A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Florida

Team Report

Florida?s Initiatives on Reading

• Just Reads! Campaign -- public awareness campaign promoting family literacy
• Requirement that every state funded early education program provide 30 minutes of reading each day
• Competitive grants to local communities to support Reading Readiness programs for children ages 3 and 4 (maximum of $50,000).
• Sunrise Skill Builders, a publication provided to all new parents on what children should know and be able to do from birth to age 5 and where to get assistance in the community.

• $10,000,000 earmarked for specialized reading activities, including home-based reading
• Emphasizing reading skills and reading at grade level in grades one, two and three, requiring schools to provide enhanced instruction to students who end each grade reading below grade level and prohibiting the promotion of students who, after receiving remedial instruction, continue to lack sufficient reading skills.
• Sunshine State Standards -- statewide standards for what students should know and be able to do from PreK through grade 3. Significant professional development of teachers in these grades to align instructional strategies with the state?s standards, particularly in areas of reading comprehension, writing, and mathematics.
• Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) -- statewide assessment of reading, writing at grade 4 and math at grade 5.
• Identification of Critically Low Performing Schools in areas of reading, writing, and math. Require improvement in 3 years or significant restructuring may take place.

• School readiness grant to cross train early education professionals and kindergarten and first grade teachers to better communicate the expectations and skills that students should have developed in early education programs prior to entering kindergarten.
• Development of professional development opportunities for teachers using new technology, including CD-Rom and satellite teleconferencing.
• Colleges of Education have been required to incorporate into curriculum, instructional strategies to prepare future teachers to meet the needs of students who have English as a Second Language.

A Florida Success Story

Florida City Elementary was one of the schools originally identified as having critically low student performance in the Fall of 1995. Below is information the school reported as a summation of activities initiated and designed to improve student achievement and remove the school from the critically low-performing status. Florida City was successful in their efforts and in the fall of 1997 was removed from this status due to an increase in student scores.

Vital Signs and School Data

What happened differently in Florida City Elementary in the area of curriculum?

• Concentrated efforts on improving student attendance
• Emphasized the need for parental involvement
• Focused resources on third and fourth grade student achievement
• Specific grade-level plans were developed to improve writing skills
• Several new programs were initiated, including: family story nights, academic cheerleaders and a Read-A-Meal program

• The computer curriculum corporation (CCC) program facilitator motivated students to maintain scores that would guarantee positive gains in reading and mathematics.
• Various programs were implemented throughout the school year to promote these scores.
• Weekly course reports of student time on computers were implemented to assess individualized student gains.
• For the first time this school year, the students used the computers 20 minutes daily in reading and mathematics programs.
• Customized, interactive courses were delivered to students in grades 1-5 to remediate basic skills in these areas.
• SAT skills were correlated with CCC skills.
• Students were provided with writing prompts on a daily basis. Also, these prompts were interpreted and analyzed by students and teachers daily.

• The Reciprocal Reading program for grades 4 and 5 were implemented.
• At the beginning of the school year, an administrative challenge, motivational speech was delivered by the principal to promote students to score 3 or better on Florida Writes! At the end of the school year, those students were given a certificate of recognition and provided with a breakfast.
• Success for All -- Reading Adventures for integration of listening, writing, purpose, prediction and comprehension skills was implemented.
• Specific mathematics objectives -- district?s correlation of Addison Wesley text was implemented to focus on targeted skills.

• Teachers and staff were trained in management and computer use throughout the year. Third and fourth grade teachers had additional training in programs to enhance reading comprehension.
• A before-school computer motivational program was established. Students came before school to work on the computers.
• Resources were concentrated to target students in the third and fourth quartiles.
• Title I funds were available to hire personnel to identify and tutor those students who had difficulty achieving in mathematics and writing.
• Staff development workshops in mathematics, science, and writing were provided for teachers in school.
• After-school tutorial program for writing and mathematics was made available to students.
• Mathematics word problems were provided to all grade levels on a daily basis using the closed circuit television.
• A school-developed science test was implemented to increase school wide science instruction.

• Workshops provided for the Success for All and Math Wings, reading and mathematics programs developed by Johns Hopkins University
• Extensive training sessions in computer Curriculum Corporation?s SuccessMaker technology program upgraded the faculty?s expertise with enhanced software.

• In order to achieve our school objectives, strategies implemented this school year included: Success for All, Computer Curriculum Corporation, SuccessMaker Project, Addison Wesley correlation, POWR, staff development, and parental, community and student participation, in school-related activities. These strategies were designed for all students including limited English proficient and exceptional education students.
• The technology facilitator worked closely with all grade levels and staff to correlate the CCC software with Dade County curriculum.

• School wide priorities are reading comprehension, mathematics applications and the Florida Writes! Program.

During the 1997-1998 school year, Florida City Elementary School parents, community representatives and students will participate in voluntary school-related activities. Given school wide instruction using the Competency Based Curriculum, Success for All and the School-to-Work Initiative, our students will achieve in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. Also, the following strategies will be incorporated into lesson plans:

• Partner reading
• Emergent writing
• Partner check-ups
• Team building
• Ability grouping
• Story prediction
• Treasure hunter
• Active listening
• Pre-writing activities
• Partner and team editing
• STAR
• Peabody language development

These intervention strategies are for students who are in need of additional assistance:

• Off-line computer-generated worksheets will be provided for students.
• Strand isolation for identified weak skill areas.
• Reading comprehension, vocabulary development, writing skills, listening skills, and speaking experiences will be enhanced through the use of the literature-based program Reading Adventures.
• To generate CCC course, grouping, and gains reports monthly to monitor target gains.
• To expose students to literature portraying various careers as well as the experiences of community, state, and national leaders.
• To plan and provide staff development workshops based on specific needs which will improve teacher and staff efficiency.
• To continue to use Test Best, Text Ready and McCall-Crabbs to enhance students? test-taking skills and to provide a simulated testing environment.
• To develop a program called W.E. (Writing Expressions) that will provide students with monthly schoolwide prompts.

Strategies: Block scheduling; cooperative learning, heterogeneous grouping; incorporating state tested skills throughout all content areas (FCAT/HSCT); interdisciplinary instruction; mathematics across the curriculum; mathematics hands-on instruction; mentoring; multigrade level grouping; practice writing prompts, reading across the curriculum; student portfolios, student tutoring test-taking skills, thematic units; utilization of technology in the content areas; writing across the curriculum, other.

Programs: CIRC Writing; Competency Based curriculum; Early Prevention of School Failure; Family Math; How to Be A Better Test Taker; Math Superstars; Project STAR; Success for All, SuccessMaker, Test Best.

• Identifying areas of weakness in student achievement and focusing specific strategies for improvement
• Strict adherence to the Success for All reading program.

Strategies: Block scheduling; cooperative learning, heterogeneous grouping; incorporating state tested skills throughout all content areas (FCAT/HSCT); interdisciplinary instruction; mathematics across the curriculum; mathematics hands-on instruction; mentoring; multigrade level grouping; practice writing prompts, reading across the curriculum; student portfolios, student tutoring test-taking skills, thematic units; utilization of technology in the content areas.

Programs: CIRC Writing; Competency Based curriculum; Early Prevention of School Failure; Family Math; How to Be A Better Test Taker; Math Superstars; Project STAR; Success for All, SuccessMaker, Test Best.

• Named a model school for Success for All and the Computer Curriculum Corporation?s SuccessMaker Technology program.

• A number of faculty and staff members have retired and have been replaced by beginning teachers whose enthusiasm for our curriculum initiatives has been an asset to Florida City Elementary School.

Supplemental Funding/Resources

• All area grade-level chairpersons receive a supplement for the additional work required by this position.
• In addition to grade-level chairpersons, the Success for All facilitator, the CCC facilitator, the ESE chairperson and ESOL department chairperson, receive a supplement for the additional required work by these positions.

Other Important Information

• Our CCC consultant is analyzing the SuccessMaker program and pulling vocabulary and reading skills from the computer that are in the Success for All reading program and compiling them into a resource booklet for the teachers to use in the classroom to help the students during their 20-minute reading block on the computer. This will serve as a one-on-one tutor for the students needing it in reading. This will help students with the vocabulary and comprehension sections on the SAT.
• The Family Support Team, which is a major component of the Success for All program, played an essential part in keeping our attendance in the top 10% in the county and to provide our students with a school wide vision screening, providing students with eyeglasses and conducting home-visits by our parent outreach personnel.

For further information, contact:

Florida City Elementary
364 Northwest 6^th Avenue
Florida City, FL 33034-3216
(305) 247-4676

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