to Voyager reading programs,students had dramatically improved their reading skills, and chose to focus on their books at the playground gathering. “The students sat down and all of them began to read. They were more interested in the book than in the horses”, says Escarcega. “No one prompted them to sit down and read. They just did it. The teachers could not believe it. There was not a child who did not want to read their book right away.” Escarcega and her staff were thrilled to see the radical change in the students’ attitude toward reading, and look forward to finishing out the school year on a high note. Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 Getting a Glimpse of the Action Parents of K-3 students were invited to an open house on November 18, 2004, at Hempstead Elementary in Hempstead, Texas, to observe children using Voyager’s Universal Literacy System. Upon their arrival at 8:00 a.m., the parents were briefed by Reading Coach Jeannie Manuel on a few school rules before being dismissed to visit with their children. Throughout the morning, parents and students interacted with each other at learning stations and the teacher’s teaching station in various classrooms. The open house proved to be rewarding for everyone involved. “It was a success, because of our parents,” says Manuel, who expressed her sincere appreciation to everyone who attended the event. It’s a Jungle Out There! Last fall’s open house wasn’t the only special event at Hempstead Elementary. For the spring semester, third-grade students have been busy designing and creating an Amazon Rainforest, inspired by the Wild Rivers theme of the Universal Literacy System curriculum. Hempstead students are taking part in reading adventures to discover the wild rivers of our world and the land that surrounds them,ultimately bringing the program to life in their classrooms and school halls. Carolyn Talley’s class researched the Amazon, wrote papers, created models, and even brought in stuffed wild animals to display in their rainforests. Meanwhile, students in Sheila Hanson’s class explored and discussed the structure of the Amazon Rainforest,its affects on the environment, and its importance in our world, before designing their very own models. Now that’s what we call a reading adventure! Students in Sheila Hanson’s third-grade class (top photo) and Carolyn Talley’s third-grade class (below) show off the Amazon River Rainforest artwork they created while studying Wild Rivers as part of Voyager’s Universal Literacy curriculum. -Kelly Freckmann Voyager Connection - Spring 2005 31 Our Community Students Get “Bon Voyage” into the World of Reading Students at Selman Intermediate in Sealy, Texas, celebrated their journey into the world of reading with a Bon Voyage event in early January. Midyear benchmark results for the 170 fourth- and fifth-graders participating in Voyager’s Passport Reading Intervention System showed they had made dramatic gains in the number of words read per minute and in their comprehension skills. In recognition of their success, Selman staffers involved with the Voyager program hosted the Bon Voyage celebration. “Because many at-risk learners do not often receive recognition and awards, they were thrilled with the idea of a party in their honor,” says Larea Gamble, Literacy Coach for Sealy Independent School District. “I think it enhanced our program and contributed to a success-oriented atmosphere.” At the morning celebration, students in the Passport program received a travel bag with supplies for their journey in the world of reading, including a bookmark, highlighter and pencil. After filling out a passport application, each student also received a personal passport with his or her photo. The passports will be used to track progress in the program, says Gamble, and stickers will be issued as rewards when adventures are completed. Students at Selman Intermediate in Sealy, Texas, are embarking on a reading voyage for their spring semester, following a “Bon Voyage” celebration this January. Pictured are, front row from left, Jackie Kana, Emmanuel Arriaga, Cody Penrose, and Katie Crayne; back row from left, Yuleny Lopez, Principal Kerri Finnesand, Bianca Evans, and Elizabeth Fernandez. Photo reprinted with permission from The Sealy News. VIP DELIVERS KUDOS TO VOYAGER EMPLOYEES On November 18, 2004, with Secret Service agents in the shadows, then-U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige addressed employees of Voyager Expanded Learning at the company’s home office in Dallas, Texas. Dressed in a pinstriped suit and colorful tie, Secretary Paige commended them for their hard work and dedication to creating literacy programs designed to meet the needs of all children, even those who struggle with reading. An advocate of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, Paige spoke about the importance of what Voyager does and said that all employees have an impact on helping children learn to read. He also commented on the importance of education and praised our nations’ teachers, stating, “Teachers are the real soldiers of democracy.” Following his presentation, Secretary Paige visited a demonstration classroom to see kindergartners engaged in a lesson from Voyager’s Universal Literacy System®. In January, Paige resigned from his post as U.S. Secretary of Education after serving four years with the Bush administration. Before becoming Secretary in 2001, Paige was Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District. He plans to return to Texas to work in the private sector once his replacement is appointed. -Shannan Walsh Reading results. Imagine the possibilities. MKT0691 32 Voyager Connection - Spring 2005