Tippy Valley Develops Elementary Reading Plan
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Monday night, Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. literacy coach Kristen Horrell presented Valley’s Reading Plan to the school board.
Superintendent Brett Boggs said Public Law 109 was supported by the Indiana General Assembly, Governor Mitch Daniels, Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett and the State Board of Education. The law makes reading a priority, and it is the intent of the IDOE to ensure that all students become proficient readers by the end of third grade, Boggs said.
He said the staff and administration of Akron and Mentone elementary schools, in cooperation with Horrell, worked diligently throughout the school year to prepare Valley’s Reading Plan for each school.
Horrell said many laws that came through the legislature this year impacted schools. The legislature came up with the Indiana Reading Framework, and the state lays out what schools have to do.
At Valley, she said, they expect their teachers and staff to be aware of and familiar with the Reading Plan.
Under the requirements, Horrell said, Valley has to have goals, there has to be assessments as well as professional development, leadership and commitment to students.
As part of Indiana’s new law, third-graders must pass the IREAD assessment in March. If they don’t pass, they don’t move on to fourth grade.
Horrell said Valley’s Reading Plan has 11 steps. It started with the formation of a Reading Leadership Team. The other steps include formation of measurable student achievement goals, putting in place 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading instruction and the assessment plan.
“It’s a dedicated 90 minutes,” Horrell said of the uninterrupted reading.
Boggs said if some child needs remediation, they can’t be pulled out of that 90-minute daily period. Horrell said teachers can do different things in that 90-minute period, but it has to relate to reading.
The plan also includes interventions and retention details.
Horrell said there are provisions in the law for mid-year promotion to fourth grade. If a student doesn’t pass the third-grade assessment, they have to also take summer school.
Horrell also said Valley has to keep monitoring and implementing the effectiveness of the plan.
Third-graders will take the ISTEP in March, then the IREAD assessment a couple weeks later, then another ISTEP in April, she said.
There are a couple of exemptions to the IREAD requirement. If a student is held back two years at any grade level, they can’t be held back again at third grade.
“It is a big deal,” Horrell said of the new laws. “There’s a lot of pressure on primary teachers.”
The school board also heard from Tippecanoe Valley High School graduation coach Alissa Trippiedi. The other coach, Ben Rogers, was not present at the meeting.
The graduation coaches were put into place at Valley, Warsaw Community and Wawasee high schools for the 2010-11 school year to help increase the graduation rates. Valley and Wawasee have two, but WCHS has three because of the student population.
“I thought for the first year going into it, we weren’t sure how it was going to work out,” Trippiedi told the board. However, it turned out well, she said.
Initially, Valley’s program had 36 junior and senior participants, with a 70 percent passing rate and 2 percent absenteeism.
The end-of-year data showed that with 32 participants remaining, there was a 92 percent passing rate and 9 percent absenteeism.
Of just the seniors, there were 18 seniors in the program going into the second semester. Fifteen of those graduated, with one student transferring and two who did not finish in time to walk across the graduation stage. However, those two are expected to finish before the end of summer. Three seniors were able to complete 11 or more classes using the credit recovery program in the final semester in order to graduate.
Board President Mark Wise asked if Valley’s results were similar to the other schools. Boggs said they were very similar.
Trippiedi said the increase in the absenteeism was due largely to the participants they lost, going from 36 down to 32. One student was kicked out for fighting, but that student hopefully will return for her senior year to complete the program and graduate on time.
“I think it was very successful,” she said of the graduation coach program.
For the 2011-12 school year, she said she’s looking at seven already to be part of the program. She needs to talk with them and their parents.
“It really has been a powerful program for us,” said Kirk Doehrmann, TVHS principal.
Boggs said a lot of time and effort is put into the program, and it does make a difference for the kids.
The challenge, he said, is funding the program. For the first year, organizations like the Kosciusko County Community Foundation provided grants. The committee is in the middle of the fundraising process now.
Doehrmann said the budget for the three schools is around $120,000. He said it’s nice to collaborate with other schools on programs like this, and they probably don’t do it enough.[[In-content Ad]]
Monday night, Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. literacy coach Kristen Horrell presented Valley’s Reading Plan to the school board.
Superintendent Brett Boggs said Public Law 109 was supported by the Indiana General Assembly, Governor Mitch Daniels, Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett and the State Board of Education. The law makes reading a priority, and it is the intent of the IDOE to ensure that all students become proficient readers by the end of third grade, Boggs said.
He said the staff and administration of Akron and Mentone elementary schools, in cooperation with Horrell, worked diligently throughout the school year to prepare Valley’s Reading Plan for each school.
Horrell said many laws that came through the legislature this year impacted schools. The legislature came up with the Indiana Reading Framework, and the state lays out what schools have to do.
At Valley, she said, they expect their teachers and staff to be aware of and familiar with the Reading Plan.
Under the requirements, Horrell said, Valley has to have goals, there has to be assessments as well as professional development, leadership and commitment to students.
As part of Indiana’s new law, third-graders must pass the IREAD assessment in March. If they don’t pass, they don’t move on to fourth grade.
Horrell said Valley’s Reading Plan has 11 steps. It started with the formation of a Reading Leadership Team. The other steps include formation of measurable student achievement goals, putting in place 90 minutes of uninterrupted reading instruction and the assessment plan.
“It’s a dedicated 90 minutes,” Horrell said of the uninterrupted reading.
Boggs said if some child needs remediation, they can’t be pulled out of that 90-minute daily period. Horrell said teachers can do different things in that 90-minute period, but it has to relate to reading.
The plan also includes interventions and retention details.
Horrell said there are provisions in the law for mid-year promotion to fourth grade. If a student doesn’t pass the third-grade assessment, they have to also take summer school.
Horrell also said Valley has to keep monitoring and implementing the effectiveness of the plan.
Third-graders will take the ISTEP in March, then the IREAD assessment a couple weeks later, then another ISTEP in April, she said.
There are a couple of exemptions to the IREAD requirement. If a student is held back two years at any grade level, they can’t be held back again at third grade.
“It is a big deal,” Horrell said of the new laws. “There’s a lot of pressure on primary teachers.”
The school board also heard from Tippecanoe Valley High School graduation coach Alissa Trippiedi. The other coach, Ben Rogers, was not present at the meeting.
The graduation coaches were put into place at Valley, Warsaw Community and Wawasee high schools for the 2010-11 school year to help increase the graduation rates. Valley and Wawasee have two, but WCHS has three because of the student population.
“I thought for the first year going into it, we weren’t sure how it was going to work out,” Trippiedi told the board. However, it turned out well, she said.
Initially, Valley’s program had 36 junior and senior participants, with a 70 percent passing rate and 2 percent absenteeism.
The end-of-year data showed that with 32 participants remaining, there was a 92 percent passing rate and 9 percent absenteeism.
Of just the seniors, there were 18 seniors in the program going into the second semester. Fifteen of those graduated, with one student transferring and two who did not finish in time to walk across the graduation stage. However, those two are expected to finish before the end of summer. Three seniors were able to complete 11 or more classes using the credit recovery program in the final semester in order to graduate.
Board President Mark Wise asked if Valley’s results were similar to the other schools. Boggs said they were very similar.
Trippiedi said the increase in the absenteeism was due largely to the participants they lost, going from 36 down to 32. One student was kicked out for fighting, but that student hopefully will return for her senior year to complete the program and graduate on time.
“I think it was very successful,” she said of the graduation coach program.
For the 2011-12 school year, she said she’s looking at seven already to be part of the program. She needs to talk with them and their parents.
“It really has been a powerful program for us,” said Kirk Doehrmann, TVHS principal.
Boggs said a lot of time and effort is put into the program, and it does make a difference for the kids.
The challenge, he said, is funding the program. For the first year, organizations like the Kosciusko County Community Foundation provided grants. The committee is in the middle of the fundraising process now.
Doehrmann said the budget for the three schools is around $120,000. He said it’s nice to collaborate with other schools on programs like this, and they probably don’t do it enough.[[In-content Ad]]
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