MEETING THE NEEDS OF INNER-CITY CHILDREN:
THE ST. TERESA'S PRIMARY READING LEAD PROJECT,

Gwen Maguire St. Teresa's School
St. John's

 

St. Teresa's is an inner-city elementary school in St. John's, NF, Canada. Extremely low achievement in literacy led teachers and administrators to decide that a radical new approach to teaching reading was required. Consequently, during the 1998-99 school year an innovative project was launched in primary reading instruction. An examination of several models of early literacy development and the research on early literacy instruction led to the development of a framework for a special literacy project, entitled The St. Teresa's Primary Reading LEAD (Literacy, Education, Achievement, Development) Project. The project began with all students in grades one and two and the following year was extended to grade three.

Implementing the LEAD Project

The project completely revamped the way that Language Arts was taught. Every child was individually assessed. Several comprehensive informal screening devices were administered to determine individual reading levels and to identify the general nature of any reading difficulty. The program delivered was based on the strengths and needs of the individual students.

Children were gathered under the Department of Education's emergent, early and transitional categories and were grouped according to their reading level and the type of interventions required. The students are divided into flexible reading ability groups for the first hour and a half each day. Physical Education and Music classes for primary students were scheduled later in the day. There are no interruptions of any kind during the Language Arts period. Children from one homeroom class may be spread through four different reading groups for Language Arts. Those children reading at or above grade level are usually in the largest group. Those who experience difficulty with Language Arts are in small-group settings. Children with identified needs were also given additional small group intervention throughout the day. <

When a child acquires the skills being taught in one group and is recommended by that teacher, he/she is evaluated by the reading specialist and moved to the next group. This can occur at any time of year or on any day depending on the growth and development of the child's language ability. The instructional approach to teaching language arts is multidimensional and effective strategies from a variety of sources are utilized. For example, students engage in activities such as shared reading/writing, guided reading/writing, strategic process writing. Children are taught to unlock language using phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding skills. These skills are taught using both systematic instruction and within the context of authentic reading experiences.

Prevention and Early Intervention are the major goals of this project. At the end of Kindergarten each child is individually assessed using a series of informal screeners. Children with identified needs are a priority for extra intervention. While teaching children literacy skills is of utmost importance, another major goal of this project is to cultivate a love of reading. Quality children's literature is a large component of this program and children have access to many well-written and beautifully illustrated books at their instructional level.

While the project was extremely exciting, it was not always easy. Acquiring the materials and facilitating professional development took several months. Teachers were challenged to restructure their classrooms and to alter their teaching styles in ways that sometimes felt quite intimidating. Administrative routines had to be reworked and meetings were frequent. Adequate and accurate reporting to parents within the Department of Education Pathways framework was a hurdle to overcome. Parent Teacher conferences had to be restructured. The way was not always clear!

Assessing Project Results

In order to find out if our new approach was working, this initiative became an action research project. During the first year, researchers from Memorial University assessed each child's reading ability in October and again in May of 1999. This was also done in two control schools. Results determined that there was a substantial and significant improvement at St. Teresa's which was directly attributed to the reading program. During the second year, the same standardized testing was conducted in October and again in May of 2000. Analysis of the results was again significant at the grade one and two levels. The children in Grade One moved from the 24th to the 47th percentile rank which is quite close to the national average and the Grade Two students moved from the 40th to the 53rd percentile rank which surpassed the national average. Dr. Julia O'Sullivan, who has recently been awarded chair of the Centre of Excellence for the development of literacy for children and adolescents with special needs across Canada, stated, "I would like to promote the St. Teresa's LEAD Project nationally as a model of exemplary practices."

A parent survey yielded one hundred percent support for the continuation of the program for the following year. Comments from parents included: "She is much more confident about reading than ever before and is willing to take risks;" "Homework is a pleasure not a fight," and "My son is not afraid to try new words now." The children loved their new books and were encouraged by their own success. Reading achieved a very high profile. The most important reward in the implementation of this project has been the new excitement and enthusiasm generated in the children about reading. Guidance Counselor Betty Lou Kennedy stated, "I can say without reservation that this literacy program is the most effective intervention that we have used for both academic and social/behavioral improvement. The school culture has become more positive as a result of the students developing self esteem, competence and confidence through reading success."

A Partnership Approach

The community of St. Teresa's is extremely grateful to those agencies that responded to our requests for support. Without them this project would never have occurred. Sources of funding included: the department of Education; the Avalon East School Board, the NLTA; the Newfoundland and Labrador Literacy Association; the Congregation of the Sister's of Mercy, the St. Teresa's School Council; and the Knights of Columbus. We also acknowledge the personal support of our local MHA, Minister Joan Marie Aylward, the Honorable Roger Grimes, former Minister of Education; Brian Shortall, director and CEO, AESB; Brendan Doyle, former president of the NLTA; Dr. Bill Fagan, former chairperson Newfoundland and Labrador Literacy Association; and Linda Coles, former Language Arts Consultant, Department of Education.

St. Teresa's very gratefully acknowledges the "in kind" contributions of many partners in this initiative. In particular, it is the team of dedicated teachers and administrators who have brought and continue to bring the LEAD project to fruition. A very special thank you to Sister Joan Gosse and Sister Mary Kelly who volunteer their time to work with individual students and have made an invaluable contribution to the success of this project. All the partners in this initiative can be assured that they have helped to make a tremendous difference in the lives of our children - our most precious and valuable resource.