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

New Hampshire

Team Report

New Hampshire is focusing on high-quality classroom instruction in reading. The emphasis is greater due to the research findings in the NRC Report. On Tuesday, September 1, 1998, the State Board of Education approved the New Hampshire Long-Range Professional Development Plan. The plan includes the concept of assessing the results of professional development in terms of student achievement. The Department of Education has identified some schools that are especially successful in teaching reading to all children and that also document each child?s achievement in reading. Now, presentations are being arranged for these schools to share their programs with other interested schools.

Through Community Action Agencies, including the WIC program, NHReads/Americorps works to reach parents of preschool children to encourage them to read to their children and increase their language development through related activities.

A New Hampshire Success Story

The White Mountains Regional School District uses the high-quality, on-going professional development of Reading Recovery to enhance the skills of teachers in providing reading instruction. For three years, a Reading Recovery teacher provides supplementary, intensive instruction for children at risk. Then the school district moves this highly trained teacher into a primary classroom, as appropriate. The effort has also included a year-long class for other classroom teachers taught by the Reading Recovery teacher leader and a classroom teacher. Upon individual testing of children in later grades, the district has found that virtually all children are reading at or above grade level, except for a few students who are severely educationally disabled.

For further information, contact:

Margaret Paddock
SAU #36
16 Highland St.
Whitefield, NH 03598-1098
(603) 837-9363
(603) 837-2326 Fax
E-mail: jgaylord@sau36.org

State Commitment Form

State: New Hampshire
Team Leader: Helen Schotanus
Phone Number: 603-271-3841

As a result of attending this Summit, what two things does your state team commit to doing in the next six months toward enhanced literacy for children and their families?

1. Develop and introduce legislation which looks at family literacy at the earliest stages.
2. Coordinate a conversation among teacher preparation programs and the Council for Teacher Education to focus on early literacy development as a foundation of pre-service teacher preparation.

1. Develop the most succinct and impressive summary of PRD to use with legislators.
2. Prepare a series of videos to show a child's development through the years from age 4 to third grade.
3. Bring this team back to Washington for follow-up in a year.

[Nevada]

[New Jersey]