Friday, December 21, 2012

Reading Together Sounds Like a Success

A pilot reading program at Spring Shadows Elementary supported by United Way of Greater Houston marked its initial eight-week session in the district with a campus gathering that put thousands of dollars in the school’s bank account.

At the Dec. 11 special celebration, United Way President and CEO Anna M. Babin presented Spring Shadows Principal Jerona Williams with a special check for $5,000.

The funds will be spent on technology devices for students, such as notebooks, iPods and iTouches, and other advanced digital devices that can support reading and language arts initiatives.

Spring Shadows Elementary was one of two campuses in the region to pilot the United Way’s reading program, which is designed to train and match adult volunteers with second-graders to help improve the identified students reading skills. The other pilot school was Bruce Elementary in Houston ISD.

Adult volunteers for the pilot program, called Reading Together, included about 25 workers at Phillips 66 and United Way recruits. Volunteers learned during early fall sessions about age-appropriate books, tips for reading to young children and shared activities to try with so-called “reading buddies.” Then they met with second-graders for an hour each week.

Research has proven over and over again that children who read well at an early age will likely read more independently, and achieve more in math, social studies and science. They are more likely to graduate from high school and pursue higher education or technical training degrees.

“We know that learning to read well by third grade is essential to later success in school and in life. We’ve seen the children in this pilot program get better and better at reading. We’re happy and so excited, and we know that we can’t stop,” United Way’s Babin said.

In January 2013, Reading Together programs will be held at both Spring Shadows and Buffalo Creek elementaries.

“We see United Way’s work coming alive here,” Babin said. “All today’s students are our future workforce. To be ready for their future, they need to be reading well and ready for reading now,” Babin said.

In addition to reading together once a week, United Way made sure that children in the pilot had a personal library of seven books that they could call their own. Book nameplates were issued to stress book ownership, adding to each book’s meaning to the child receiving it.

United Way of Greater Houston has a separate goal of bringing together 10,000 children’s books through donations, and then distributing them to deserving children across the city.

“Our kids have really loved the program,” said Principal Williams. “They get off their buses and they will say ‘This is the day for reading.’ In this program, the children were also able to build a relationship with an adult outside their own families, and that is important for many children.”

“They jump off the bus and say, ‘This is reading day,’” echoed school instructional specialist, Kelly Coomes. “The kids in this program keep their teachers on track about when reading day happens. That’s how much they care.”

Testing Concerns Update for Parents

A local group of parents and education testing reform-minded advocates found out what can occur when like-minded people get together to address concerns.

On Monday, Dec. 10, more than 100 Spring Branch ISD parents and concerned residents met and heard a presentation in the Board of Trustees Meeting Room by leaders with TAMSA, or Texans Advocating for Meaningful Student Assessment.

TAMSA supports a growing statewide, grassroots effort to make student accountability and testing in public schools more streamlined and aligned with post-secondary requirements of colleges and universities.

In Spring Branch, group members Karen Peck and Susan Kellner spoke at the meeting. Kellner is the former SBISD Board of Trustees President and served on the Board nine years.

After years of state testing under TAKS, or the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, the state is in its second year of a far more ambitious and rigorous student program of testing. The new testing system is called STAAR, for State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness.

Among other assessments, the STAAR testing includes 12 course-specific high school End-of-Course (EOC) exams which students must pass

Under the extensive new testing plan, students in grades 3-8 will be tested in mathematics and reading. Students will also be tested in writing at grades 4 and 7, science at grades 5 and 8, and social studies at grade 8

EOC, or End-of-Course, assessments are planned for Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, biology, chemistry, physics, English 1, English II, English III, world geography, world history and U.S. history. Already, state officials are reconsidering some STAAR requirements.

On Nov. 29, Texas Gov. Rick Perry directed that new Texas Education Commissioner Michael
Williams waive, at least for the current year, a requirement that the EOC exams account for 15 percent of a student’s final grade.
State Sen. Dan Patrick, who will chair the Senate Education Committee, has filed a separate bill that would make the 15 percent rule a local school district option. The new Legislature meets in Austin beginning early next month.
TAMSA members Peck and Kellner noted that Texas taxpayers have already spent $1.2 billion during the past 15 years on student testing. This includes purchase of tests from a single testing firm, Pearson.
The parent advocacy group contends that students need more national norm-referenced tests like Iowa or Stanford basic skills tests, or the ACT and SAT. The group would also like to see EOC testing for secondary students reduced to two or three exams.
Interestingly, the Texas Association of Business announced days after the TAMSA meeting here that it was reversing its earlier group decision to oppose any change in new accountability testing under the new STAAR EOC program.
The 83rd session of the Texas Legislature begins Jan. 8, 2013.
Texas has a legislature that meets every two years for just 140 days in regular session. Bills that impact the state’s 26 million residents and 4.8 million public school students are debated in this brief window of time. Special sessions can be called to deal with some issues.
“We have momentum like we’ve never had before,” Susan Kellner told the local audience. Her remarks drew a positive response from audience members, many of whom voiced their own concerns about the new STAAR requirements and testing protocols.
For more information on TMSA and related issues, please visit:
TAMSA at www.tamstx.org
Texas Legislature at www.capitol.state.tx.us
Texas Education Agency at www.state.tx.us
Texas Association of Business at www.txbiz.org