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Volume
1 Spring
2001 |
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CLI
in the News in Baltimore |
Baltimore,
Maryland
The Baltimore Sun:
December
25, 2000
R
E P O R T C A R D
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Early Literacy Seen as Key
Jump-start:
Franklin Square Elementary hopes pre-kindergarten
reading programs will help pupils improve in later
grades.
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Second
of seven parts.
By Erika Niedowski, Sun Staff
The children in Soray Harden's pre-kindergarten class
at Franklin Square Elementary School are only 4 years
old, but some of them are already reading.
"Hello Santa's friends," says Johnny Alvarez, using the
teacher's "magic wand" to point to each word on the blackboard.
"Today is thoughtful Thursday. We will read a book about
a big dog and a little dog."
At this West Baltimore school, where third-grade reading
scores on the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program
shot up almost 30 percentage points this year, school
officials see early childhood literacy as key to their
efforts to push reading achievement even higher.
Since last year, pre-kindergartners at Franklin Square
have been taking part in an early literacy program known
as the Children's Literacy Initiative, which aims to give
children - particularly from low-income backgrounds -
a jump-start on reading.
"Early literacy is the way," says Betty Morgan, chief
academic officer for the 98,282-student school district.
"We've got to have kids coming out of kindergarten reading
- certainly by the end of first grade. ...I can't wait
to see these kids that started with the pre-K literacy
[program] in two years." Since pilot-testing the Children's
Literacy Initiative three years ago in 14 schools, officials
have put it in place systemwide, and they say it's making
a difference.
During the past school year, the average score of the
1,500 city pupils in the CLI program on the Peabody Picture
Vocabulary Test rose more than 10 points to the national
norm.
Children also increased their knowledge of the alphabet
from 13 letters out of 54 - upper and lower cases and
two forms of "a" and "g" -to 40 letters, says Carla Ford,
head of the city's early childhood education program.
Now in its fourth year of a major reform effort, the Baltimore
school system continues to make steady progress in early
level reading, though its test scores remain far below
the state average and the state goal.
Citywide, third-graders increased their MSPAP reading
score 3 percentage points, to above 18, countering a 2-percentage-point
decline in the state average for third-graders. In the
spring, most children in almost all the city's elementaries
also showed improvement on the CTBS, or Comprehensive
Test of Basic Skills.
The most dramatic success on the CTBS was seen among Baltimore
first-graders, who increased their score by almost 20
percentage points from 1998. Now, more than 48 percent
of first-graders are reading at or above the national
average for their grade.
"That augurs well" for continued success, says Sam Stringfield,
a school board member and education researcher at the
Johns Hopkins University.
"Where you see failure [in later years] is kids who never
learned to read. ... That has to be the core thing: If
we don't teach them how to read, the other stuff isn't
going to work."
Two years ago, the city instituted a uniform phonics-based
reading curriculum in virtually every one of its more
than 120 elementary schools. Two new textbooks series
were adopted, including Open Court for kindergarten though
second grade and Houghton Mifflin for third through fifth
grade.
Before then, schools had been choosing their texts, resulting
in a patchwork of reading programs across the city.
"I'm convinced that in going to Open Court, the school
district made the right decision and that some of the
[test score] gains can be attributed to that choice,"
Stringfield says. "I'm also convinced that some of those
gains can be attributed to every kid having a book."
At Franklin Square, the teaching of phonics - the relationships
between letters and sounds - was nothing new.
"We've always had a phonics-based approach here," says
Principal Peggy B. Brown, who has been at the school 10
years. "We have a jump-start" on the rest of the city.
Since 1994, Franklin Square's grade three reading score
on the MSPAP has increased from 5 percent to 55 percent
of children performing at or above the satisfactory level
- well over the state average of 39 percent. That makes
it in the city's second-highest-scoring school in third-grade
reading, though the majority of its pupils come from low-income
families.
Though Franklin Square's fifth-grade reading score dropped
slightly this year, from 38 percent to 36 percent performing
satisfactorily, pupils have made enormous gains since
1993 - the first year the test was administered, when
less than 5 percent reached the satisfactory mark.
One factor that helps achievement on the MSPAP at Franklin
Square is the school's small size. With a population of
about 330 children, Franklin Square has two third-grade
classes, making it less likely that pupils will get lost
during classroom instruction.
Last year, children in all grades had a two-hour-and-15-minute
language arts block, says Beatrice Avery, Franklin Square's
reading and language arts specialist.
This year, the language arts period for grades three through
five will be three hours - an extended block that is becoming
more common systemwide.
The effort at Franklin Square, which includes summer reading
camps and after-school programs, also focuses on reading
comprehension and includes staff development.
Because many of the school's teachers have provisional
certification, meaning they have had no formal training
in education, the school spent a year training them in
phonics-based curriculum.
Third-year teacher Kristie Zelenze holds the Open Court
lesson book as she slowly writes words on the blackboard
in Room 102.
Scrap, scratch, stretch.
Splash, splatter, splinter.
March, crunch, fetch.
Her first-graders sound out the letters as she goes along.
"What could you eat that makes a crunch?" she asks.
"You could eat a cracker," replies one child.
"The program is excellent, says Brown, the principal.
"It's scripted, it's right there. Now, it's come time
for us to embellish the program a little bit."
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CLI
Receives the Great Friend to Kids Award |
Children's
Literacy Initiative was honored by Philadelphia's Please
Touch Museum as one of the Year 2000 recipients of the
Great Friend to Kids award. The award is given to individuals
and organizations with ties to the greater Philadelphia
area that have made outstanding contributions toward education
and enriching the lives of children. Other recipients
of the Fifth Annual Great Friend to Kids Award included
oncologists Guilio D'Angio, M.D., and Audrey E. Evans,
M.D., of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Harriet
Dichter, Director of Children's Policy for the City of
Philadelphia; and Michele M. Ridge, First Lady of the
Commonwealth.
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National
TV-Turnoff Week is April 23-29 |
For
the past five years, CLI has joined other organizations
such as the American Medical Association, the National
Education Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics,
the Congress of National Black Churches, the National
Head Start Association, and Physicians for Social Responsibility,
to endorse National TV-Turnoff Week. Our common belief
is that our national dependence on TV is unhealthy for
minds, bodies, families and communities.
"I find television very educating. Everytime
somebody turns on the
set, I go into the other
room and read a book."
---Groucho
Marx
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Each
year, we urge Americans to relish the opportunity to take
a week-long break from television and welcome the chance
to exercise,
read, and spend time with family and friends. Each year,
millions of people from every background and walk of life,
from age groups young and old, have participated in TV-Turnoff
Week.
Teachers and school administrators can use National TV-Turnoff
Week, which begins April 24, 2000, as a great morale booster
for students and schools. In Azusa, Georgia, principal
Jon Blickenstaff kissed a chicken when his students met
his challenge to be TV-Free for 1,000 hours. And Principal
Randy Postmus from Visalia, CA, had to make good on his
bet to students that he would sit on the roof for a day
if more than three-quarters of them made it though the
week TV-free.
U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher had the following to
say: "Use this week off from television as an opportunity
to exercise, enjoy the outdoors, visit with friends and
family, and participate in many of the other activities
which television time too often forces out. With Americans
spending an average of 40% of free-time watching television,
the negative effects of excessive TV-watching are taking
a serious toll: more than 2,000 studies link TV-violence
to real life violence; twelve major medical studies link
excessive TV watching to increased obesity; watching TV
10 or more hours a week negatively affects academic achievement;
more than half of 4-6 year-olds (54%) would rather watch
TV than be with their fathers; the average American spends
nine solid years watching TV by age 65."
He added that the practice of more reading and fewer TV
programs helps teachers fight the influence of excessive
television viewing and helps students acquire a deep and
long-lasting enjoyment of reading.
And remember: The average American spends more than 4
hours a day watching TV. People who do not watch TV have
an extra day each week that average TV watchers do not
have; at least 24 hours of freedom to do anything!
For information and resources that can help you manage
your kids' TV time, click here. National TV-Turnoff Week
www.tvturnoff.org
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The
Gallery: Children's Writing on Display |
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Please
click on any of the images below to enlarge. |
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Kindergarten
writing progress |
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A
Philadelphia
first grade assignment |
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Frogs
and tadpoles
are studied in this kindergarten Science Center |
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Pre-phonetic
writing by
a Newark pre-schooler |
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A
kindergartner's work |
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A
first grader
re-tells a story |
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