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(Continued from Page 1) above grade level in reading had jumped from 38 per cent last year to 66 per cent this year.
Efforts towards improving last year’s scores began last summer, Mrs. Ritchie said, with workshops for teachers conducted by a consultant from the reading text book company. In addition, children attended special summer school reading programs that gave “major emphasis on skill development,” she said.
The text book consultant also guided teachers and administrators on securing supplemental materials and on scheduling. Reading was given prime time in the morning hours as part of a language arts block that integrated English, spelling and reading. Activities that interrupted classwork were set for afternoons, according to Mrs. Ritchie.
She said that students in grades three through seven were put into special reading groupings on the basis of standardized test scores. Teachers were given the option of making the groups larger or breaking them into smaller units. Mrs. Ritchie noted that the administration will work with teachers in late spring to set up reading groupings for next year “as they know the students best.”
According to the assistant principal, the elementary school teachers refined reading instructional materials to suit the needs of individual students. “They developed a great deal of the materials themselves,” she added.
“Dedicated Faculty”
Using charts, Mrs. Ritchie illustrated the progress that students had made over the last year in reading:
—Last year's first grade class had 87 per cent reading at grade level. As second graders, 100 per cent are at grade level.
—Last year’s second grade class had 70 per cent reading at grade level. As third graders, including two Title I classrooms, 61 per cent are at grade level.
—Last year’s third grade class had zero per cent reading at grade level. As fourth graders, 54 per cent are at grade level.
—Last year’s fourth grade class had 28 per cent reading at grade level. As fifth graders, 48 per cent are at grade level.
—Last year’s fifth grade
95.8%