Reading Strategies

With what intervention materials does a student work?

Each Reading Strategies class has a certified teacher. Students practice in materials that address their specific area/s of literacy that are necessary to develop grade level achievement.  These materials focus on core reading skills within the major strands of reading: phonemic awareness and alphabetic, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.  Writing is used to reinforce and demonstrate thinking while reading.

Reading Strategies is a middle school period of academic reading Tier II and III intervention. The goal of this program is to accelerate students’ growth in reading to meet national and state grade level reading standards.

Students meet for a single period, during which they work on interventions that target their diagnosed need to improve their reading. Large and small group instruction and practice, as well as computer assisted independent learning and practice, are central to Reading Strategies.  Students are required to complete homework for each class period, in order to reach the number of minutes of reading practice for making adequate progress.

What determines a student’s need for reading interventions through Reading Strategies?

Students who fall below the district established performance minimums in both fluency (AIMSweb) and comprehension (MAP) or in only comprehension (MAP) are recommended for Reading Strategies.

How will parents learn if their child requires reading intervention through Reading Strategies?  Parents are contacted by the school principal or counselor to discuss a student’s need for the Reading Strategies reading intervention/s. 

When does Reading Strategies meet?  Students meet for Reading Strategies one period per day in lieu of foreign language for the time a student needs to reach standards in reading.  Once a student demonstrates that s/he can meet learner outcomes in reading, the student exits Reading Strategies at the end of first semester or the end of the year and enters a Transitional Spanish Class.

How will growth in reading be monitored and reported?

Students receive immediate feedback and track growth toward their intervention goal on a daily basis.  Besides intervention specific assessments, the AIMSweb R-CBM is administered at the beginning of the intervention and every week to two weeks depending upon the intensity of interventions needed, and MAP Reading is administered in the fall, winter, and spring. 

What indicators determine when a student can read at grade level and no longer requires reading intervention through Reading Strategies?  Students who perform at these levels are determined to be reading at or above grade level.  Monitoring student performance on class assessments and State tests is important for determining how well a student is transferring the reading skills and strategies to functional reading.