Key factors:
I grew to become a studying specialist in 2015, at which level our college’s earlier studying specialist was already utilizing an internet literacy platform. This was proper in regards to the time a number one literacy vendor was rolling out its new literacy program for struggling adolescent readers, so the next yr I made a decision to combine that program into our English curriculum.
As quickly as we did the coaching for our new program, Lexia PowerUp Literacy, the lecturers cherished that they may see which college students have been and weren’t working in this system. Plus, they’d the useful resource hub with every little thing in it, together with the entire classes. At that time, lecturers actually started to know the worth of utilizing the literacy device.
Our county funded our literacy program buy, and since our elementary faculties have been already utilizing one other program from our literacy accomplice, they have been capable of transition to the previous as quickly as they entered sixth grade. That’s a giant plus, as a result of it’s mainly a “grown up model” of a literacy platform that they have been already used to.
6 methods to spice up literacy platform utilization
We’ve virtually 1,000 college students right here in grades 6-8, and so they use this system each different day of their PACK class as a part of our new “Wit and Knowledge” 5-day/90-minute curriculum program. Everyone seems to be enrolled in it and the scholars cut up their time between math and studying.
Listed here are six methods we’ve been working to extend utilization of our literacy platform:
1. Practice each instructor. Like many college programs, Stafford County is battling instructor staffing and retention. We’ve so many long-term substitute lecturers this yr that we’re requiring them to take coaching for the literacy program as properly. We even have PLCs the place grade-level lecturers meet to debate scholar progress. We had common conferences with our consultant and we talked rather a lot about objective setting for each lecturers and college students. We had full employees conferences with our software program vendor to ensure all our lecturers have been well-versed in this system.
2. Concentrate on greater than minutes. We actually pushed the minutes to start with. Then after we had one other assembly, we realized that we additionally wanted to see progress within the models, and never simply have the minutes. We began to see the minutes accumulating, and we had children with 383 minutes in “different,” which meant they have been watching movies or simply letting the time roll by way of. To unravel the issue, we began placing collectively weekly morning bulletins that exposed the highest 10 winners within the grade degree, in each minutes and models. That basically helped, as a result of children simply wished to see their names up there. They wished to be in that prime 10.
3. Give college students autonomy. Having an internet literacy platform helps with college students’ shallowness and independence, understanding that they’ve the ability to make adjustments. They’ve the ability to get in there and fill the gaps they might have which might be impeding their studying comprehension. It looks as if they know somebody’s trying, and so they wish to do extra. I really like that about our platform. Through the COVID-19 years—when the lecturers have been trying and making feedback as a result of every little thing was digital—college students would truly attempt to log in and do extra once they knew somebody was trying.
4. Use this system as an intervention device. Final yr, our county’s eight center faculties all had a studying abilities and techniques class the place everybody used our literacy platform. As the category kicked off, folks stored coming again to me asking why our college students have been doing higher than a few of the different faculties. Some principals thought they may put a sub in there daily and that it could be nice, and so long as they simply logged in there, every little thing would occur. They didn’t understand all of the assets that now we have at our fingertips within the platform, together with ability builders. When the children are working, their lecturers can see their progress (or lack thereof) and intervene as wanted.
5. Recognition is vital. We’ve our personal certificates and our platform awards certificates and badges as college students obtain their targets. In the event that they’ve completed one strand, they earn one badge. And in the event that they end two, they earn the second badge. In the event that they end the entire program, they’re inducted into the Lightning Membership. They get slightly crown with a wolf (our mascot) and a lightning bolt. We all the time supply a giant prize, which this yr was sun shades with lightning bolts on them. We encourage the children who’ve completed to proceed working, however we additionally give college students a whole lot of recognition as a result of they’ve labored so onerous. College students who’ve completed even give others recommendation on how you can excel in this system, which is cute. It’s a part of the tradition.
6. Get mother and father concerned. It’s actually essential to ensure all lecturers inform the scholars that “that is a part of their instruction,” and that you could’t simply go away it out. College students need to know that their lecturers are going to see what they’re doing, make feedback on their work, and assist them once they wrestle. We do share the reviews with mother and father, and I believe that’s actually highly effective when now we have a toddler who’s struggling. We name their mother and father and I electronic mail the report back to them in order that they’ll see the place the scholar is working. We inform them the extra time your baby spends on this program, the higher will probably be, and also you’ll see them develop.
Success by the numbers
The scholars who’re utilizing PowerUp are additionally scoring higher on their NWEA® MAP Expertise®, which even additional proves the worth of augmenting literacy instruction with a strong, science-backed literacy platform. The truth is, over 70 p.c of our college students utilizing the literacy program completed the 2022-2023 yr in intermediate or superior zones in every of the three strands. Ninety p.c of scholars utilizing it completed the yr in intermediate or superior zones for comprehension.
Different notable stats:
- Over 80 p.c of the scholars who met utilization targets reached the superior zone in every of the strands by the top of the yr.
- Of all 926 center college college students, 55 p.c, or 507 college students, moved up at the least one zone all year long and 269 college students moved up 2+ zones.
Not solely has our literacy platform helped our college students advance academically, nevertheless it has additionally helped to construct their independence and shallowness as they fill within the gaps which might be impeding their studying comprehension.
