Impacting Reading Fluency Through a Structured Intervention Program ELA Leadership Project Pepperdine University Celene Alvarado

 George Washington Carver Elementary Located in the Watts- Willowbrook community of Los Angeles, CA Compton Unified School District A few blocks from King Drew Medical Magnet High School and Charles Drew University TK – 6 th Grade 1 Special Day Class 380 students enrolled 21 classroom teachers 1 Curriculum specialist (ELA) 1 principal CPSEL 6

 Consistent Language Arts intervention is a current struggle for Carver teachers CPSEL 5

Damian K. Principal Vanessa E. 3 rd Grade Teacher Traci B. 4 th Grade Teacher Diana S. School Psychologist Damian K. Carver Principal Diana S. School Psychologi st Celene A. PAR Leader CPSEL 6

As an educator, I am passionate about supportingthe growth and education of students. I believe in empowerment. I will always strive to encourage, nurture their learning, and have them reach their highest potential in order to attain academic success. CPSEL 1,2 & 6

Develop an opportunity within the daily school schedule to provide effective and targeted reading fluency intervention for struggling students. CPSEL 1 & 2

How will student achievement in fluency be affected when 2 nd – 5th grade implement a structured reading intervention program? CPSEL 2

 “We now know that the majority of students can learn to read irrespective of their backgrounds—if their reading instruction is grounded in the converging scientific evidence about how reading develops and how we can prevent reading failure” (Lyon, 2002; Moats, 1999; Shaywitz, 2003)  “One-on-one targeted instruction may be necessary to produce the frequent and accurate response rate associated with improved results among struggling learners” (McMasters, Fuchs, Fuchs, & Compton, 2005) CPSEL 5

 Qualitative:  Teacher Survey  Quantitative:  AIMS Web fluency  HELPS (Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies) CPSEL 2 & 5

Evidenced based and scientifically validated Requires no more than minutes per day, 2-3 days per week Used with students of all reading levels Easily integrated into a school’s RTI program HELPS CPSEL 2

Diagnose How can we increase reading fluency? Act Plan and implement intervention Measure AIMS Web HELPS Reflect Did it work ? Was there significant growth? CPSEL 1 & 2

Identify PAR TEAM Develop project Mission and Vision Identify struggling students for each grade level Train teachers for HELPS intervention Create packets for each student in intervention Fall Winter Spring Analyze AIMS Web fluency results Identify fluency growth per grade level Continue HELPS training Begin teacher incentives for intervention application Progress monitor struggling students Analyze AIMS Web fluency results Make adjustments to small group instruction Identify growth of targeted students Planning intervention for next school year CPSEL 1,2,3, 4 & 5

CPSEL 2

All grade levels had growth in Tier 1 3 rd and 5 th grade lost students in Tier 2 from winter to spring screening 4 th grade lowered number of students in Tier 3 from winter to spring screening CPSEL 2

“Passages were great to use and easy for students to read” ”I saw how my students fluency grew with time” “I needed more training to implement HELPS” “I would like one on one training or modeling” CPSEL 2 & 5

Challenges 100% teacher participation Planning time Teacher training District professional development Transition to common core Successes Began school-wide intervention program Targeted student intervention Promote student success Leadership role CPSEL 1,2, 3 & 5

Professional Development Instructional Strategies Progress Monitoring CPSEL 2,3 & 4

Recruited the right teachers Developed a shared mission/vision Led and empowered others Made data-driven decisions Inspired teachers to create an action plan to address the compelling need Leadership Copied student packets Gathered necessary materials Trained teachers in implementation Analyzed data Monitored student progress Management Leadership vs. Management CPSEL 1,2,3 & 5

Empower Students Moral Imperative School Culture Strengths Servant Leadership CPSEL 1, 2, 5 & 6

Fletcher, J. M., & Lyon, G. R. (1998). Reading: A research-based approach. In W. Evers (Ed.), What's gone wrong in America's classrooms (pp. 49–90). Stanford, CA: Hoover Institute Press Fuchs,D., Fuchs, L., & Compton, D.L. (2004). Identifying reading disability by responsiveness-to-instruction: Specifying measures and criteria. Learning Disability Quarterly, 27, Lipson, M. Y., &Wixson, K. K. (2012). To What Interventions Are Students Responding?.Reading Teacher, 66(2), Begeny, J. C. Laugle, K. M., Krouse, H. E., Lynn, A. E., Tayrose, M. P., & Stage, S. A. (2010). A control-group comparison of two reading fluency programs: The Helping Early Literacy with Practice Strategies (HELPS) program and the Great Leaps K–2 reading program. School Psychology Review, 39, Hughes, C.A., Douglas, D.D. (2011) Response to Intervention: A research- based summary.Theory Into Practice, 50:4–11