BHS Plan to increase Literacy and the Performance Level on

State, National and Career Exams

Created by Mardi Loman 5/2011

Critiqued by BHS English Department

A Literacy Plan for Bloomfield High

CAPT• Students who cannot read, cannot pass CAPT

• Students who can read well, benefit from CAPT Prep

All content teachers must be trained and made responsible for teaching literacy and CAPT skills

High School Reading Issues

• Most high schoolers do not have the literacy skills needed in information age

• Elementary and middle schools seldom prepare students for higher level reading and thinking

• High School teachers not trained to teach reading; they teach content

Source 1 - “Reading in High School”

High School Reading Issues

• Reading instruction not owned by any department so it’s left to English Department

• Content teachers want to provide reading skills instruction, but want training and need supported practice

• High School Reading usually remedial • Lack of funds, materials and support for H.S.

reading programs

• Source 1 - “Reading in High School”

Falling Literacy and HS Graduation Rate

• EU

• US

• BHS

Source 1 - “Reading in High School”

Literacy problem in Great Britain• Generation ago teens preferred

To Kill a Mocking Bird – Harper Lee RL=9

Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte RL=11

Today’s Favorites Harry Potter series –J.K. Rowling RL=5.5 – 7.2

Twilight series -Stephanie Meyer RL=4.5 – 4.9

Source 3 - “Dailymail”

Despite these obstacles

• BHS students are improving in reading comprehension

2011 SDRT Grade 9

Fall Spring# Students behind 3 years or more

44% 32%

# Students reading on college level

15% 31%

But we are not nurturingour new growth

Standard

Academic

Honors

AP

3.4

9.1

2.9

10 7.6

5.2

6.6

4.8

4.0

11.1

3.9

5.1

More Homogeneous

Most Homogeneous

Less Heterogeneous

Our heterogeneous classes are too diverse.

Per 5 Freshmen English

2.4

7.23.9

3.16.7

5.3 4.0

What does the research show?

Mixed-ability grouping also has problems, particularly that the academic curriculum may be diluted in an effort to teach a wide range of students.

Source 5 - Adam Gamoran 2002

Our grade level textbooks are way beyond frustration level for

most.

Per. 7 U.S. History

2.4

7.23.9

3.16.7

5.3 4.0

13

11

Our students don’t read and write enough at home

Students must read, write, speak and think in class every day.

Students must work as hard as their teachers

Per 7 Biology

R. L.

5 - 6

Per 1 Biology

R.L. 3 - 4

Per. 2 Biology

R.L 9 - 11

Students read high school leveled text

For Various Levels:

• Content Curriculum, Big Ideas, Essential Questions the same

• The Reading Skills and strategies the same, but may be presented differently

• Writing and thinking skills the same, but may be presented differently

• The Common Core State Standards/ embedded CAPT skills the same

For Various Levels:• The content is what students are reading about

in order to obtain the skill

The Next Idea is Controversial!!

Flexible Reading Ability Grouping

R.L. = 8

R.L.. = 9

R.L. = 10

R.L. = 11

R.L. = 12

R.L. = 13Students will advance to the next class when their reading level has surpassed the designated class level.

Climbing to the Next Rung

• Teacher observation

• Perfect or nearly perfect Reading skills CFA’s

• Literacy Specialist tests and makes recommendation

• Moves to next leveled textbook

• Same or different class

What does the research say?

“Students who report being assigned to different tracks in high school become more unequal in their achievement over time, and the increase in inequality is greatest in schools where students rarely change tracks.”

Source 2 – Gamoran 1992 Educational Leadership

Literacy Specialists

• Will be 3 next year

• Will divide existing 6 Reading Classes

• Will work with SRBI tier II and III students

• Will teach, and monitor implementation of CAPT, reading, writing and thinking skills and strategies with content area teachers

• Create, correct CFA’s, gather data

• PD, New Teacher Institute, etc.

Majority of BHS students -Common Core Standards infused into Reading in the Content area methodology

Students with reading deficiencies beyond what can be remediated in Tier I content area classes - Students fix problems with temporary Literacy Specialist support

Students with severe reading deficiencies beyond what can be remediated in Tier II -Students fix reading deficiencies with longer lasting Literacy Specialist support

Solving More Severe Reading Problems - SRBI Model

ScientificResearchedBasedIntervention

Majority of BHS students – Reading in the Content area taught by the core teachers

Students with discipline problems that disrupt learning must attend Tier II discipline classes -Students fix documented problems at temporaryDiscipline Classes Thursdays 12:40 – 2:15.Curriculum: meditation, yoga – think outside box

Students who have not fixed their documented discipline problems continue with Thursday Discipline Classes

Solving Classroom Discipline Problems - SRBI

ScientificBased ResearchIntervention

Inservice Accountability Model• Literacy Specialist Identify literacy focus area

• Develop workshop lesson and scripts

• Train the trainers (PD committee)

• Trainers conduct interdisciplinary and department workshops

• All Implement literacy skills in the classroom

• Instructional leaders monitor and support teachers use of literacy focus

• Source 1 - Harvard Achievement Gap Conference Report 2009

Inservice Accountability Model

• VP’s set up calendar for:

• Dept heads “walk thru” observe new focus area implementation

• Dept heads gather samples of corrected work and rubric • Dept head discusses w/ VP rubrics, grading, teacher responses

• Teacher receives feedback

• VP includes literacy as part of teacher evaluation

• Source 1 - Harvard Achievement Gap Conference Report 2009

Inservice Musts

• The Skillful Teacher Course – common language

• RBT Model – Higher Order Thinking Skills

• Teacher leaders attend workshops, etc. they train others

• Trainers present all workshops to new teachers

• Source 1 - Harvard Achievement Gap Conference Report 2009

Which department will be exempt from our BHS Literacy Plan?

• Nada niks (Afrikaans) شيء (Arabic) ال

• asgjë(Albanian) 沒有 (Belarusian) none

• Rien niente (Italian) 何 (Japanese)

• kitu (Swahili) không (Vietnamese) גָארנישט (Yiddish)

We can lead our school to success … other schools have

A High School Transition Success Story

2009 High School Demographics

• 4,029 students• 300 staff • 56% Black• 11.7 % Hispanic• 69.4 free lunch

• “In one year, students’ failure rate on the ELA portion of the MCAS dropped from 44 percent to 23 percent, and the failure rate has since dropped to 5 percent. “

Source 1 - Harvard Achievement Gap Conference Report 2009”

BHS Student Majority

WE CAN DO THIS…. YES WE CAN!

ADVANCED

GOAL

Accountablity

• Exemplary High School - Brockton High

• http://video2.harvard.edu:8080/ramgen/AGI/BrocktonAGIJune2009.rm

Bibliography1. Reading in High School

http://oemanagement.com/data/_files/readinghs.pdf

2. Educational Research Journal

Vol. 14 No. 2, Pages 301-313, Winter 1999

Bibliography3. March 3, 2011, Teenage literacy in steep

decline as schoolchildren shun the classics and choose “easy books”, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1362459/Teenage-literacy-steep-decline-schoolchildren-favour-books-expected-reading-age.html#ixzz1MKxxMKV3

Bibliography

4. Educational Research Journal, Vol. 14 No. 2, Pages 301-313, Winter 1999

5. Adam Gamoran

Educational Leadership

October 1992 | Volume 50 | Number 2

Untracking for Equity Pages 11-17

Synthesis of Research / Is

Ability Grouping Equitable?

Bibliography6. http://www.conntesol.net/documents/ConnTESOL%20RTI%20presentation.pdf

7. The Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard, How High Schools Become Exemplary, 2009 Conference Report, http://www.agi.harvard.edu/events/2009Conference/2009AGIReport.php

8. Langer, J. A. (2001). Beating the odds: Teaching middle and high school students to

read and write well. American Educational

Research Journal, 38(4), 837–80.