AmeriCorps volunteers work to boost children’s reading skills | INFOR...
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Published January 29, 2012, 11:30 PM
AmeriCorps volunteers work to boost children’s reading skills FARGO - For Caden Van Wechel-Robinson, practice makes fluent. As the Bennett Elementary third-grader worked through a “repeated reading” exercise, literacy aid Kindra Haegele timed him using a smartphone. By: Helmut Schmidt, INFORUM
FARGO - For Caden Van Wechel-Robinson, practice makes fluent. As the Bennett Elementary third-grader worked through a “repeated reading” exercise, literacy aid Kindra Haegele timed him using a smartphone. Early on came the raise-the-roof moment. Caden had made a chart that topped out at 100 words a minute. His first run-through was well over 100 – and he was just getting started. “You’re off the chart already!” the AmeriCorps-trained Haegele said, praising Caden and giving him time to expand his chart. On each successive read-through, Caden’s reading became more expressive and fluent, with just a little slide in his final run-through. Then it was on to another exercise. “He’s all boy. He likes the competition part,” Haegele said. “That works really well with him.” Caden and scores of other children in the Fargo, West Fargo and Jamestown school districts are part of a program organized by North Dakota’s South East Education Cooperative called SEECing Student Progress. Volunteers work with children in kindergarten through fifth grade who often “fall through the cracks.” They are the children who score just under average on literacy tests – 49 percent and below – who appear to be doing OK, but who could, with help, do a lot better, officials say. “We’re not here to serve the high-high or the low-low (students),” said Janelle Schneider, another AmeriCorps member and a paraprofessional at Bennett Elementary in Fargo. SSP helps the kids “that kind of fly under the radar,” she said. SSP is one of hundreds of programs under the umbrella of AmeriCorps, which is often called the domestic Peace Corps. Students may focus on learning the sounds of letters, letter combinations, and words in the younger grades. Older students may focus on reading fluency, accuracy and expression. “They make progress pretty quickly,” Schneider said, SSP models its program after one developed by the Minnesota Reading Corps. Trained AmeriCorps members are then matched with children who can benefit from the one-on-one interventions, said Jamie Peltier, who coordinates student services and communications for the education cooperative. The teaching is matched to each child, with methods set aside if they don’t bring progress, or given more emphasis if the student responds. The aim is to make every child a proficient reader, which is important for long-term success in school and later in life. The program, in its second year, is at 12 schools in the Fargo and West Fargo school districts, and at Jamestown’s Gussner Elementary. As of Dec. 30, SSP has helped 156 students. The goal is to help 250 by the end of the school year, Peltier said. Seventy-eight students have graduated from the program this year. They do that when they score above the reading ability target point for their grade. They are also tested to make sure they maintain that achievement after leaving the program. Leaders found that in 2010-11, the average rate of growth for many students in the program was double or triple their target growth rate. Overall, that means SSP students are regularly on track to make more than a year’s growth in a year’s time, and were closing the gap with their high-achieving peers. “It works. It really, really works,” Peltier said. The services are delivered during blocks of intervention and enrichment time at each school. Students are given one-on-one instruction in 20-minute sessions at least three times a week, but often four or five times a week, Peltier said. The AmeriCorps members get a monthly stipend, and after they complete their term of service – usually 10 months to a year – they receive an AmeriCorps Education Award. A state grant and funding from the school districts pay program costs, Peltier said. Haegele said she’s had teachers tell her SSP students improve in all of their subjects, and on overall tests of academic progress.
1/30/2012 8:14 AM
AmeriCorps volunteers work to boost children’s reading skills | INFOR...
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All of the students’ progress is graphed, so they, too, can visually see their improvement. Haegele said one girl left a session so excited by the upward trend of her graph that she raised her arms and said, “I won!” “Just seeing the satisfaction they see in themselves … is so awesome,” Haegele said. The program has made Bennett Principal Manix Zepeda a fan. “I think it’s a great thing for our school. It gives us an additional intervention,” he said. Haegele said teachers appreciate the extra help – especially when hidden learning disabilities are uncovered. “I’ve had teachers almost tear up. … They’re so grateful that someone caught this,” said Haegele, a junior at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Helmut Schmidt at (701) 241-5583 Tags: west fargo, news, education, fargo, jamestown
1/30/2012 8:14 AM