We Spell HOPE READ

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• We Spell HOPE R-E-A-D
• Dr. Mel Riddile
• Principal, T.C. Williams High School
• 2006 NASSP-MetLife National High School Principal
  of the Year

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T.C. Williams High School
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College-ready

• An eighteen-year-old who is not college-ready
  today has effectively been sentenced to a
  lifetime of marginal employment and second-class
  citizenship.
• Wagner and Keegan, 2006

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Is reading important?
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Every teacher uses language to teach and learn.
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We cannot learn from what we cannot read.
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This is not about SCHOOL
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For me, this is about more than school!
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This is not about a test
It is about our moral and ethical imperative to
provide a world-class education to each and every
student.
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Teaching
the hard to reach
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If we don't, who will?
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We may be the only hope that many of our
students have!
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We must do for other peoples children what we
would want done for our own.
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Whatever It Takes
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If the first assumption we make is false, then
every behavior after that is wrong.
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It's not about ability!
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Effort
creates
Ability
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Given time,
all students can learn.
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If time is held constant, this is what student
achievement will look like a bell curve.
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(No Transcript)
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Rather be B-A-D...
than be embarrassed
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Poor Skills
Low Achievement
Retention
"Drop-ins"
Drop out
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Input
Process
Output
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What can improved reading levels mean to a school?
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• What makes a great school?

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• Great schools do

what good schools dont.
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• Teachers in great high schools are not working
  harder than teachers in other schools.
• Dr. Willard Daggett

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J.E.B. Stuart High School
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Our students were among the lowest performing in
the school system

• February 1998
• Stuart is a failing school.

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Indicators of poor performance Academic
Achievement

• High D and F rates
• 76 or 3 of 4 students read below grade level
• Passed only 1 of 11 SOLs in 1998
• SATs were the lowest in school system
• Low expectations
• Bifurcation

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Indicators of poor performance Student Behavior

• Poor attendance
• 89 attendance
• system average was 95
• Poor discipline but high suspension rates
• Gang problems
• Drop-ins
• Retention Rate
• Declining enrollment in elective programs

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Breakthrough High Schools
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J.E.B. Stuart High School

• Your school is a national model that others can
  only attempt to emulate. Your high school is one
  of a few in America that is actually
  accomplishing what many educators are trying to
  do, helping students from disadvantaged
  backgrounds beat the odds against them.
• Dr. Gerald N. Tirozzi
• Executive Director
• NASSP

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SOL Scores by Free Reduced Lunchin FCPS High
Schools
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SOL Scores by Free Reduced Lunchw/out
Stuarts Score
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J.E.B. Stuart High School 1998-2005 Standards of
Learning Results
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SOL Results - Passing
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SOL Results - Passing
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SOL Results - Passing
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SOL Results - Passing
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SOL Results 8th Grade v. High School - Passing
VA SOLs The same students three years later!
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R A G S Reading Attendance Grades Safe
School
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The world has changed. Has your thinking changed?
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(No Transcript)
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• Our world is more complex.

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• In a knowledge economy, there are no remedial
  jobs.

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The issue is not that U.S. education quality has
declinedBut the economy is changing much faster
than the schools have improved. Many people
including roughly half of the recent graduates
have an education that is no longer in demand.
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• Middle Class Access
• Read at the high school level
• Math at the high school level
• Write and speak
• Solve problems using a hypothesis
• Work in diverse groups
• Use a PC

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Employment 1970s

• High Skill
• Low Skill

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Employment 1990s

• High Skill
• Semi Skill
• Low Skill

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Employment 2001

• High Skill
• Semi Skill
• Low Skill

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Today

• Haves
• Have-nots

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New literacy demands

• New literacy demands of a knowledge economy.
• Wagner and Keegan, 2006

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Literacy
The gateway skill.
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NAEP results released in February 2007

• No improvement
• 25 of high school students read below basic

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If our school was a hospital
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..poor readers would receive critical care.
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Normal Driving
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Mountain Driving
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Lexile Framework

• Semantic Difficulty
• Syntactic Complexity

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2005-06 Lexile Framework for Reading Study
Summary of Text Lexile Measures
Interquartile Ranges Shown (25 - 75)
1600
1400
1200
Text Lexile Measure (L)
1000
800
600
High School Literature
College Literature
High School Textbooks
College Textbooks
Military
Personal Use
Entry-Level Occupations
SAT 1, ACT, AP
Source of National Test Data MetaMetrics
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Is there a difference between college-ready and
workplace-ready?
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2005-06 Lexile Framework for Reading Study
Summary of Text Lexile Measures
Interquartile Ranges Shown (25 - 75)
1600
1400
1200
Text Lexile Measure (L)
1000
800
600
High School Literature
College Literature
High School Textbooks
College Textbooks
Military
Personal Use
Entry-Level Occupations
SAT 1, ACT, AP
Source of National Test Data MetaMetrics
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On-the Job Lexile Requirements
Lexile
National Adult Literacy Study 1992
1,500 1,400 1,300 1,200 1,100 1,000 900 800
International Center for Leadership in Education
2006
Construction
Craftsman
Nurse
Sales
Secretary
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2005-06 Lexile Framework for Reading
StudySummary of High School Textbook Lexile
Measures
Interquartile Ranges Shown (25 - 75)
1400
1300
1200
Text Lexile Measure (L)
1100
1000
900
800
ELA
Science
Social Studies
Arts
CTE
Math
Subject Area Textbooks
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Lexiles and Newspapers

• Washington Post ( 1350L)
• NY Times (1380L)
• USA Today (1200L)
• Associated Press (1310L)
• Wall Street Journal (1320L)

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Goals

• Graduates 1300L
• 11th Grade 1200L
• 10th Grade 1100L
• 9th Grade 1000L

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At T.C. Williams, the focus is on learning.
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9 things we must do.

• Policy
• Instructional Consistency
• Assessment
• Targeted Interventions
• Literacy Coach
• Literacy Council
• Professional Development
• Technology Integration
• Monitor and Measure Progress

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Policy

• Teacher Certification
• School Division - 3 Strategies
• Read Alouds/Think Alouds
• Vocabulary
• Graphic Organizers
• Reading Across the Curriculum
• Ongoing Professional Development

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Instructional Consistency

• Instructional Framework Model of Instructional
  Delivery (BEEP)
• Authentic Literacy
• Read
• Write about what we read
• Talk about what we read

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Instructional Consistency

• Most important concepts, facts?
• How do I increase student motivation and
  interest?
• How can I help students read and understand their
  text?

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BEEP Model
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Instructional Consistency (Say, See, Do)

• Focus Lesson
• Guided Instruction
• Collaborative
• Independent

Tell them. Show them.
We do it together.
They do it together.
They do it alone.
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Instructional Consistency (Say, See, Do)

• Focus Lesson
• Independent

Tell them. Show them.
They do it alone.
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Instructional Consistency (Say, See, Do)

• Independent

They do it alone.
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Instructional Consistency (Say, See, Do)

• Focus Lesson
• Guided Instruction
• Independent

Tell them. Show them.
We do it together.
They do it alone.
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Vocabulary

• General Vocabulary
• - Everyday language
• Specialized Vocabulary
• - Multiple meanings in different content areas
• Technical Vocabulary
• - Specific to a field of study (concerto,
  photosynthesis)

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Assessment

• SDRT
• Annual Spring Testing
• ID Students
• Set up classes
• Needs of population
• Select resource materials
• IRI

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Targeted Interventions

• Reading Classes
• ESL
• Special Ed.
• Communications
• Read 180 (FY 08 Budget)
• Achieve 3000
• Reading Across The Curriculum

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Targeted Interventions
Highest

• Reading Across The Curriculum

Achieve 3000
Literacy Course
READ 180
Lowest
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Targeted Interventions
Highest

• Reading Across The Curriculum

Achieve 3000
900
Literacy Course
650
READ 180
Lowest
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Targeted Interventions
Highest

• Reading Across The Curriculum

Achieve 3000
90
Literacy Course
READ 180
Lowest
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Professional Development

• Ongoing
• Job-imbedded
• Content specific

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What is the role of teacher?
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Content teachers teach the language of their
subject.
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Technology Integration

• Blackboard compatible
• Achieve 3000
• Read 180
• Online testing
• Library Services

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At the secondary level
Literacy is like a transplanted organ. We must
take anti-rejection medication.
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Monitor Progress

• Annual Pre- and Post-Testing
• Program Audit
• Evaluation
• Mid-Course Corrections

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We spell "hope?"
R-E-A-D
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Achieve 3000

• 10th Grade All Social Studies, English, and
  Science
• 11th Grade Standard U.S. History
• Standard English 11
• 12th Grade - Standard English 12
• Standard U.S. Government