Evaluate a School Wide Reading Program

Culture of Literacy

The STAR testing data accurately supports and illustrates the Culture of Literacy at St.

Philip the Apostle School. As a school we cultivate the culture of literacy in all aspects of school

life. Literacy is beyond test scores, school wide reading achievements, and national scores. The

climate of literacy is the ability to see and experience literacy throughout our school. Across

grade levels our highest urgent intervention level this Fall testing was at 19% with 10 out of 54

students scoring within urgent intervention range and with 32% (18 students out of 56) scoring at

intervention range. Many of our students across grade levels are scoring at or above benchmark.

Our school lives out literacy through its classrooms which are vibrant with literacy. St. Philip

the Apostle has two libraries, PLC: Primary Learning Commons where TK Through 3rd grade

can find books at their grade level and reading levels. We also have a LC: Learning Commons

where 4th through 8th grade can find books at their grade level and reading levels. These

libraries are filled with technology such as chromebooks and ipads for research and two

librarians that guide them through database searches and reading strategies. These spaces provide

students open seating to read and closed rooms to study or join in small group teaching. Many of

the teachers at St. Philip also provide students with classroom libraries where students can bring,

take home, or read in the classroom. Many of the classrooms have a designated area with carpet,

lights, and pillows to read quietly. Primary grades have parent volunteers come in for reading

circles as kids read in small groups. The school also provides students with two resource teachers

and after school reading specialist for struggling readers. Students read among all subject matter

and are given the opportunity to write in a variety of different topics. The Culture of Literacy is

vibrant at St. Philip but the data does reveal grade levels that may need extra support.
 What Does The Data Show?

One particular class that shows struggles is the 5th grade classroom. The data does

suggest that the fifth grade classroom needs support. Data from the current 5th grade class shows

years of struggle, from 3rd grade through 5th grade. This particular class has behavioral struggles

as well as students with learning difficulties. The data illustrates this struggle from years prior.

This current 5th grade class has many students with learning disabilities and difficulties and this

can be seen through the data. The data shows that in 3rd grade this same 5th grade class had 23%

of its class in the urgent intervention range, 13 out of 57 students. In the 4th grade this 5th grade

class had 16% of its class in the urgent intervention range, 9 out of 58 students, a slight drop

from 3rd to 4th grade. In 5th grade this class had 18% of its students at the urgent intervention

level, 10 out of 56 students. Although, there is a decline in urgent intervention students from 3rd

to 5th grade it can be said that this particular class is the class that struggles the most at St. Philip

the Apostle School. Many of the students in this 5th grade class have IEP’s and diagnosed

learning disabilities such as, dyslexia. These students need to be receiving the proper

intervention to meet their needs. Many of these students are participating in whole group reading

and writing assignments that may be too difficult for students to read and to write. In order to

meet the needs of these diverse learners we must take the proper steps to help them read at grade

level expectations or to read at their best ability.

Strategies for Intervention

In order to meet the needs of the students of the 5th grade class proper steps must be

taken to help them reach grade level expectations. One step to take would be a more intensive

reading program that focuses on small group instruction. Much of the reading being completed in

the 5th grade class is being done as a whole class. Many of the students with learning difficulties
are struggling to keep up with the rest of the classroom. They might also be having difficulty

understanding the texts they are reading in class, which may also set them behind. Allowing for

literature circles in which they are grouped by reading ability will help students focus on a

particular leveled book and work at their pace. A teacher can use STAR data scores, as well as,

running records to place students in the proper reading groups. Using the data will allow teachers

to plan and create reading groups in which students focus on their reading level scores. Teachers

can give these struggling students books one level above their independent reading level and also

provide assignments that meet their needs in order to help them move to grade level. Monitoring

groups and reassessing can help focus on goals and help a teacher evaluate the progress of these

groups.

Another step I would take would be to assess students who are “on watch”,

“intervention”, and “urgent intervention” with running records or a Jerry John’s Informal

Reading Inventory in order to target difficulties and create measurable goals for students.

Creating measurable goals based on a student's difficulties will help the teacher provide the

students with appropriate content and material and it can also help any extra resource teachers

that maybe helping students. Many of the students work with resource teachers or tutors, the

ability to provide resource teachers or tutors concrete skills students need to focus on can bring

further support to students. Lastly, taking the proper steps to facilitate reading not only at school

but at home is important. Having books that students can easily access that contains the correct

lexile number or letter they can identify will help them choose the correct books to read in class

during independent reading time or at home. Providing parents with their child's lexile scores, as

well as, discussing reading goals with parents can help parents choose the correct books and

facilitate reading at home. Teachers can also provide them with tools that appeal to students such
as “RAZ-KIDS” which is an online reading program. This program allows teachers to assign a

specific amount of minutes a child should be reading at home a week, it also allows teachers to

assign appropriate books for students to read at home and assesses them on comprehension all

through the tool of technology. The best part of having access to these tools in class and at home

is that this program is accessible through a computer, an ipad, or a phone. Students get to apply

technology and use this technology to aid them through reading in order to meet grade level

expectations.