Intervening for success
Illiteracy dooms people to failure; literacy breeds success. This JMU professor helps schools learn how to intervene early to ensure students' success.
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JMU professor helps youngsters get the reading skills they need
By Harry Atwood (’87)
Allison Kretlow, JMU professor of education, works on helping students use RtI methods to become happy readers.
Often
schools with a substantial percentage of students who come from low
socio-economic backgrounds find themselves in an uphill battle to meet
educational objectives.
One
JMU professor tackled the problem head-on. Allison Kretlow teaches RtI in her
Specialized Reading Interventions EXED504 course. RtI, (Response to
Intervention) is a research-based reading instruction method. According to the
precepts of RtI, much of the deficits in reading abilities have more to do with
the methods of teaching instruction than with the innate abilities of the
students. Implementing research-based, best-practice methods in teaching
reading and focusing on the specific needs of each individual student is key to
success.
Fundamentals
of good reading instruction are not unique to RtI. What makes RtI different and
so effective is the strategy of diagnosing students early and often, and
determining how much support each student needs. A three-tiered method is then
employed based on each individual’s needs; students with the most needs are
provided with Tier 3 support, which includes more time providing intensive
support to smaller groups (usually one to three students) and more work with
the teacher.
When
one of Kretlow’s students, Rheannon Sorrells (’04, ’11M), asked her about
implementing the method at Ressie Jeffries Elementary School where Sorrells
taught first-grade, Kretlow was excited about the opportunity. Ressie Jeffries
has a good number of students who come from low socio-economic backgrounds. In
2008, 246 of the school’s 500 students tested below grade level in reading. In
2009 the school failed to meet Annual Yearly Progress — the benchmark by which
No Child Left Behind determines whether schools are classified as succeeding or
failing. And, Ressie’s principal, Lisa Rudacille, was actively exploring new
strategies for tackling the reading deficiencies at her school. Rudacille
jumped on the opportunity to harness some expert advice, and a partnership was
born.
Ressie
Jeffries’ implementation of RtI was in every sense a team effort. And the team
saw real results. Progress has been made at her school since Kretlow’s
introduction of RtI. Some grade levels have seen a 50 to 61 percent reduction
of students classified as Tier 3 readers. In fact, the work Kretlow did at
Ressie was so effective that Warren County school officials requested that she
help implement RtI in all five elementary schools. That process has already
begun as Kretlow and former Ressie principal Lisa Rudacille teach a Specialized
Reading Interventions course to 20 teachers, Title 1 reading coaches and
district instructional leaders in Warren County through JMU’s Outreach Center
through the College of Education.
Beyond
the strategies and statistics are youngsters who are getting the reading skills
they need. Even as they work through drills and boost their reading scores,
they’re not preoccupied with thoughts of future personal and professional
success. They’re happy to bask in the sheer joy that reading offers.
Learn more about the JMU College of Education at www.jmu.edu/coe/.
Read the full story in the Fall 2011 issue of Madison magazine.
