Introduction “To maximize student academic and social success and to encourage lifelong learning and citizenship.” is the mission statement for Van Buren Elementary School. In order to maximize student achievement teacher leaders and administration must work in unison to identify goals for improvement. By analyzing data teacher leaders, administrators, and teachers can work together to derive a goal in the area of literacy instruction pertinent to our school. According to Taylor and Francis, “By design or default, teachers also are leaders of change, whether they promote it, support it, resist it, or ignore it.” (Taylor & Francis, 2014, 102-103) Henceforth, teacher leadership will be essential to achieve our literacy instruction goals.
Identification of Problem Area
Iowa adopted a Universal Screener (FAST, Iowa Tier) in 2013, which is a universal screening in reading for grades K-3. Students that scored “substantially deficient” in reading were then required to be progress monitored weekly, provided intensive reading instruction, which includes 90 minutes a day of scientific, research-based reading instruction, notification of parents, and finally, grade-level retention if the student is not proficient by the end of third grade. The students in grades K-3 are universally screened three times per year.
Iowa schools are also required to provide an intensive summer reading program for any student who is substantially deficient in reading by May 1, 2017. Additionally,
Achieving a school district’s mission and vision requires the commitment of its stakeholders. In order to involve them in the process, it is necessary for educational leaders to “motivate staff, parents, students, board and community members” (Educational Leadership Constituencies Council, 2002, p. 4). The transformational leadership theory emphasizes the importance of educational leaders acting as role-models in order to motivate and inspire the school community. This approach has the potential to involve all stakeholders, leading to increased student success (Bush, 2007). The Assistant Director of Special Education in Northwest ISD directly supervised the school district’s assessment staff. Her education, experience, and passion set an example for her subordinates, stimulating them to achieve more, leading to her promotion to Executive Director of Student Services.
In every school across America, effective practices of reading instruction are being discussed. Calkins (2012) suggests that over 85% of students being tested on grade level literacy standards are non-proficient. Research suggests that students, who are unable to read proficiently by third grade, are not predicted to ever learn to read or have successful lives when they reach adulthood (Martinez, 2008). For these reasons, it is important that districts implement literacy models and instructional reforms that have been well researched and shown to be successful. The instructional reform method of Balanced Literacy is being used throughout the country to meet the challenging standards of the Common Core. Teachers will need
The following information was gathered during a discussion with Dr. Clayton Mork from the Crescent School District. He shared his personal view of the role of an instructional leader. Also his view of how instructional leadership practices relate to student achievement. Dr. Mork shared two instructional leadership actions and outcomes he implemented at Crescent School District related to student achievement. Dr. Mork also explained his philosophy of curriculum development regarding involvement of teaching staff.
A literacy specialist role has a leadership component that requires expertise knowledge in the areas of assessment and research data. Through this knowledge and understanding, they can help students, teachers, and schools set literacy goals and actually accomplish them. Research states, “Schools that have literacy coaches or a literacy specialist, who is involved in setting literacy goals and accomplishments, promote teacher and student literacy improvements and achievements (Journal of Language and Literacy Education, Volume 3,
Our local ROE recently offered a two-day professional development workshop focused on the new Illinois learning standards for English Language Arts. This workshop provided an overview of nine ELA shift kits. These kits are provided by ISBE to aid classroom teachers in the shift to the CCSS. For this evaluation of a reading program, I have chosen to evaluate the usefulness of these ELA shift kits and my school’s familiarity with these ELA shifts.
The Common Core State Standards were created to identify the skills and knowledge a student needs in order to succeed in today’s world. Essentially, these Standards were developed in an effort for public education to advance academically. In developing these Standards, six shifts were created to identify what a student is expected to accomplish in each grade level in order to prepare them for their future. Obviously, with six shifts, there is a beginning phase. The first shift generated states, to prepare students for reading and comprehension in their later school years, it is fundamentally necessary to increase the reading of informational text for students beginning kindergarten and continuing through the fifth grade.
Summer reading programs can help students struggling with literacy tremendously. When students read over the summer they keep their reading skills sharp instead of having to relearn them as soon as school starts again in the fall, which can be a big hindrance on their studies. The summer is also prime time for parents to hire tutors when their services are needed. Some teenagers will even tutor for free in the interest of obtaining service hours for scholarships. Parents should also make time over the summer to help their children themselves if they are having problems with reading. Having the support of parents can make all the difference in a child’s motivation to learn.
Next, is the Early Literacy Intervention Literacy Intervention Initiative Act. “The early childhood years are the most Important period for literacy development.” (Freeman, Decker, Decker (2013) p. 231). The Early Literacy Initiative is a joint effort with the State and local government to identify children with reading deficiencies and implement early reading intervention programs. The purpose of Early Literacy Initiative is to reduce the number of poor readers by providing research based prevention programs to ensure that every student can read by the 3rd
We have enrolled twenty remedial readers needing to achieve grade level reading and writing proficiencies in the 3rd and 4th-grade classes. The majority of the students from Inglewood Elementary enter our middle school tutoring program reading one to two years below grade
Teacher leaders and administrators play a vital role in the overall organizational structure of a school. As discussed in Educational Leadership, there are ten roles that teacher leaders tend to gravitate towards. The roles of teacher leaders vary according to duties and responsibilities placed on the teacher leader, they include the following: resource provider, instructional specialist, curriculum specialist, classroom supporter, learning facilitator, mentor, school leader, data coach, catalyst for change, and learner (Harrison & Killion, 2007, pg. 74-77). As a teacher leadership at Lake Oconee Academy, I personally see my duties and responsibilities covering several of these roles. Since the beginning of my employment at Lake Oconee
The Alabama Reading Initiative is a federal statewide program in Alabama. This program involves a statewide movement that aims at ultimately achieving grade-level reading for all Alabama’s public school students. This program is completely voluntary, and schools are selected from a pool of applicants who must agree to seven commitments to enter the program. These commitments include the following: must set a one-hundred percent literacy goal, achieve commitment of eighty-five percent of the faculty, attend a ten day training program, principal must be the site leader, each school must adjust their instruction to the program accordingly, each school must model research-based reading instruction for other schools, and be evaluated by an outside
In light of accountability requirements, fear of not meeting AYP (Annual Yearly Progress), and required school improvement plans, often the idea of “school improvement” is considered a negative attribute. Obviously schools do not want to be singled out or identified as in need of improvement. Teachers often take the same view towards the idea of improvement. We as teachers take very personal that concept of improvement; we often parallel the need for improvement to failure. However my belief is that effective schools are always in a school improvement process and effective teachers too also are constantly adapting their practice in a culture of continuous improvement and growth. Therefore it is important as an effective leader to build a community of trust and collaboration. I quote “We are all in this together. Once we know that we are, we’re all stars and we see that we’re all in this together.” (Disney High School Musical, 2006) These lyrics from a popular Disney movie put to light exactly the school culture where the goal is not personal but as a community to use data driven and research based approaches in reflection and growth that assist all stakeholders.
School improvement is transformation. It is one of the most important actions of a school. It is a process that schools must use with fidelity to ensure that at all students are given the opportunity to perform and achieve at exemplary levels. School improvement is vital to schools and it is a process that cannot be done in isolation. It requires team work, collaboration, and constant analysis of data and setting of goals. School improvement goals focus on how to meet the needs of students. Addressing the educational needs, funding, and achievement gaps between subgroups is collaborative effort involves everyone that has a vested interest in the schools. These basic measures set the foundation for improvement. And so, if it is the
What do think when you hear student success? Many people think different things. For example, student success could be a student having a good job in something they specialized on, and are living on their own without anybody's help. There are several different ways student succeed and ways to change schools in order for their students to succeed as well in this article. For instance, Anaheim High Schools can improve student success if we have longer school days, make the student be interested in school and on what they are learning, and having more after school programs that interest kids and will keep their minds off of bad things.
Learning to read is one of the most foundational skills needed for educational success. As children learn to read they develop the ability to decode, interpret, and store information from what they are reading. Reading comprehension allows a child to gain meaning from text and decoding allows a child to process sounds into words. Reading is vital to educational success because it allows a student to learn new information and build upon their prior knowledge. Students who attain reading skills are more likely to achieve academic success while students who have reading difficulties are likely to struggle academically and fall behind their peers. Reading difficulties have been prominent within the US for years. For example, the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress statistics shows that only about 33% of fourth graders are at or above proficient at reading (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2011). Studies show that the cause of reading difficulties is based primarily on genes, environment, and instructional experience (Vellutino, Fletcher, Snowling, Scanlon, 2004). Students with a language learning disorder have difficulty comprehending spoken and written language thus making it difficult to learn new information. Children with reading disabilities are more likely to struggle during elementary school years as students are asked to think about what they read more critically. Speech language pathologists and teachers can help