You know, my school is in the middle of one of the poorest ZIP codes in Houston,
Texas. At our school, we had a really specific struggle which was our students
were not reading at all. We are one of the ten superintendent schools. If we don't
come out of "Improvement Required Status," Texas Education Agency (TEA) can close our school.
So, at the beginning of the school year when we came in, we realized that
students were really struggling and that's when our principal decided that
we needed to integrate both Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading into the
curriculum.
Corrective Reading and Reading Mastery are a part of our multi-tiered system of
support here at Dogan. What we do is embedded in our curriculum every day.
Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading helped us create a more intensive plan
of tiered interventions for different groups. So, when we started doing Reading
Mastery, I started seeing confidence. I started seeing kids who wouldn't read
above a whisper, reading with pride and their pride and their self-confidence
just kept growing and they were so excited and kids who didn't want to go
get books off shelves, were like "Can I go get a book?" Because a student is a little
bit more confident they're able to participate in class, they're able to
understand what they're reading more, they're attentive in class--they pay
attention more. They enjoy what they're doing now. I just don't want to have
students, I want to have scholars that are interested in reading. And for me,
it's also a sign of respect. I'm showing them that I, not only care
for them, but I believe in them regardless of what their challenges are,
I'm here for them and I respect their hard work. The data that I collected from
Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading really helped me as a leader, to create
plans for the future. The data really helped teachers monitor their performance,
as well. We look at the growth of reading data, based on Corrective Reading and
Reading Mastery we saw students being even more successful in math because our
math assessments are heavily reading comprehension. There was 100% growth with
our African-American students and I can certainly credit that with Corrective
Reading and Reading Mastery being embedded in the curriculum.
Corrective Reading promotes equity and access for students by starting at a
level of where they are, but then it also gives them access by pushing them to
other levels. "Jean was dreaming about a strange place. She was at the mountain in the land of..."
Dogan is using Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading to prevent school
failure by ensuring that all students have the opportunity to be successful in
reading. We've met them exactly where they were.
We provided the support that they needed to move forward. Moving forward, we will
be using Corrective Reading in grades 2 and 3 to support our EL learners. When our
teachers are professionally developed in Corrective Reading properly, then
they are able to give that information over to the students to where they can
use it. "H--E--A--R--E." Having our consultant here on a weekly basis at the beginning to show
them the ins and outs of the program and how to use it most effectively was most
beneficial. With the help of our coach, we were able to do embedded PD with the
kids. The PD was not only for the teachers, but also for my leadership team. So, I
know our journey was extremely difficult this year. I'm just so thankful that we
made the effort and changed vibes and I will forever remember these teachers for
helping me give the gift of reading to Dogon Elementary scholars.