Third grade reading scores up in Wooster City Schools
After implementing a new literacy program, the fall third grade reading scores on the state mandated achievement tests are showing a marked improvement.
That was the message Wooster City School District Superintendent Michael Tefs shared with members of the board of education during their January meeting.
According to Tefs, since the passage of the Third Grade Guarantee 10 years ago, all third grade students across the state are required to take the Ohio Achievement Assessment reading test in October. This formative assessment is intended to provide educators with an early indication of the students’ readiness to pass the summative assessment in the spring in order to move on to fourth grade.
Tefs noted that when he first arrived in the district in 2008, only 54.7 percent of the students score proficient or above on the fall third grade reading assessment, placing Wooster dead last amongst the 10 school districts in Wayne County.
“We immediately initiated some corrections and that was our new literacy program. We started to see some impact on that immediately,” said Tefs.
In 2009, Wooster inched out of the bottom spot but scored 50 percent on the test, in large part due to the implementation gap that customarily occurs when a new curriculum is introduced.
But in the most recent round of testing conducted in the fall of 2010, 65.2 percent of the students scored proficient or above, placing Wooster seventh among its Wayne County counterparts, despite having the largest percentage of low income students in the county.
Tefs noted that of the 88 counties in Ohio, Wayne County is the “10th highest achieving county academically in this state so our home county is a great benchmark for us to challenge our school district.”
The district also exceeded the state average of 57 percent by a significant amount.
“This year we are at 65 percent and the state is at 57 percent. That puts us right around the ballpark of where I would expect us to be,” said Tefs. “We should be able, from a benchmarking perspective, to exceed the state’s average by about 10 percent. We have other data points to tell us that is an appropriate number.”
Looking to the future Tefs posed the question, “what number should we be?”
“We are at 65.2 percent. What number is doable? I honestly believe looking at other data points that we could hit 75 percent,” said Tefs, noting that would mean that the district would achieve a passing score in October, well before the final spring achievement tests.
Tefs was also pleased to see Wooster make substantial gains on a list of high achieving districts such as Jackson, Medina, Wadsworth and Southeast that “we would really like to challenge ourselves against.
“This is the first time that we have moved up so significantly on this list that we are beginning to champion districts that are our size and with the same type of variables that come into play for us with the free and reduced lunch population,” said Tefs.
He attributes the gains to a combination of the implementation of the new Literacy By Design reading curriculum and the district’s recent emphasis on early childhood development through the all-day every-day kindergarten and Littlest Generals Preschool programs.
“In the end, what’s important for us is early childhood education. That’s where we are placing our dollars to try to intervene early,” said Tefs.
“All in all I am very, very pleased with our third grade reading results,” said Tefs. “We still have a ways to go, but the arrows of student achievement are heading in the right direction.”
That was the message Wooster City School District Superintendent Michael Tefs shared with members of the board of education during their January meeting.
According to Tefs, since the passage of the Third Grade Guarantee 10 years ago, all third grade students across the state are required to take the Ohio Achievement Assessment reading test in October. This formative assessment is intended to provide educators with an early indication of the students’ readiness to pass the summative assessment in the spring in order to move on to fourth grade.
Tefs noted that when he first arrived in the district in 2008, only 54.7 percent of the students score proficient or above on the fall third grade reading assessment, placing Wooster dead last amongst the 10 school districts in Wayne County.
“We immediately initiated some corrections and that was our new literacy program. We started to see some impact on that immediately,” said Tefs.
In 2009, Wooster inched out of the bottom spot but scored 50 percent on the test, in large part due to the implementation gap that customarily occurs when a new curriculum is introduced.
But in the most recent round of testing conducted in the fall of 2010, 65.2 percent of the students scored proficient or above, placing Wooster seventh among its Wayne County counterparts, despite having the largest percentage of low income students in the county.
Tefs noted that of the 88 counties in Ohio, Wayne County is the “10th highest achieving county academically in this state so our home county is a great benchmark for us to challenge our school district.”
The district also exceeded the state average of 57 percent by a significant amount.
“This year we are at 65 percent and the state is at 57 percent. That puts us right around the ballpark of where I would expect us to be,” said Tefs. “We should be able, from a benchmarking perspective, to exceed the state’s average by about 10 percent. We have other data points to tell us that is an appropriate number.”
Looking to the future Tefs posed the question, “what number should we be?”
“We are at 65.2 percent. What number is doable? I honestly believe looking at other data points that we could hit 75 percent,” said Tefs, noting that would mean that the district would achieve a passing score in October, well before the final spring achievement tests.
Tefs was also pleased to see Wooster make substantial gains on a list of high achieving districts such as Jackson, Medina, Wadsworth and Southeast that “we would really like to challenge ourselves against.
“This is the first time that we have moved up so significantly on this list that we are beginning to champion districts that are our size and with the same type of variables that come into play for us with the free and reduced lunch population,” said Tefs.
He attributes the gains to a combination of the implementation of the new Literacy By Design reading curriculum and the district’s recent emphasis on early childhood development through the all-day every-day kindergarten and Littlest Generals Preschool programs.
“In the end, what’s important for us is early childhood education. That’s where we are placing our dollars to try to intervene early,” said Tefs.
“All in all I am very, very pleased with our third grade reading results,” said Tefs. “We still have a ways to go, but the arrows of student achievement are heading in the right direction.”
Published: February 9, 2011
