Clarkston Community School’s Superintendent Dr. Rod Rock has several goals this school year, and administrators like K-5 Literacy Director Phyllis Ness are working on curriculum and tools to accomplish those goals.
One of Rock’s goals is to have 75 percent of third graders able to read high frequency words. Ness explained one method to teach literacy to students in grades K-5 is the ‘best practice? initiative, implemented this school year to increase communication skills in elementary students.
The new initiative focuses on various activities and methods used by teachers to increase students reading and writing skills.
‘Teachers are monitoring and evaluating students daily through meaningful assessment,? Ness said. ‘It allows us to know exactly where students are for each lesson.?
Students are assessed continuously by using a system known as ‘running records.?
Teachers access a website providing teaching and assessment tools to collect student data and progress, Ness said.
The site also has various kinds of data collection teachers can use which when combined with teaching practices help tell a students whole story.
Even if they are in the same grade, students are at different literacy levels.
Ness said using the tools allow teachers to take a constant snapshot of a student’s progress.
‘It also helps teachers know if there are difficulties,? she added.
Ness said an example of data collection is each day students come in and write down how much they read the night before.
‘If the teacher sees they have read a lot of pages, it can tell us if the student is really interested in the book, and it’s just right for their level,? she explained. ‘It may even tell us if a book is too easy. We want students to have books just right for their level.?
The superintendent’s goals also include increasing fifth-grade, end-of-year math assessment scores. By June 2016, Rock’s goal is to show a three percent increase in the overall performance. Data collected in 2014-2015 showed CCS averaged 57 percent.
Several new math initiatives are being implemented district-wide.