Data on Schools using ARL

Are you interested in improving the reading ability of your children? Do you want to reduce the Title I and labeled populations? Take a look at what two schools are accomplishing!

ARL REPORT: DATA FROM SCHOOLS USING THE PROGRAM

In November of 1995 I had the privilege of speaking at the School Administrators Association of New York State (SAANYS) annual meeting. As a part of my preparation for the presentation, I called Batavia and Riverhead, NY schools and asked for permission to report what was happening with the ARL program in their schools. What follows is the information shared with me by the schools. In each instance, I have given the name of the specific school and the person sharing the information.


JACKSON SCHOOL, BATAVIA, NY

My contact at the Jackson School was Peter Arras, Elementary Principal. Mr. Arras shared some significant background information before we got into the data. The Jackson School is a Title I school with 51% of the children on either a free or reduced lunch status. The school has used the ARL program for several years and all staff members have attended the summer seminars. As a matter of further information, four members of the staff have assisted me with the summer seminars and will be helping in the coming summer.

Of the significant results shown by standardized screening the following were reported by Mr. Arras from the CTBS battery:

2nd grade mean = 84th%ile in 1995

2nd grade mean = 76th%ile in 1994


More significant were the results reported for this fall as the children entered 3rd grade. All children, who were Jackson students last year, entered third grade ready to begin a third grade reader. One of the goals of the ARL program is that all first graders will read by January of 1st grade. There have been exceptions to this goal, but it has been very nearly 100% each year. This has resulted in the children becoming much more confident and has resulted in increased self-esteem. Pro-active remedial intervention is a part of the Jackson Schools program. This means that the children who are at-risk in first grade are given one-to-one assistance early in September and that it continues as long as needed. There is a Pre-1st program for the immature children which is developmental in nature. The first grade teachers use the Directed Reading Lesson, not round robin reading, and the second through fifth grade teachers use the Assured Reading Assignment.

The last two years of state mandated PEP tests at third grade resulted in the following:

1995: N = 72. 67 passed, 3 who did not pass were news students to the district.

1994: N = 74. 73 passed the state criteria.


There are 56 questions on the 3rd grade PEP screening and the state expectation is that 28 must be correct for success on the PEPs. The Jackson school has chosen to use a more demanding criteria. The school uses a goal of 45 passed or the 80th%ile as its expectation. The Jackson School felt that, while the state requirements were appropriate, they wanted higher goals for their children and teachers. In the school year 1995, 33 of the 72 children were at or above the the 80th%ile. In the school year 1994, 37 of the children were above the 80th%ile. They are aimimg for a much higher expectation, rather than a minumum standard - and they are succeeding!

The real payoff has been seen as Mr. Arras compares the decreased number of children who are mandated into Title I as well as the number who are labeled and placed in special programs. The Title I numbers have been reduced by approximately 50%. The same reduction has been observed in the referral and placement rate. This has resulted in considerable financial savings for the district. More significantly, it has resulted in many children having a successful experience in reading and learning.

Good leadership, good teaching, appropriate program = Successful happier children.


ROANOKE AVENUE SCHOOL, RIVERHEAD, NY

My contact in the Roanoke Ave. School was Carol Masin, Reading Coordinator. The school is one of four elementary schools within the district. In the school year 1994-5, there were 342 students K-3. Of this number 190, or 56% were on free or reduced lunch status. Of this same population, 221, or 65%, were minority children. Ms. Masin reports that "Every child in 3rd grade is on grade level." Further - "All children passed the DRP(PEP) last year." The results in Roanoke and in the other Riverhead elementary schools have been consistently exceptional. Unfortunately, many of the Roanoke Avenue children enter school without having experienced a rich language background, however, they recover quickly within a language enriched program and are able to readily develop the skills needed to become successful readers. There is a Pre-1st program for those who need it. (It should be noted that a significant number of the children who have attended Pre-1st read on grade level, are on the Honor Roll, there are some who have been in the Gifted and Talented program, and some who are now off to college.) As in Batavia, the Directed Reading Lesson is used, there is one-to-one remedial assistance starting in September of 1st grade, and the Assured reading Assignment is utilized.

The ARL program has been utilized in the Riverhead schools since the 1978-79 school year. The emphasis on language processing (phonemic awareness) has been stressed from the beginning. The sound/symbol relationship has been stressed from the first year. The language of instruction (LOI) has been of special importance to the language limited children and has assisted the teachers in the development of organizational skills and attention to detail so critical for all learning.


FURTHER NOTE FOR BATAVIA AND RIVERHEAD

It should be further noted that a concerted effort is made to give the immature or needy children in both Batavia and Riverhead an extra year before they enter second grade. Both schools also attempt to avoid repeating children from second grade through sixth. Therefore, the fact that all third graders in both schools were reading on grade level as they began the third grade is significant. They are not repeating children to make the data look good. They are teaching the chidlren to read and learn effectively.

Again, good teaching, good leadership, and good pro-active remediation has resulted in successful children. This school has many children who would be considered at-risk, however, their success by third grade is remarkable.


DR. LYNN SEARFOSS, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR

"75 to 80% of all children not reading on grade level at third grade drop out of school!" On November 19, 1991, Dr. Searfoss reported the results of his research to the California Reading Conference at Sacramento. Shocking figures which again point out the necessity of making certain that our children have proper instruction and not be allowed to fail in the primary grades. Weve told not to worry because they will catch up by the time they are ten. Weve had it suggested that learning to read is as easy and natural as learning to talk. Both statements are very wrong! There is no evidence to support either claim. There is the type of evidence reported by Dr. Searfoss and it is, unfortunately, backed by the data coming out of many of our states as more children are being labeled and failed. Success is built on a solid foundation of phonemic awareness (language processing and blending), knowledge of the sound/symbol relationship, and good teaching.

Other schools are having the same success reported by Batavia and Riverhead and many others are well on their way to achieving the same results. We are learning how to help all children function more appropriately and successfully. It takes two to three years to implement the necessary changes and then we need to reinforce properly to keep the program developing and moving up through the grades. As all administrators know, it is much less expensive to prevent the failure than to try to correct it after the fact.

-Dr. Phil McInnis
 

McInnis ARL
2452 Route 364, Penn Yan, New York, 14527, US

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