New school year brings new reading assessment interventions
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Curriculum coordinators at one school district said on Thursday that they would make numerous resources available to minimize the chances a student would have to repeat the third grade.
MSD Washington Township began giving the IREAD test to second-grade students last year, one year before lawmakers mandated it for all second-graders statewide. Elementary curriculum coordinator Rose Bobal said the early IREAD test provides a strong data point teachers can use to assess where a student needs extra help.
Education officials reported last year that roughly 1 in 5 Indiana third-graders can’t read at grade level. In response, state lawmakers this spring approved a raft of new rules governing the state’s literacy assessments, which take effect for this school year. All students now will take the IREAD exam in second grade instead of third grade. If a student does not pass the exam the first time, schools are required to offer summer reading courses. After taking the course, a student can take the exam a second time.
Interventions would continue if the student fails the reading test twice. If a student tries a third time during their third grade year and fails, they will have to repeat the third grade.
Bobal said any student who does not pass the IREAD test the first time will work with some of the district’s best teachers during summer intervention. They also will receive specialized coursework and undergo intensive small-group and one-on-one instruction. Additionally, the district offers a practice test if a student or their parent wants it.
“We believe in being proactive with our families, and so, from the beginning of the year, we are encouraging educators to have conversations with parents to share exactly how their student is performing within our reading foundational standards,” she said. “If their child is struggling in an area, they will know what is the academic plan that we put in place over the course of the year.”
Bobal said parents will be incorporated into lesson plans as well, such as encouraging them to read to their children at night.
Some school corporations, including Washington Township, have literacy coaches who work with teachers on their reading curriculum. Anat Pinsky, a literacy coach with MSD Washington Township, said during a summer reading intervention, she will work with teachers to design small-group interventions and, if necessary, individual interventions based on a student’s needs. For example, if a student is struggling with phonemic awareness, Pinsky would help design a lesson plan that specifically focused on the phonemes that are giving the student the most trouble. A phoneme is the smallest unit of speech distinguishing one word from another.
Not all students would be held back if they can’t pass the IREAD test. The law specifically exempts students with intellectual disabilities, English language learners who have received fewer than two years of instruction, and students who test at or above proficiency in math. Additionally, students would not be held back for more than one year.