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How Nevada is implementing the research findings in the National Research Council Report, "Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children."
Nevada has adopted rigorous content standards in English/language arts in conjunction with a strict system of accountability for the state?s public schools. Because of this, many of our schools have engaged in systemic reform efforts which address many of the research findings presented in the NRC Report. As part of the systemic reform effort, numerous schools have chosen to implement research-based models to address reading difficulties in the early grades. The two most popular models in Nevada are Reading Recovery and Success for All. More and more often, we see schools intervening at earlier stages in children?s education to prevent the reading problems that are plaguing so many of our youngsters.
McDermitt Combined School is a rural school on the Nevada-Oregon border which serves students K-12. The poverty rate at the school is 71%. Fifty-eight percent of the students are Native American while 26% are Hispanic. English language learners comprise 18.5% of the student body. Traditionally, McDermitt Combined School has had extremely low test scores on the state-mandated norm-referenced rest. Over the past year, however, under the direction of John Moddrell, a true education reformer and former Milken award winner, McDermitt has begun to make real strides in overcoming the challenges faced by its students. Last fall, the school implemented "Success for All." At the end of the year, the students had made phenomenal progress. As Principal Moddrell put it, "The only students now reading at the first-grade level in our school are first graders!" He also reports extremely high morale amongst his staff and highlights the fact that McDermitt School had no special education referrals for its elementary students during the 1997-98 school year. Currently the school is applying for funding under the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program in hopes of extending the gains made in literacy to its math curriculum.
John Moddrell, Principal
McDermitt Combined School
P.O. Box 98
McDermitt, NV 89421
(702) 532-8761
(702) 532-8017 Fax
[New Hampshire]