Case Studies

Case Studies

In celebration of GLR Week 2020, Read On Arizona hosted the webinar “Third Grade Reading Success: Decoding What Works and Planning for the New School Year”. The session was an engaging and informative discussion with experts from Read On Arizona’s Case Study Project who shared their strategies to accelerate early reading success and preparations to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 as schools plan for re-opening.

A recording of the virtual panel can be found here

Key Takeaways

  • Invest in ongoing quality literacy professional development.
  • Have high expectations for students!
  • Build strong relationships with students and families; strong collaboration between home and school is critical.
  • Poverty, teacher shortages, lack of access to early learning opportunites are challenges all of these schools faced and they made strides despite the obstacles.

Insights by Panelists:

  • “Technology does not replace the teacher, it is there to support the teacher but it is still the teacher that is the most important element.”
  • “Strong reading supports isn’t just what happens in the classroom, but across the school, across the community. Needs to be a community of learning focused on reading.”
  • “Need to ensure that teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators all have a deep knowledge of the science of reading, and clearly understand the process of learning to read and what effective literacy instruction looks like.”
  • “Effective core reading instruction is necessary, even more so during Covid-19. Just need to be creative in how it is delivered.”
  • “No one program is responsible for success. Everyone has a piece of responsibility for moving our students to success.”
  • “Share data to inform core instruction and target students for tutoring and interventions. Students should know their data. Bring parents into the data conversation…Make it a whole community approach.”

Panel Overview:

Panel Moderator:
  • Sean Ross, Deputy Associate Superintendent of Academic Standards, Arizona Department of Education
Panelists:

Wildflower Accelerated Academy, Avondale Elementary School District:

  • Araceli Montoya, Principal
  • Karla Brockman, 3rd Grade Teacher

Lincoln Elementary:

  • Angel Canto, Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum & Instruction, Nogales Unified School District

Roosevelt School, Yuma Elementary School District:

  • Sofia Ramirez, Principal
  • Alma Solis, 3rd Grade Teacher

Hosted by: Read On Arizona