Districts find ways to boost reading scores of migrant students

Districts find ways to boost migrant students’ scores

By KEN HARVEY

Even schools with large migrant student populations should refuse to set their reading goals too low, says Bridgeport Supt. Gene Schmidt. His Title I award-winning district has not only surpassed its own goals but is now taking aim at surpassing the state’s average.

Schmidt was one of numerous presenters at the National Migrant Education Conference in Denver.

Bridgeport School District has faced about as tough a situation as one could find in education. In about 10 years, the student population changed from 75 percent white middle-class to 75 percent poor and Hispanic, with many migrant children entering school still monolingual Spanish.

Nonetheless, over the last few years, while, statewide, students passing the required WASL test have increased 20 percent from about 50 to 70 percent, Bridgeport students passing the test have increased by over 30 percent, from 31 to 62 percent.

“If we keep growing at this rate, we will catch and pass the state over the next few years,” says Schmidt.

Bridgeport has employed numerous “best practices” in this effort – including some the state does not fund.

“We believe in frontloading for success,” Schmidt says, noting that preschool and kindergarten years are vital to children’s success. And, in Bridgeport, “students are frequently ill-prepared to read when they start school.”

For that reason, Bridgeport’s school board agreed to go beyond state funding in following the National Children’s Reading Foundation recommendation to teach parents how to start preparing their children for school from the time they are born; in providing preschool for all children; and in providing full-day kindergarten.

Parent training has had a big impact, Schmidt says.

“We talk to our parents about taking 20 minutes a day to nurture, cuddle and read to their children. Use rhythm and rhyme, and expose them to new words. We want them to teach their children nursery rhymes, and later teach their children the alphabet,” he explains.

The superintendent says full-day kindergarten is something he now recommends to all districts.

“Our district made a serious commitment to all-day kindergarten,” Schmidt says. “The difference is learning a letter a day versus a letter a week. Many of our children who come into kindergarten are monolingual Spanish, but we raise many of them to first-grade reading level by the end of the year.”

The dominant test now for kindergartners is DIBELS. Last year Bridgeport’s kindergartners scored only 17 percent in the fall, rose to 45 percent in the winter and 56 percent by the next fall.

The success of the all-day kindergarten program inspired the district to begin instruction even earlier, providing funds for all-day pre-kindergarten.

The district has also made sure that its very best teachers are in the lower grades, and it has added a reading coach to provide support.

The district calls its approach to improving reading a “popcorn literacy” program, involving lots of little kernels that together explode with a big impact.

”One of the things that takes place in popcorn literacy is a lot of evening events. Storytelling is one of our big motivators. Many of our parents are not literate in their own language, so we say, ‘That’s not a problem. Let’s tell stories,’” Schmidt says.

He adds that storytelling also helps children retain their cultural heritage.

The district also sponsors such things as Math Night, Reading Night, Kiss a Pig Night, Elvis Night, Parent Literacy Night and Scholastic Book Fairs.

The district has taken advantage of a teacher exchange program with Mexico to bring several Mexican teachers to help with the district’s summer program, teaching basic skills in Spanish, as well as Mexican culture – music, games, dances, etc.

And as the district’s children do well, “we celebrate their successes,” Schmidt says.

At the national conference, other districts shared their successful strategies, as well.

‘READING BUDDIES’ PAIR OLDER, YOUNGER STUDENTS

“Reading Buddies” matches fifth- and sixth-grade native speakers with first-grade English language learners, and both the older and younger students benefit from the program.

Together they explore books of the younger students’ choosing. The older students are trained in helping the younger ones decode new words, define them from context clues, and make predictions about the text.

“There are many benefits from this program,” says Dr. Kimberley Kreicker, who provides support to teacher Marilyn Pattison of Brookridge Elementary in Lawrence, Kan. “Students improve their reading and writing abilities, but also develop a more positive self-concept as they meet with success.”

“Training is really important. She wants them to work on reading clues. They let the student pick the book because they can always take it back if it’s too hard,” Kreicker explains.

“After they have read the book, then they complete a worksheet. The students draw three pictures depicting the beginning, middle and end of the story. Then they talk about it. And there is a formal assessment, as well,” she says.

After 10 books the students get to take their buddies to recess, and after 25 books they get to take their buddies to lunch. At the end of the semester, there is a pizza party for all participants.

Pattison uses two tests to assess the students during the program. Students showed a 53 percent improvement on one test, a 33 percent improvement on the other.

Older students are not tested for improvement in their reading skills, but their teachers say they progress in self-confidence and other less measurable attributes.

OHIO DISTRICT USES ADULT TUTORS

The Putnam County (Ohio) Summer Migrant Education Program uses adult and high school volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring for migrant students.

The program serves hundreds of migrant children each year.

There are several keys to the program’s success, according to Jack Betscher, director of the program sponsored by the Putnam County Educational Service Center (PCESC).

First is finding people willing to volunteer as tutors.

“In our volunteer component, we use a very strong faith-based group. We take volunteers anywhere, but the church volunteers work very well,” he says.

Many of his volunteers come from the Catholic church, which has kind of adopted the program and provides local adult volunteers and student volunteers from a private Catholic school.

“We have had a lot of people who feel committed and are willing to do it for about five weeks during the summer,” Betscher says.

Another key to the program is the discovery of lower-cost but effective curriculum from Reading A-Z (http://readinga-z.com ), which provides downloadable curriculum from its site and only charges a low subscription fee per student. Because Reading A-Z doesn’t actually have to print the materials, carry inventory, etc., its costs and charges are a lot lower, according to Betscher.

At the same time, since the company is paid by subscription, the company makes available 1,600 different reading books, categorized by reading age and student interests, so the tutoring can be prescribed to the individual needs of each child, explains Robert Holl, A-Z vice president.

And, since the educators print the booklets themselves, they are allowed to send the booklets home with the children, which they believe helps enhance and reinforce the students’ learning.

PCESC had tried other curricula, but the curricula were either too expensive or ineffective.

And Reading A-Z provides a specific curriculum for tutors – not just the books. Each day tutors are provided a lesson plan that includes:

Introduction
Instruction
Practice
Song
Handouts
Write-to-read assignment
Word flash cards
Game board
A “chant” or poem
Take-home materials
DIBELS-based assessment

“These are things that are very practical; effective, in that it shows reading gains for the students; and affordable,” says Betscher. “This is replicable, and it is sustainable. We’ve been doing it now for about eight years.”

Pretests and post tests, as well as anecdotal evidence show the program is very effective.

“We keep the students engaged, we keep the students on task, and they have a particular purpose in mind,” Betscher says.

Reading A-Z also provides other support curricula, including multimedia online reading instruction at http://Raz-Kids.com and a vocabulary-building website at http://vocabularya-z.com.

CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS USING MIGRANT STUDENTS AS TUTORS

Five California school districts use migrant high school and middle school students for the cross-age tutoring of younger students.

The Migrant Education Tutor Assistants (META) program helps younger students but also helps the older migrant students develop self-confidence, responsibility, study skills and leadership.

The tutors are paid wages or given Target gift cards in compensation for their efforts.

The program originated in Texas as the Coca Cola Youth Program.

“The primary objective of the program was to keep students from dropping out by developing their sense of responsibility, pride and self-worth,” explains Mirna Welsh, a program administrator from Hacienda Heights, Calif.

The California schools began with the Coca Cola program, then broke away and adapted it for their own use.

“We want to make sure that at-risk students stay in school, as well as improve their academic performance and their self-esteem,” says Martin Garcia of Garvey School District.

Students in the program not only provide academic support to younger students, they also receive support and counseling from the educator overseeing the program. They are also taught job skills, tutoring skills, and communication skills on the job and during a one-hour coaching session each week.

Each student is assigned to tutor an elementary school child at least two grades below them.

Frequently the older students are treated just like part of the staff, according to Ramon Zavala of Baldwin Park School District, and that improves their self-concept as they improve their skills.

While all students in the program are supposed to be “at-risk,” Welsh says she includes migrant students doing well in school but who face economic challenges.

“’At-risk,’ in my opinion, is not just that they are going to flunk out of school, but it may be that they will drop out because they need the money,” she explains.

Other educators attending the workshop said they have similar programs that don’t pay student tutors but do award them with elective credit toward graduation.

By KEN HARVEY

Even schools with large migrant student populations should refuse to set their reading goals too low, says Bridgeport Supt. Gene Schmidt. His Title I award-winning district has not only surpassed its own goals but is now taking aim at surpassing the state’s average.

Schmidt was one of numerous presenters at the National Migrant Education Conference in Denver.

Bridgeport School District has faced about as tough a situation as one could find in education. In about 10 years, the student population changed from 75 percent white middle-class to 75 percent poor and Hispanic, with many migrant children entering school still monolingual Spanish.

Nonetheless, over the last few years, while, statewide, students passing the required WASL test have increased 20 percent from about 50 to 70 percent, Bridgeport students passing the test have increased by over 30 percent, from 31 to 62 percent.

“If we keep growing at this rate, we will catch and pass the state over the next few years,” says Schmidt.

Bridgeport has employed numerous “best practices” in this effort – including some the state does not fund.

“We believe in frontloading for success,” Schmidt says, noting that preschool and kindergarten years are vital to children’s success. And, in Bridgeport, “students are frequently ill-prepared to read when they start school.”

Parent training has had a big impact, Schmidt says.

“We talk to our parents about taking 20 minutes a day to nurture, cuddle and read to their children. Use rhythm and rhyme, and expose them to new words. We want them to teach their children nursery rhymes, and later teach their children the alphabet,” he explains.

The superintendent says full-day kindergarten is something he now recommends to all districts.

The dominant test now for kindergartners is DIBELS. Last year Bridgeport’s kindergartners scored only 17 percent in the fall, rose to 45 percent in the winter and 56 percent by the next fall.

The success of the all-day kindergarten program inspired the district to begin instruction even earlier, providing funds for all-day pre-kindergarten.

The district has also made sure that its very best teachers are in the lower grades, and it has added a reading coach to provide support.

The district calls its approach to improving reading a “popcorn literacy” program, involving lots of little kernels that together explode with a big impact.

”One of the things that takes place in popcorn literacy is a lot of evening events. Storytelling is one of our big motivators. Many of our parents are not literate in their own language, so we say, ‘That’s not a problem. Let’s tell stories,’” Schmidt says.

He adds that storytelling also helps children retain their cultural heritage.

The district also sponsors such things as Math Night, Reading Night, Kiss a Pig Night, Elvis Night, Parent Literacy Night and Scholastic Book Fairs.

The district has taken advantage of a teacher exchange program with Mexico to bring several Mexican teachers to help with the district’s summer program, teaching basic skills in Spanish, as well as Mexican culture – music, games, dances, etc.

And as the district’s children do well, “we celebrate their successes,” Schmidt says.

At the national conference, other districts shared their successful strategies, as well.

‘READING BUDDIES’ PAIR OLDER, YOUNGER STUDENTS

“Reading Buddies” matches fifth- and sixth-grade native speakers with first-grade English language learners, and both the older and younger students benefit from the program.

Together they explore books of the younger students’ choosing. The older students are trained in helping the younger ones decode new words, define them from context clues, and make predictions about the text.

“Training is really important. She wants them to work on reading clues. They let the student pick the book because they can always take it back if it’s too hard,” Kreicker explains.

“After they have read the book, then they complete a worksheet. The students draw three pictures depicting the beginning, middle and end of the story. Then they talk about it. And there is a formal assessment, as well,” she says.

After 10 books the students get to take their buddies to recess, and after 25 books they get to take their buddies to lunch. At the end of the semester, there is a pizza party for all participants.

Pattison uses two tests to assess the students during the program. Students showed a 53 percent improvement on one test, a 33 percent improvement on the other.

Older students are not tested for improvement in their reading skills, but their teachers say they progress in self-confidence and other less measurable attributes.

OHIO DISTRICT USES ADULT TUTORS

The Putnam County (Ohio) Summer Migrant Education Program uses adult and high school volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring for migrant students.

The program serves hundreds of migrant children each year.

There are several keys to the program’s success, according to Jack Betscher, director of the program sponsored by the Putnam County Educational Service Center (PCESC).

First is finding people willing to volunteer as tutors.

“In our volunteer component, we use a very strong faith-based group. We take volunteers anywhere, but the church volunteers work very well,” he says.

Many of his volunteers come from the Catholic church, which has kind of adopted the program and provides local adult volunteers and student volunteers from a private Catholic school.

“We have had a lot of people who feel committed and are willing to do it for about five weeks during the summer,” Betscher says.

At the same time, since the company is paid by subscription, the company makes available 1,600 different reading books, categorized by reading age and student interests, so the tutoring can be prescribed to the individual needs of each child, explains Robert Holl, A-Z vice president.

And, since the educators print the booklets themselves, they are allowed to send the booklets home with the children, which they believe helps enhance and reinforce the students’ learning.

PCESC had tried other curricula, but the curricula were either too expensive or ineffective.

And Reading A-Z provides a specific curriculum for tutors – not just the books. Each day tutors are provided a lesson plan that includes:

Introduction

Instruction

Practice

Song

Handouts

Write-to-read assignment

Word flash cards

Game board

A “chant” or poem

Take-home materials

DIBELS-based assessment

“These are things that are very practical; effective, in that it shows reading gains for the students; and affordable,” says Betscher. “This is replicable, and it is sustainable. We’ve been doing it now for about eight years.”

Pretests and post tests, as well as anecdotal evidence show the program is very effective.

“We keep the students engaged, we keep the students on task, and they have a particular purpose in mind,” Betscher says.

Reading A-Z also provides other support curricula, including multimedia online reading instruction at http://Raz-Kids.com and a vocabulary-building website at http://vocabularya-z.com.

CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS USING MIGRANT STUDENTS AS TUTORS

Five California school districts use migrant high school and middle school students for the cross-age tutoring of younger students.

The Migrant Education Tutor Assistants (META) program helps younger students but also helps the older migrant students develop self-confidence, responsibility, study skills and leadership.

The tutors are paid wages or given Target gift cards in compensation for their efforts.

The program originated in Texas as the Coca Cola Youth Program.

“The primary objective of the program was to keep students from dropping out by developing their sense of responsibility, pride and self-worth,” explains Mirna Welsh, a program administrator from Hacienda Heights, Calif.

The California schools began with the Coca Cola program, then broke away and adapted it for their own use.

“We want to make sure that at-risk students stay in school, as well as improve their academic performance and their self-esteem,” says Martin Garcia of Garvey School District.

Students in the program not only provide academic support to younger students, they also receive support and counseling from the educator overseeing the program. They are also taught job skills, tutoring skills, and communication skills on the job and during a one-hour coaching session each week.

Each student is assigned to tutor an elementary school child at least two grades below them.

Frequently the older students are treated just like part of the staff, according to Ramon Zavala of Baldwin Park School District, and that improves their self-concept as they improve their skills.

While all students in the program are supposed to be “at-risk,” Welsh says she includes migrant students doing well in school but who face economic challenges.

“’At-risk,’ in my opinion, is not just that they are going to flunk out of school, but it may be that they will drop out because they need the money,” she explains.

Other educators attending the workshop said they have similar programs that don’t pay student tutors but do award them with elective credit toward graduation.