Reading Boost

By Madelyn Pennino

Program in Smoketown will go districtwide in CV next year

Smoketown Elementary School students who need help in reading are less likely to fall behind, thanks to a new support system at the school.

The program is called Response to Intervention, and in it about 130 students in kindergarten through sixth grade receive 30 minutes or more of supplemental reading instruction each school day.

Principal Randy McCarty said RTI allows students with reading difficulties to strengthen skills.

“It’s a concept more than anything else,” McCarty said. “It’s a framework for meeting students’ needs.”

Cindy DeForge, the school Response to Intervention coordinator, said students are screened for reading problems at the beginning of every school year.

Students in need of additional instruction are placed in small learning groups or receive one-on-one support.

“Response to Intervention doesn’t allow students to fall through the cracks,” DeForge said. “It’s proactive. It’s saying, Let’s give these kids a shot to succeed, not fail.’ “

DeForge said the interventions address five reading components in various ways. Some interventions include all the components and others focus on one of the five areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

“This is a way to find out if students will respond to a different reading program with more intensity,” DeForge said.

DeForge said students undergo regular assessments, and if the type of intervention they’re getting isn’t working, another one is implemented.

Students receive the additional instruction for a minimum of nine to 12 weeks, and their progress is monitored twice a month.

Students who have very limited proficiency receive an hour of additional reading instruction each day and are monitored every week.

DeForge, who has been the school instructional-support teacher coordinator for the last three years, said RTI essentially will replace the school’s instructional-support program.

All CV elementary schools will have Response to Intervention guided instruction next school year in addition to their core reading curricula.

DeForge said the old reading curriculum didn’t target individual needs of students.

Dana Balionis, the school reading specialist, said RTI has helped students become better readers. “I’ve seen a big difference,” Balionis said. “This is a tool that is helping students make progress. It’s exciting.”

Not only has she seen her students improve, DeForge said, students also know when they are becoming better readers.

“They are so happy when it finally happens to them,” DeForge said. “Their attitude changes, and they feel successful.

“That’s the gold.”

(c) 2007 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.