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Reading programs covers new ground Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Reading partners Judy Li, 9, left, and Steven Worrell, 8, share books as part of the summer reading program at Mountain View Elementary School in White City. This fall, the school�s successful reading program will be exported to White City�s other elementary school. Young students get results from varied approach By Vicki Guarino WHITE CITY � One-on-one tutoring, singing, family counseling, games and, oh yes, books all are part of a new and promising reading program for the community�s young students. The new style for teaching reading, pioneered at Mountain View Elementary School last year, will expand into White City Elementary this fall. Principals of both schools say the program shows the potential for turning more students into capable readers. "What we�re seeing is exciting progress,�� says Mountain View Principal Ruth Stiehl, principal at Mountain View, where six weeks of an academic summer school is now coming to a close. "It will probably take us three years to get our kids up to grade level reading, but our goal was to reduce the number of students who were not reading at grade level and that was done.�� Last fall, when Mountain View launched the new reading regimen, only six of the school�s 31 third-graders possessed the reading skills educators generally agree a third-grader should have. At the end of the school year, with 26 remaining in the class, 13 were reading at or above grade level. The third grade is considered crucial because poor readers risk falling far behind as more and more curriculum demands reading ability. Mountain View staff turned to the reading program Success for All, developed by a private educational company based in San Francisco, hoping to make classroom gains. Because it involves entire schools, with students moving from class to class, at least 80 percent of teachers had to approve the curriculum by vote. "Voting is not real usual in education," says White City Elementary Principal Jay Sparks, whose teachers recently voted in the curriculum. "It�s a secret ballot; the results have to go to the company.�� Once a school is enrolled in the program, the entire school devotes an hour and a half every morning to reading � everyone at the same time. Students abilities are assessed, and students are assigned to small reading classes accordingly. This isn�t just 90 minutes with a book, however. "It�s very, very active," says Stiehl. "There�s singing, writing, games; it is very directed." Also during this period, the poorest readers get a private, 20-minute session with a tutor. The smaller, longer reading classes and the personal tutoring are new to the school. Also new, parents and students agree to read together at home at least 20 minutes nightly. Parents sign vouchers for their youngster to return to class every day, attesting to the reading sessions. Non-reading aspects of the program address social issues. Kids take a short course in cooperative learning � concepts such as working together in groups, and group and individual accountability. Additionally, a family support program includes counseling with school and community workers including staff members of the local Boys and Girls Club and the Jackson County Sheriff�s office. Parents have been receptive, says Stiehl. "I think parents are seeing a difference in their kids and they are seeing schools as a resource for their kids," she says. "I think they are responding to that.�� Ultimately, however, students will need to be involved in the program for a few years to show true gain. One reason for that is the disparity in the functioning of various achievement yardsticks. Each uses test data and are difficult to correlate without years of results to compare, says Stiehl. "How do we measure progress? It is really a tough issue, nationally," she says. Take the one-year gain at Mountain View, for example. The gains Stiehl reports amount to a 27 percent rise in third graders reading at grade level, according to the producers of the curriculum. Oregon state guidelines suggest a class gain of 5 percent is a reasonable expectation. "I really don�t know how well they correlate," Stiehl says, "but we know we�re seeing growth." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA