Empowering Students with Targeted Resources
Empowering Students with Targeted Resources
This fall, Reserve Primary School and Marzolf Primary School transitioned to a school-wide Title I model. Rather than pulling qualifying students out for academic interventions, this shift enables educators to take a strategic, holistic approach that benefits all students in the classroom, while also streamlining reporting, freeing up more time for instruction. Title I provides federal funding for academic supports to schools with 40 % lowincome families.
Reading Specialists will now provide tools and lessons to enhance learning for all students in the classroom, while still giving targeted individual help. Amy Fowler, Academic Coach at Marzolf Primary, shares,“ I really appreciate how a Whole-School model for Title 1 allows me to bring my reading supports into an entire class during their core reading instruction. When I co-teach with a homeroom teacher, we are able to make flexible decisions on ways to support young readers as they are constantly learning and growing. Our schedule allows our students to see reading interventionists right within their classroom and helps send the message that we are all working towards growth and that we are all a team.”
Dr. Brian Brown, Assistant Superintendent, notes,“ The thing I’ m most excited about is the flexibility we have now. We have students that have a real need for those services that might not qualify under the financial requirements of Title I. Now we’ re able to serve all students at Marzolf and Burchfield.” Reading Specialist Heather DeAngelo explains,“ We now have the opportunity to push into our incredible homeroom teacher’ s classrooms to help provide support during their Tier I foundational reading instruction. This collaboration will allow us to meet the needs of all students in their homerooms in order to truly target the specific skill needs during small group interventions. Our targeted intervention time now has more fluid groups when students can‘ enter and exit’ our instructional groups at different times based solely on skill needs and not strict guidelines.”
Lori Schultz, Reading Specialist, has already seen the new approach propel growth. She shares,“ The transition to Schoolwide Title I has allowed opportunities for the reading specialists to engage with all our Marzolf Primary students during their daily Core ELA instruction. The moment a student has a breakthrough with their reading skills, we can celebrate with them, and the moment corrective feedback needs to be given, we can be there to provide help. Specific immediate feedback is a critical component for students to acquire proficient literacy, and being present for every student during ELA time has been ideal.” haler area school district SHALER AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
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