|
Middle school reading program gets positive reviews at JFK
John F. Kennedy Middle School students received more of a hands-on reading experience this past academic year, a process Cheektowaga-Sloan School District administrators say is the result of a new achievement program.
The 2006-2007 academic year marked the first time sixth, seventh and eighth graders at JFK Middle School were exposed to the READ 180 Reading Intervention Program, which was directed by Reading Specialist Renae Rokitka.
Rokitka, in an end-of-the-year overview of READ 180 at Tuesday's Cheektowaga-Sloan Board of Education meeting, said the program is based on students' reading ability and the difficulty of various reading texts.
The READ 180 Enterprise Edition, which was started nationally in 1985, was implemented into middle school classrooms at the end of October and featured classroom intervals of 40 minutes per day for seventh graders and as much as nearly two hours, covering three periods daily, for sixth graders. Rokitka added that the program was eventually changed to back-to-back periods for sixth graders.
An interactive system, including mostly individual instruction, was used with audio readings and video imagery. Rokitka said the goal of the program was to intensify all areas of academic development. She mentioned that as many as three specialists would teach 19 students in some scenarios, a ratio she felt was beneficial to students' needs.
"A lot of the students would advance out of their current level and right up to the next one," Rokitka said. "I knew it was a good sign if we didn't see students for that long, a sign that the program works."
Students' ability was measured in "Lexiles," or adaptability to understand different and quickly changing reading texts. Level 1 (the lowest) includes students measured between 200-450; Level 2, 400-700; Level 3, 600-900; and Level 4, 850- 1,100. Various comprehensive areas of study included: Finding main ideas, making inferences, problems and solutions, drawing conclusions, summarizing, finding the cause and effect, comparing and contrasting, reading for detail and sequencing. Phonics, fluency, vocabulary, text comprehension, spelling, and writing and grammar were other areas.
Rokitka said writing and grammar were areas students struggled with most.
However, the reading specialist added that from the midpoint to the end of the academic year, the total percentage of proficient or at least basic students in READ 180 jumped from 64 percent to 72 percent. Endof year Lexile ranges included 800- 1,050 in sixth-grade students, 850- 1,100 for seventh graders and 900- 1,150 for eighth graders.
"It's good to know our children have something they can use," Board President Claire Ferrucci said of READ 180.
Superintendent of Schools James P. Mazgajewski agreed, stating, "the research in the program is well done. The purpose is moving quickly through the curriculum. Students have adapted well."
In other action, the board announced that the JFK Middle and High schools, as well as Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, were recently recognized by the New York State Education Department as "rapidly improving" schools in the state.
The recognition is given to schools that had scored under state standards in the past and are now showing substantial improvement in meeting the standards.
According to a letter from state Education Department Commissioner Richard P. Mills, the district schools have made significant progress in math, science and other
| 
