Reading
Training and Coordination Produce ‘Early Success’

Wisconsin teacher Heidi Hubing reviews a lesson with Sean Flatman.

A two-year-old project in Wisconsin ties special reading instruction with regular classroom curriculum.

Third grade test scores in reading were below state standards for two years straight at Fox Prairie Elementary School in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Then, two years ago, the school implemented the Early Success Program for all first and second graders having trouble reading.

Test scores improved almost immediately.

Staff members credit the training they’ve received with the program as a key to their newfound success. All kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers, as well as some paraprofessionals, receive four full days of training. They come away with a common vocabulary and coordinated strategies to implement.

Four to five children per class are typically identified for participation in the program. Students spend 30 minutes a day in a small-group session with the reading specialist and also participate in reading instruction in the regular classroom.

Teacher Linda Milam works with James Homburg on a word recognition exercise.

Linda Milam, the reading specialist at Fox Prairie, uses one book per week during her sessions with students. The same book is also read one-on-one with the child’s regular teacher.

Some educators at Fox Prairie like the Early Success Program because it ties remedial reading “directly to the classroom,” as principal Mike Jamison puts it.

Another big plus for the program: consistency. Every Monday, points out reading specialist Linda Milam, children review the previous week’s book and receive a new book. Every Friday, they take home a summary of the current week’s book, which the child reads and the parent signs.

The Early Success Program requires regular communication between educators and parents.

“Our reading specialist to teacher to parent link is much stronger now,” says second grade teacher Heidi Hubing. “You just don’t see the same growth when the parent element isn’t there.”

Hubing finds the formatted books that come with the Early Success Program engaging and interesting. Milam likes the “practical and workable” daily lesson plans provided by the publisher. The program also features tools, games, and other materials.

Using cardboard letters, for example, students try to create different words using a set of letters—such as “eat,” “ate,” and “tea.” In another exercise, Milam puts three words from each new book on a “word wall.” Students then write group sentences using words from the wall.

Early Success students who get stumped by a word can find, posted on each classroom wall, a big hand listing a reading strategy on each finger:

• Say the beginning sound of the word. Read to the end of the sentence.
• Look at the pictures.
• Use the sounds.
• Look at the word parts.
• Ask for help.

“Kids get very excited when they find a word they can read” while they’re in the regular classroom, Milam says. “They are beaming and taking off.

Free Tips for Parents

Plan on inviting parents and community members to your Read Across America celebration? If so, give them more than a slice of Seussian birthday cake. Offer them practical, reliable reading resources from NEA.

Free give-aways include tips for parents to help their children become better readers and a handout for community members explaining the importance of helping children learn to read.

To learn more, visit our Web site at www.nea.org/readacross.

Reading Resources

• The CIERA—Center for Improvement of Early Achievement in Reading—Web site now includes charts synthesizing findings across five studies of effective reading programs. The synthesis covers studies done by separate research centers and programs. For more information, visit www.ciera.org.
• What Do the Experts Say? Helping Children Learn to Read (Heinemann) offers reading advice from both teachers and researchers. The new book provides ideas and rationales for reading programs and instructions. It also features a companion set of six videos. For more information, visit www.heinemann.com.
• The Family Education Network’s Web site for parents and teachers includes activities and advice for helping students at all levels become better readers. The site also features reviews of children’s book by parents. Visit http://familyeducation.com.