Increasing Students’ Access to Print at Home

Amy Evans

Van Buren Elementary: Cedar Rapids Schools

2009-2010

The purpose:

To design a system that increases access to print at home for all students attending Van Buren

- Iowa Standard #5: An educational leader promotes the success of all students by acting with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner.

To involve students, staff, and parents in the process to ensure sustainability of the system and a culture of readers. - Iowa Standard #2: An educational leader promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning.

A Little About Me Taught 12 years; 10 years in a Title I school Taught 8 years of summer school Married an avid reader and raising 3 readers

Van Buren Elementary School

About 400 PreK-5th grade students Title I, Reading First, and SINA school. Services about 70% Free/Reduced Contains Level I and Level II Special Education Highly qualified, highly motivated staff

Van Buren’s Plans School Improvement Plan:

During the 2009-2010 school year, Van Buren students will improve their comprehension skills….

SINA Plan

To reduce the achievement gap between the All with 33% not proficient in reading comprehension; students with IEP with 73% not proficient and 40% of Free and Reduced are not proficient

The Idea Began.. Attended Jo Robinson, Anita Archer, and

Richard Allington for Reading First in-services during the last two years.

Shared the same startling research on students’ access to print.

- Students in low SES houses have ½ book in their home versus middle SES houses where students have over 300.

Research Reported: Recent report by the Packard and MacArthur

Foundation found that the average child growing up in a middle class family has been exposed to 1,000 – 1,700 hours of one-on-one picture book reading time, the average child in a low-income family, in contrast, has only been exposed to 25 hours of one-on-one reading.

Children in low-income families have been exposed to over 1 million less words than their middle income classmates by the time they start kindergarten.

Further Research One-half of all adults in federal and state

correctional institutions cannot read or write at all.

60% of the kindergartners in neighborhoods where children did poorly in school did not own a single book.

Children from low-income families, on average, score 27 points below the mean reading level score for all students.

Food For Thought The National Research Council of 2000 stated that

most of the reading problems faced by today’s adolescents and adults are the result of problems that might have been avoided or resolved in their early childhood years.

The National Commission on Reading, 1985, stated that the single most significant factor influencing a child’s early educational success is an introduction to books and being read to at home.

More Food For Thought.. The most successful way to improve the reading

achievement of low-income children is to increase their access to print. Invest in Kids 2000

The results have indicated that those parents who received the Reach Out and Read intervention are 2-4 times more likely to choose book sharing as an activity.

Students that received 5 age-appropriate, high interest books over the summer showed a greater improvement on reading comprehension scores than students in traditional summer school programs. –Richard Allington

Book Bonanza Was Born November attend Richard Allington – why wait

for summer… let’s start now! Started designing a system and talking to other

schools to collect ideas. Discussed ideas with my principal and sent out 30

letters to local businesses asking for book drives or money donations.

Requested books from Van Buren staff and students

December/Winter Break Collected 1,000 books from staff, students, and

business book drives. Half-Price Books donated 2,500 books Money donated was used to purchase holiday

books Each student left for winter break with two books

to read. (800 books)

Parent Pre- Surveys Offered students free book at the initial bonanza

to return parent survey. 168/385 were returned: 44% “My child frequently chooses to read.” : 73% “We currently visit the public library at least

once a month.” : 27% Approximate number of books my child has at

home to read on their own: Average: 16 books

What does it look like?

Book Bonanza Evolved.. Twice monthly (total of 8) on Friday afternoons Four ways to get a book 1. $1 for each book ($$ shops first) 2. Exchange a book 3. Box Top for Education sheet ($1) 4. Teacher certificates –Target Students 4th/5th grade student ambassadors staff the

exchange and payment desks 3rd graders sticker books “Van Buren BB”

The Results… well have you ever been shopping the day after Thanksgiving?

To date 4,000 books have gone home!

300

369

271

527

492

365

349

533 15-Jan

29-Jan

12-Feb

Feb-29

19-Mar

9-Apr

22-Apr

7-May

Post-Surveys 100% of teacher surveys returned 49% of parent surveys returned (free book) 92% of student surveys returned

Question 1: Attendance 100% teachers 99% parents 99% students Question 2: Read their books 71% teachers 97% parents 93% students Question 3: Shows great enthusiasm for reading

82% teachers 97% parents 97% students

Asked “What Kinds of Books?” More non-fiction books (#1 answer of all 3 groups) Already a great selection (#2 answer of parent/teacher) Series books; Mystery/Scary; Cartoon characters Older chapter books

Asked “How could it be improved?” All three group agree on

what is needed! 1. More space or less kids

in the media center at one time.

2. More books especially non-fiction 3. More often

Several positive comments that it is great now.

The Next Steps Family Book Bonanza on May 20th

Fundraiser: Selling READ T-shirts

Every intention of sending each Van Buren student home this summer with 5 age-appropriate, high interest books

What I learned… Books are still valued and wanted by children Nothing can touch your heart like a child

hugging a book or being stopped in the hall to have a book talk.

Developing a system is time consuming, and every tweak seems to have a ripple effect.

Creating second-order change is complex and can conflict with prevailing values.