Transcript Slide 1

Why Third Grade Reading Level Matters in Tulsa and
Oklahoma
Presentation to P-20 Council
Prepared by: Diama Norris
Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Original Research Context
 Understand the Annie E. Casey Report “Why
Reading at the end of 3rd Grade Matters”
 Understand CAP’s current reading results and
efforts
 Understand what Tulsa and the State are doing to
address reading readiness
 Formulate ideas on how CAP fits and what we and
partners can do
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Key Takeaways
 3rd grade reading results are an effective predictor of
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what will happen in the rest of a student’s career
Current OK reading results point to significant troubles
ahead
Data shows a significant gap in results based on
language and income
CAP is making more efforts in pre-literacy so children
enter kindergarten ready to read
There are promising local efforts on reading based in
the schools and public library system but more needs
to be done
Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Why is this important?
 Up to half of the printed 4th grade curriculum is incomprehensible to
students reading below grade-level. (Children’s Reading Foundation)
 75% of students who are poor readers in third grade will remain poor
readers in high schools. (Yale University Study)
 National Research Council asserts that academic success by the end of
high school can be reasonably inferred by someone’s reading skill by the
end of third grade. A person who is not a “modestly” skilled reader by the
end of third grade will likely not graduate from high school.
 Demographic realities: 7.9 million low-income children from birth to age
8 in the U.S. If current trends hold true, 83% or 6.6 million children are at
an increased risk for dropping out of high school. - Annie E. Casey
Foundation
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Currently, more than 40 percent of TPS third
graders can't keep up with their reading course
work. Half of sixth-graders are falling behind in
reading and almost half of seventh graders missed
the mark.
TPS students scored 1060 out of 1500 in reading on
the Academic Performance Index.
News on 6 December 13, 2010
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Literacy Statistics Across the
Age Continuum
 43% of Oklahomans (more than one million) have below basic or
basic prose literacy skills, and are unable to perform more than
simple, everyday literacy activities. (NAAL, 2003)
 A mother's literacy level is one of the most significant predictors of a
child's future literacy - more significant than income level and
employment status. (National Institutes of Health, 2010)
 More than 17 percent of Oklahoma’s college freshmen must begin
with non-credit remedial English coursework, and nearly one third
cannot expect to make a grade of “C” or better in a regular English
course. (Oklahoma Regent for Higher Education, 2010)
 Children of adults who participate in literacy programs improve their
grades and test scores, improve their reading skills, have improved
attendance records and are less likely to drop out of school (National
Institute for Literacy- NIFL).
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
NAEP Test
 There is currently no consistent, commonly accepted and
applied understanding of what “reading proficiency” means.
 The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test
is given at the beginning of fourth grade, so it tests what a child
has learned by the end of third grade and over the intervening
summer.
 Many states have lowered the pass score to ensure that their
students are meeting NCLB’s requirement for adequate yearly
progress.
 Each state is left to set its own standard and uses its own test to
measure proficiency. No state has set its bar to meet or exceed
NAEP’s “proficient” standard.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
NAEP Test Levels
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Basic
Fourth-grade students performing at the Basic level locate relevant information,
make simple inferences, and use their understanding of the text to identify details
that support a given interpretation or conclusion. Students interpret the meaning
of a word as it is used in the text.
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Proficient
Fourth-grade students performing at the Proficient level integrate and interpret
texts and apply their understanding of the text to draw conclusions and make
evaluations.
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Advanced
Fourth-grade students performing at the Advanced level make complex
inferences and construct and support their inferential understanding of the text.
Students apply their understanding of a text to make and support a judgment.
Community Action Project of Tulsa County
OK NAEP Results (2009)
 35% of OK 4th graders are “below basic” (16th
worst)
 72% are “below proficient” (10th worst)
 Nationally, only 15% are proficient and 49% are
below basic.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
NAEP scale equivalents of state grade 4 reading
standards for proficient performance, by state: 2009
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National Center for Education Statistics
Community Action Project of Tulsa County
What does this mean for low-income
students?
 Shortfall in reading proficiency is especially
pronounced among low-income families.
 In 2009, fully 85% of low income students
attending high-poverty schools failed to reach the
proficient level.
 49% of all low-income test takers in fourth grade
and 53% of those attending high poverty schools
did not reach NAEP’s basic level.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Percent of 4th graders scoring below proficient and
below basic on NAEP reading test, by family income and
race/ethnicity: 2009 National Results
BELOW PROFICIENT
BELOW BASIC
RACE/ETHNICITY
ALL
STUDENTS
LOWINCOME
STUDENTS
MOD-HIGH
INCOME
STUDENTS
ALL
STUDENTS
LOWINCOME
STUDENTS
MODERATEAND HIGH
INCOME
STUDENTS
Total
67
83
55
33
49
20
White
58
76
52
22
38
17
Black
84
89
74
52
58
38
Hispanic
83
87
72
51
56
36
Asian/Pacific
Islander
51
70
43
20
35
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American Indian
80
85
69
50
59
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Source: NAEP Data Explorer
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
AEC Factors undermining grade-level
proficiency
 Factor 1: Low birth weight from premature birth.
 Factor 2: Readiness gap continues between birth and kindergarten.
 Factor 3: Higher incidence of health problems.
 Factor 4: Lack of early interactions to foster linguistic development.
 Factor 5: Low-income children less likely to participate in high quality
early childhood programs.
 Factor 6: Readiness gap over times turns into an achievement gap as
students enter school.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
3 Main Challenges
 School readiness – too many young children
show up to school not ready to learn.
 School attendance – too many children in
grades k-3 miss too many days due to illness
and other compounding factors as well as in the
summer
 Summer learning loss – too many children in the
early grades lose ground over the summer
months
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
3 Main Challenges Facts
 As early as 18 months, low-income children begin to fall
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behind in vocabulary development and other skills
critical to success.
Research shows that by age 3 children in more talkative
families will have heard 30 million more words than
children in less talkative families – a 30 million word gap!
1 in 10 kindergartners miss nearly a month of school
every year.
While most middle-class students learn to read at home,
low-income kids more often need school for this.
Literacy lesson are front-loaded in kindergarten and 3rd
grade.
While middle-income students tend to gain reading
skills over the summer, research has shown that lowincome kids lose more than 2 months worth during the
elementary years.
Community Action Project of Tulsa County
State Efforts
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Oklahoma Reading Sufficiency Act
 On July 7, 2005 the Oklahoma State Board of Education (SBE)
approved screening assessments for use with the Reading
Sufficiency Act.
 Reading Goal: The reading goal for Oklahoma public
schools is as follows: By July 1, 2008, and each year
thereafter, all third grade students will read at or above
grade level by the end of their third grade year.
 Each public elementary school shall determine its baseline
not later than September 1, 2005, which shall be the
percentage of students scoring satisfactory or above on the
third grade criterion referenced test in reading. (Oklahoma
Senate Bill 996)
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Social Promotion Law
 Governor Mary Fallin signed Senate Bill 346, the
Reading Sufficiency Act on May 4, 2011.
 This Act requires school districts to identify
students who are not prepared for grade-level
reading, provide additional services to these
students, retain the students who fail to meet
reading standards in the third grade, and
increase reporting to parents and the public.
 The Act takes effect for first graders in the 20112 school year.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Driven to Read
47 O.S. § 6-107.3 (Eighth – Twelfth Grade) - According to
Oklahoma law, any person under the age of eighteen (18) years
wishing to apply for a driver license or permit must be regularly
attending school, and successfully reading at the eighth grade
level. Persons under the age of eighteen applying for a license or
permit must meet one of the following criteria. They must have a
Department of Public Safety form available at and completed by
their local high school to verify eligibility.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Higher Education Reading
Requirements
 70 O.S. § 1210.508F, Sections C-D (Postsecondary) -
Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, all
institutions with The Oklahoma State System of Higher
Education that offer elementary, early childhood
education, or special education programs approved by
the Oklahoma Commission for Teacher Preparation
shall incorporate into those programs the requirement
that teacher candidates study the five elements of
reading instruction which are phonemic awareness,
phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary, and
comprehension.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Common Core Standards Adoption
 The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort
coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for
Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School
Officers (CCSSO). The standards were developed in collaboration
with teachers, school administrators, and experts, to provide a
clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for
college and the workforce.
 The focus is on English Language Arts and Mathematics.
 Oklahoma adopted the national Common Core Standards in 2010.
 Oklahoma also has early learning guidelines that give all early
learning programs a clear set of expectations and aling with the
Common Core Standards for kindergarten and above.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
State Literacy Team
The State Literacy Team is composed of representatives from the following Oklahoma
State Department of Education‘s (OSDE) departments:
 Standards and Curriculum
 Special education and RtI Specialist,
 Early Childhood Education
 Titles I and IIA Reading Specialists
 Professional Services
Members also include:
 District practitioners including Reading Coaches and Federal Programs Directors
 Sooner Start Early Interventionist
 College of Education professors,
 Community organizations for early learning
 Literacy Technical Assistance Coordinator from Comprehensive Center
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
State Literacy Plan
The purpose of the plan is to assist stakeholders in
intervening early and preparing students to be
work and college ready. An important emphasis of
the plan is to provide professional development to
teachers so that they are equipped with researchproven strategies that improve student literacy
proficiency.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Local Efforts
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Tulsa Public Schools
 $400,000+ on a summer reading program
 $600,000+ through the reading sufficiency grant,
 $8,000 on proficiency,
 $1.3 million on the Reading First program, and
another
 $640,000 on literacy and school libraries.
 TPS has at least five state and federal grants
targeting reading.
 District employs 16 reading specialists
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Tulsa Public Schools
 TPS is currently working on a new district-wide
literacy plan.
 Tulsa Reads Millions - is a district-wide reading
initiative designed to promote literacy by
challenging every member of the Tulsa Public
Schools community to read at least a million words
each year.
 Partnership with summer reading library program
as well as other reading initiatives.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
CAP DATA
• GOLD - our curriculum and assessment system has a
Literacy component. Our activities in the classroom are
aligned with those Literacy objectives in mind.
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Teaching Strategies GOLD
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All CAP children are assessed by their teachers
CAP is in its first year of implementing this assessment
Teaching Strategies determined “widely-held expectations” for each
age group through review of the research
CAP’s performance measure is the percent of children scoring within
widely-held expectations or above on all objectives and dimensions
Community Action Project of Tulsa County
TS GOLD Performance in 2010-11
Performance of 4-year olds
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The percent of children who met widely-held expectations on all
objectives varies across classrooms (30%-100%)
61% met widely held expectations for literacy in Winter, up from 56% in
the Fall
Results were better for children who were CAP 3-year olds
Performance of 3-year olds
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The percent of children who met widely-held expectations on all
objectives varies across classrooms
66% met widely held expectations for literacy in Winter, up from
46% in the Fall
Literacy is lowest domain in GOLD scores for 3 year olds
Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Reach out and Read (6 months -5
years)
 This program promotes early literacy and school
readiness during well-child visits by giving new books
to children and advice to parents about
the importance of reading aloud.
• Reach Out and Read is available in 50 clinics statewide
and is serving young children and their families
through 18,000 well-child visits per year across the
state.
• In Tulsa: Educare, East Central Village, Rosa Park
Elementary, Roy Clark Elementary, Marshall
Elementary, Sand Springs early childhood center, and
Mark Twain Elementary.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Library Programs
 Summer Reading -serves 36,000 children a year – birth-5th
grade – requires minimum of 4 trips to the library. Summer
is reading program is 10 weeks and approximately 720
programs are offered during those weeks collectively
among the entire system. TCCL has one of the largest
programs in the country and has been modeled in several
major cities.
 Books to Treasure – is a program specifically designed to
reach 2nd graders. Launched 9 years ago to address every
2nd grader in the county. 2nd graders are targeted because
this is seen as a pivotal point on whether they will become
lifelong readers. Student in 2nd grade make the transition
from picture books to narrative books.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Library Programs (Birth-5)
 Reading Roadshow – mini-bookmobile outreach program geared
towards birth-5. It mainly goes to daycares and early childhood
sites in underserved areas.
 Tuesday Tales -held at CAP ECP sites which is storytime designed
for birth-5 and focuses on the six literacy skills: Vocabulary
Knowing the names of things; Print Motivation A child's interest in
and enjoyment of books; Print Awareness Noticing print
everywhere; knowing how to handle a book; knowing how we
follow the words on a page.; Narrative Skills The ability to
describe things and events and tell stories; Letter Knowledge
Knowing that letters have names and are different from each other,
and that specific sounds go with specific letters; Phonological
Awareness The ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds in
words.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Library GKFF Grant
 2007-2009, Tulsa City-County Library received a
grant to be administered to a local library who
could form a true collaborative partnership with a
neighborhood school within walking proximity.
The grant was originally for a year and proved a
success. Activities included a printed scavenger
hunt that would teach literacy and research
schools; story times and classroom visits;
professional materials for teachers and collection
development; an author visit; and books to keep.
Deemed a tremendous success.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Tulsa Early Development
Instrument Pilot
 The EDI is
 Population-based (no individual results)
 Teacher-administered (no child involvement or
use of class time)
 K-level (first full assessment under grade 3),and
 Multi-domain (not just “academics”)
 Tulsa Pilot
 Sand Springs, Tulsa, Union Public Schools, TA
United Way, CAP
 75 teachers in 19 schools completed EDIs for
approx. 1,600 students
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Next Steps
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Notes
 Definitions: Fourth grade public school students’ reading achievement levels, as
measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
reading test. For a more detailed description of achievement levels
see: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/Reading/achieveall.asp. Public schools
include charter schools and exclude Bureau of Indian Education schools and
Department of Defense Education Activity schools.
 Data Sources:
◦ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Available online at
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/.
◦ Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT DATA
 Mapping: Maps use the natural break classification method, which reflects
patterns in the data by dividing the map into naturally occurring groups. Using
statistical tools, this method determines cut-off points for each group by identifying
large gaps in data values.
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Community Action Project of Tulsa County
Sources
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A KIDS COUNT Special Report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation: Early Warning! Why
Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters
Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto the NAEP Scales: Variation and Change in State
Standards for Reading and Mathematics, 2005–2009
TCCL Interview– Emily Tichenor, Children’s Coordinator
CAP Interview –Cindy Decker, Senior Research Associate
University of Oklahoma Early Reading First: What we are learning. Priscilla Griffith.
Lucy Trautman, Literacy Technical Assistance Coordinator
State of Oklahoma Draft Literacy Plan
http://www.sde.state.ok.us/Curriculum/CurriculumDiv/Reading/pdf/CompLitPlan.pdf
Smart Start Oklahoma –Literacy and Health Statistics
http://www.newson6.com/story/13681455/tps-reading-program?redirected=true
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=331&articleid=20110328_19_A13_Sm
usra377135&archive=yes
Common Core Standards
http://www.corestandards.org/
Community Action Project of Tulsa County