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

Indiana

Team Report

The Indiana Department of Education, as well as local school districts in the state, are using comprehensive research findings from a variety of sources, including the NRC Report, "Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children," to develop programs and initiatives that will help Hoosier first graders develop proficient reading skills. We have incorporated proven research in a range of areas including teacher certification standards, teacher professional development, and early intervention literacy program, development of state English language arts standards, alignment of standards with the state assessment test, and a class-reduction program for Grades K-3.

An Indiana Success Story

More than twenty-six statewide reading, literacy and education associations joined the Indiana Department of Education in promoting the 1997 Reading & Literacy Initiative for a Better Indiana, developed by Dr. Suellen Reed, state Superintendent of Public Instruction. This initiative, successfully enacted, focuses on program funding and instructional methods for early intervention reading programs (such as Reading Recovery) for Grades K-3, helping schools replenish their library materials, and the expansion of adult education services to meet the growing demand of all who are seeking those services. Two new grants were established by the Indiana General Assembly, an Early Intervention Reading Grant with an $8 million biennial appropriation, and a School Library Printed Materials Grant with a $4 million dollar appropriation. The adult education program appropriation also was increased by $2 million. Although these appropriation amounts are relatively modest, it is a new commitment on the part of our legislators and citizens to address the literacy needs of our state. As a result, new early intervention programs have been introduced in classrooms throughout Indiana; the purchase of new library materials has significantly increased as well as circulation rates; and waiting lists of adults seeking adult education services have declined.

A local success story can be found just minutes away from the State House and the offices of the Indiana Department of Education in the city of Indianapolis. The Warren Township Metropolitan School District has been a leading school district in the state with the implementation of the Reading Recovery program. Since the 1993-94 school year, and including the 1998-99 school year, this school district will have reached nearly 900 first grade students through Reading Recovery. Over the three school years prior to the implementation of this program, the school district experienced a retention rate average of approximately 8 percent and a special education referral rate of nearly 7 percent. Through Reading Recovery, retention rates have been reduced to 3.5 percent and special education referrals have dropped to 5.4 percent. Even more important, a vast majority of the students in Reading Recovery have sustained their reading improvements and have remained on par with the other students in the school system. Warren Township MSD is now sharing their expertise and knowledge by serving as a teacher training site for Reading Recovery. They are training teachers from 22 other school districts through financial assistance from the state. More than 100 districts have incorporated Reading Recovery as an instructional strategy for reading.

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