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

Montana

Team Report

Montana is not yet implementing the research findings in a systematic way. Attending the Reading Summit will help us to organize and develop strategies for encouraging the implementation of findings. We will be sharing information on the NRC Report and the Reading Summit on October 2, 1998, at our annual Partners in Teaching and Learning Conference in Billings, Montana. Approximately 1,000 educators from across the state will attend. We also hope to interact with statewide committees currently working to revise Teacher Education Standards for use in colleges of education in the Montana university system. The research findings will also be referenced in the statewide implementation of the new K-12 Reading Content and Performance Standards which are being adopted by the State Board of Public Education this week.

A Montana Success Story

One success story is Cherry Valley Elementary School (Pre-K through Grade 4) in Polson, Montana. Their approach is organized around five broad areas including early intervention, professional development, school wide support and diversity of learners, family literacy, and linkages with preschool providers. Here are highlights of two of these:

Early Intervention: An extended day kindergarten is provided to give children many literacy opportunities in an active learning environment with an emphasis on language development and early literacy skills. Reading Recovery has been provided to first grade students for the past six years, and longitudinal data indicates that the vast majority of students who are exited from Reading Recovery maintain their reading achievement.

Professional Development: All faculty are members of "Core Learning Groups" that meet once a month to analyze and plan from student literacy assessment samples. In addition, there are week-long institute and ongoing study groups.

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