the alamogordo literacy initiative presentation to the alliance for the advancement of teaching and...
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The Alamogordo Literacy Initiative
Presentation to the Alliance for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning
Alamogordo, New Mexico
May 4, 2007
A Celebration of Learning
A culture of celebration can enable the participant to recognize the joy of living as a fundamental virtue for educational practice.
Whether or not we are willing to overcome slips or inconsistencies, by living humility, lovingness, courage, tolerance, competence, decisiveness, patience-impatience, and verbal parsimony, we contribute to creating a happy, joyful school. We forge a school-adventure, a school that marches on, that is not afraid of the risks, and that rejects immobility. It is a school that thinks, that participates, that creates, that speaks, that loves, that guesses, that passionately embraces and says yes to life. It is not a school that quiets down and quits. Paulo Freire
Alamogordo Public Schools Curriculum and Instruction Mission
The mission of the Curriculum and Instruction Department of Alamogordo Schools is to provide support to all students and staff in a learning-centered continuous improvement model. The key components are:
• Aligned Curriculum• Aligned Instructional Practices• Assessment as a part of a plan for continuous improvement• Professional Learning Community• Aligned Professional Development for Learning Support
Curriculum Development
Instruction Assessment
Learning CommunitiesEnsuring a supportive, caring, respectful, and safe learning
environment that values and promotes the success and well being of students, families, and school staff.
Recruit Committee Members
Evaluate Course Offerings/ Curriculum
Opportunities
Develop Aim Statement
Review Current Research and National
Standards
Establish APS Initiative Outcomes
Initiate Adoption Process and Program
Review
Deploy the Curriculum
Evaluate the Process
Identify Instructional
Materials
Identify Professional Development
Needs
Implement Ongoing/Job-
embedded Professional Development
Provide Peer Mentoring/Coachi
ng
Reflect upon and Analyze Results
•Administer all State Mandated tests (NMSBA, NMHSCE, NMALT, DIBELS (K))•Administer DIBELS K-5•Analyze/Track all District Achievement Data•Short-Cycle Assessment•Provide professional development for data analysis to all instructional staff•Administer District-wide Short-Cycle Assessment Plan (In-process)
District-Level
•Analyze/Track Achievement Data•Set Target Goals•Develop action steps to achieve goals•Grade Level/Team Meetings SRT•PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act)
School-Site Level
•Pre/Post Assessment•Formal and Informal Observation•Curriculum Based Measurements (CBM)•Formative Assessment•Grade Level Meetings/Team Meetings•SRT•PDSA
Classroom Level
Alamogordo Public School District/Site EPSS Goals
Alamogordo Comprehensive Literacy Initiative
Philosophy Statement
The Alamogordo Comprehensive Literacy Initiative is built upon a literacy approach that is research-based and supported by best practice in professional literature. A comprehensive literacy approach consists of strong literature, language, and comprehension elements that incorporate a balance of oral and written language skills.
Components of a comprehensive literacy approach
• Modeled reading and writing• Shared reading and writing• Guided reading and writing• Independent reading and writing• Word Study• Explicit and systematic skills instruction in
oral language development, phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
Professional Learning Communities
In this flexible, research-based framework,
teachers, who are well-trained and informed
decision makers, use assessments to guide
their instruction in order to meet individual
student needs.
Goal
The goal of Alamogordo Public Schools is to develop independent and analytical readers, writers, and thinkers who reach their full potential in literacy acquisition with 100% of our students performing as proficient or advanced in challenging academic achievement standards.
Our Story
We celebrate the efforts of our school district in moving toward our goal by reflecting on our journey . . .
Beginnings
In the 2002 school year, teachers and administrators began studying current literature and exploring possibilities to build a best practice literacy program that would engender literacy acquisition and build the stepping stones for academic achievement for all the children in the Alamogordo school system.
Framework
A Framework was developed for a comprehensive literacy approach that would include the practices of:
• Reading Recovery• Literacy Best Practice• 3-Tiered Intervention Model
Off to the Races!
• A Reading Recovery Teacher Leader was sent to TWU to train as our Teacher Leader
• A “Behind the Glass” facility was built
• An MOU was developed with ENMU for course credit for Reading Recovery teachers
• Reading Recovery teachers were chosen
To prevent reading failure the teacher must take time to observe what children are able to do. This requires time out from teaching, time set aside for observing. The younger the child and the poorer the reader, the more time the teacher requires for recording what she observes and for thinking about what she observes. One must organize for such observation time.
Marie Clay Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals
Literacy Best Practice
A consultant team, Educational Empowerment, was selected to provide professional development to our principals, newly selected literacy coaches, and teachers based upon Brian Cambourne’s Gradual Release Model.
HIGH
LOW
Degree ofStudentIndependence
Gradual Release of Responsibility ModelPROPORTION of RESPONSIBILITY for TASK COMPLETION
All Teacher Joint Responsibility All Student
Independent Experiences
Cooperative Experiences
More Explicit Guided Experiences
Shared Experiences
Teacher Think Alouds/Demonstration/Modeling
Duration of Instruction
The Coaching Model
A Literacy Coach is provided to each elementary school to provide job-embedded, context-specific, ongoing support to teachers and students.
Research indicates that the effects of well-prepared teachers on student achievement can be stronger than the influences of
student background factors, such as poverty, language background, and minority status.
Linda Darling-Hammond
Cognitive Coaching
Cognitive Coaching assists the teacher in reflecting on and improving instructional practice. Cognitive Coaching is the problem-resolving conversation between the coach and teacher. It is the skill to supporting others’ thinking through a difficult problem.
Bookrooms
Bookrooms have been developed at each elementary site to provide quality resources for students, teachers, and coaches. Leveled materials, intervention materials, assessment materials, and professional literature are easily accessible for students and staff.
3-Tier Model of Intervention (RtI)
• A Core Basal was chosen to provide support for systematic-explicit reading instruction (McGraw Hill).
• Professional Development was provided for implementation of the core program.
• Ongoing professional development and implementation of a 3-Tiered Model for instruction and intervention was established through the framework of the Reading First grant.
Reading First
New Mexico Reading First has provided ongoing professional development and support for systematic and explicit reading instruction in our district. 5 schools receive funding from Reading First, and we have leveraged Title I funds to provide a mirroring construct across the district. The framework requires 90 minute blocks of time that are committed to pedagogical best practice in reading instruction. Through ongoing PLC in grade level meetings, teachers regularly meet to review student work and progress, and to design individual or small group intervention programs .
Reading First, the federal program aimed at boosting reading skills in high-poverty, low-performing schools and districts, is having a significant and positive impact on student achievement, according to state and local education officials surveyed for a report on the program’s impact from the Center on Education Policy. The report finds that Reading First has led to many changes in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, and that significant majorities of participating states and district credit Reading First for student achievement gains, according to surveys conducted for the report.
September 20, 2006 www.cep-dc.org
District-Wide Scientifically-Based Intervention Strategies
• Reading Recovery (1st Grade)• Orton-Gillingham• Read Naturally• SmE (Success Maker)• Read Well• Text Talks• Quick Reads• SIOP (Sacramento Elementary School)
Few
Some
Program
Specialized StaffClassroom TeacherIndividual or Small Group+30
Curriculum
McGraw Hill Intervention kit
Comprehension strategies
TPRI interventions
Orton Gillingham
Literacy Best Practices
Strategies
Five Big Ideas, explicit and systematic instruction
Literacy Best Practice
Assessment
Data
DIBELS K-3
Progress Monitoring
TPRI
•Classroom Teacher, specialized staff•Small group•Individual•+30
McGraw Hill
Intervention
TPRI
SMEReading Recovery
Project Read
Read Naturally
Orton Gillingham
Literacy Best Practices
Five Big Ideas; explicit and systematic instruction
Literacy Best Practices
DIBELS
McGraw Hill
DRA
TPRI
•Classroom teacher •Large group•Small group •90 minutes
McGraw Hill
Core program full implementation
Literacy Best Practices
Five Big Ideas; explicit and systematic instruction
Literacy Best Practices
DIBELS
DRA
McGraw Hill
All
Three Tiered Model of Instructional Support
Student Resource Team
• The Responsive to Intervention (RtI) Model is practiced in all of the schools. Teachers, through grade level meetings with coaches and principals, document the intervention strategies in a struggling student’s Academic Improvement Plan. Careful consideration of the student’s need and progress are reviewed through a system of progress monitoring. This 3-Tiered Model of Intervention is implemented for all at-risk students.
Assessments
DIBELS – Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills
DIBELS is a short, quick assessment designed to identify students’ in need of intervention, in order to provide support in a timely manner.
DRA – Development Reading AssessmentThe DRA has a Running Record to assist the teacher in identifying the text level that is appropriate for the student. Running Records are used daily in Guided Reading.
TPRI – Texas Primary Reading InventoryThe TPRI is a diagnostic tool used with Intensive Needs students to provide detailed information regarding students strengths and weaknesses in students’ specific reading skills.
McGraw Hill Unit TestsThe Unit Tests provide regular and consistent feedback to the teacher and students as aligned to the scope and sequence of the Core program.
Teacher ObservationTeachers’ observation of their students in the comprehensive literacy environment are valued and encouraged. Their professional judgments and conversations are of utmost importance.
Student Performance Outcomes
• North
23
69
25
60
38
80
47 45
8478
63 61
38 41 40
76
63
79
58 60
40 4049
61
0
1020
3040
50
6070
8090
Year 1a Year 1c Year 2a Year 2c Year 3a Year 3b Year 3c
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
Oregon
30
98
60
93
62
93
68 72 7683
736360 62
54
83
52
7668 67 62
7563
73
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Year 1a Year 1c Year 2a Year 2c Year 3a Year 3b Year 3c
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
La Luz
41
82
39
77
49
7372
58
7972
67
48
5967
56
72 73
84
5463
43
67
49
72
010
2030
4050
6070
8090
Year 1a Year 1c Year 2a Year 2c Year 3a Year 3b Year 3c
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
Sacramento
20
64
33
51
24
67
54 51
84 82
71 73
60 6252
4652
72
37
5559
54
3038
010
20
3040
5060
70
8090
Year 1a Year 1c Year 2a Year 2c Year 3a Year 3b Year 3c
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
Yucca
37
87
55
93
60
87
7580
92
77 78
6469
74
88
70
9186
0
20
40
60
80
100
Year 1a Year 1c Year 2a Year 2c Year 3a Year 3b Year 3c
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
District RecognitionOur district has been recognized by the state in bothyears 2 and 3 of the Reading First program as havingthe second highest percentage of students performingat Benchmark in September. In addition Yucca Elementary is one of two schools in the state withmore than 72% of their students at Benchmark inSeptember. Yucca was also recognized by the state for having the highest number of 3rd graders at Benchmark, with 83%.
Oregon Elementary received the Pinon Award fromSQS Quality New Mexico this year. Continuousimprovement and data driven decisions are a hallmark ofthis school.
Ongoing Professional Learning
In support of the national Reading First initiative, the College of Santa Fe, in Santa Fe, NM, has established a Reading Endorsement Program, a national on-line curriculum for teachers’ professional development through concentrated courses of study in reading instruction.
The eight courses offered through the Reading Endorsement Program are based on a strong theoretical framework developed via current research findings that support reading as an interactive process emphasizing the development of strong comprehension skills.
Reading Endorsement ProgramCollege of Santa Fe
24 graduate hours of coursework featuring:
Philosophy of Reading Classrooms That Work by Patricia Cunningham and Richard Allington
Literacy for Second Language Learners Bilingual & ESL classrooms: Teaching in Multicultural Contexts by Carlos Ovando, Virginia Collier, and Mary Carol Combs
Instructional Strategies for the Teaching of Reading The Art of Teaching Reading by Lucy Calkins
Teaching Reading to Diverse Learners The Multiple Intelligences of Reading and Writing: Making Words Come Alive by Thomas Armstrong
Celebration!
We celebrate our journey with our colleagues. We are grateful for the many partners we have in Southern New Mexico that march on to build schools that never quiet down or quit.