Sacramento Head Start Alumni Association

Pairing Science with Reading for Results

Nov 04, 2002

Pairing Science with Reading for Results
By Katherine Mitchell, Montgomery, Ala.

Sound research and old-fashioned hard work by dedicated, energized educators are driving the progress we are making in the state of Alabama. Since the 1998-99 school year, I have had the privilege of leading the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI), which now has skyrocketed in participation from 16 to 450 schools.

For three continuous years, reading scores of students at ARI schools have shown more improvement than at non-ARI schools with similar demographics. In reading initiative schools, the percentage of students classified as struggling readers is decreasing; discipline referrals are down significantly; and special education referrals are reduced.

By beating the odds, Alabama Reading Initiative schools are demonstrating that scientifically based reading instruction yields results. For example, at Merritt Elementary?—a school with a population that is 97 percent minority and 81 percent living in poverty?—third-graders outperformed their counterparts with similar demographics by 22 percentile points on the Stanford 9 test. At North Sumter Elementary, in just two years third-graders (96 percent minority and 62 percent poverty) more than doubled their Stanford 9 scores, moving from the 30th percentile in 2000 to the 70th percentile in 2002.

These kinds of results are not miracles resulting from magic formulas; rather, they follow a statewide commitment to specific actions:

Teach teachers and their leaders how to implement scientifically based reading research;
Monitor carefully the progress of each school;
Highlight successes and support adjustments in schools that are not progressing rapidly enough; and
Stay the course!
What has proven miraculous is the increase in optimism, energy and hope among teachers and administrators who have experienced improved reading achievement firsthand.

The increases in student aptitude and teacher attitude are due in part to Alabama's equal emphasis on ongoing as well as initial teacher professional development. Last fall, when I visited a school where the staff received initial training in 1999 but also where the reading scores continued to decline for the next two years, I realized immediately why it was not making progress. The school was not implementing its intervention plan to address the needs of struggling readers, not providing ongoing professional development, not monitoring the progress of their students through ongoing assessment, and not implementing small-group instruction.







"[R]eading is the new civil right. It's a part of making sure our students are free citizens."
?—President Bush, during a discussion with several state educators on the implementation of No Child Left Behind.











A meeting with the teachers along with monthly support from a regional reading coach helped to refocus the faculty's commitment to implementing proven instructional practices. Their efforts were rewarded with the school making the third highest gains among the 65 schools in its cohort.

In Alabama, our commitment to having all of our students read well has been strengthened by President Bush's new initiative, Reading First. The additional resources we received this July through a Reading First grant will help us to provide textbooks to schools that have not had a new reading program for almost 18 years, place a reading coach in every targeted school, and substantially increase ongoing professional development and technical assistance in 36 school districts that face the greatest challenges.

In the short time of our reforms, we have reached 17,000 teachers with sound research on which methods help every child learn to read. Scientifically based reading instruction makes it crystal clear where our focus should be and from that we can expect miracles.

Katherine Mitchell is the director of the Alabama Reading Initiative. Her start with wide-scale reading reform efforts dates back to 1971 in the Bronx, N.Y. Since 1978, she has worked in the Alabama Department of Education in the areas of curriculum, instruction and assessment.