Implementation Description
In the 2021-22 school year, KIPP Gaston College Prep (KIPP Gaston) began implementing a three year Foundational Literacy Skills Initiative (FLSI) for all K-8 students. The school utilized a three prong approach including: research-based literacy professional development for teachers, new core and intervention curriculum for K-8 students, and a new school-wide assessment tool.
During the summer of 2021, all staff members participated in a full day training from Lit, which unraveled the science of reading and how these principles impact classroom instruction. The training highlighted the reasons the school was focusing on literacy and laid the foundation for understanding the “why” behind the newly purchased curriculum’s structure and instructional strategies. Specifically, the training emphasized the curriculum’s rationale for focusing on foundational skills, such as letter and sound recognition, as they support the overarching goal of fluency and comprehension for all readers. Due to the pandemic, this training was virtual, but teachers participated in small groups with their grade level colleagues.
The availability of NC ACCESS funds allowed the school to purchase Bookworms for their K-4 classrooms and HD Word curriculum for their 5th-8th graders. Representatives from each company led staff training to ensure teachers could effectively implement their grade level curriculum. Bookworms provided three days of training for each grade level. Additionally, their coaches traveled to the school three to four times during the school year to observe and provide feedback to teachers, which proved to be especially helpful.
To ensure an effective implementation, it was necessary to schedule dedicated instructional time each day to literacy. Therefore, school leadership modified the daily schedule to reflect this level of commitment. During this time, K-4 teachers work with small groups of students, about 8 per group. Middle school students participate in literacy instruction for 45 minutes each day in groups of 12-16 students. All content areas teachers were trained to implement the HD Word curriculum.
After securing good curricula, the appropriate next step is to ensure students are responding to the instruction through quality assessments. Therefore, the school invested in an assessment tool called Dibels. These assessments were administered three times during the school year, and teachers used the data to modify instructional strategies to address individual student needs.
Research shows students who are reading below grade level are at a higher risk for failing to complete high school (Casey Foundation, 2011). In order to meet this need, the school hired a reading interventionist before the school year began. She began her Hill Reading Achievement Program (HillRAP) training during a two week session in the summer of 2021 and received ongoing coaching throughout the school year. Once the school year began, KIPP Gaston used Dibels data to identify students who were reading two to three levels below grade level and to provide intensive interventions for those students. Utilizing HillRAP, a North Carolina based program, the interventionist provides targeted and specific instruction with small groups of 4-5 students each day. During the course of the year, between 20 and 40 students benefited from this program. Ongoing coaching through a partnership with Hillrap has proven to be essential to ensure all students are equipped to “read to learn”.
Results
The school-wide Dibels data demonstrated the success of the newly purchased core curriculum and the HillRap intervention. The data showed that 44% of K-4 students made Well Above Average or Above Average growth from the beginning of the year (BOY) to the middle of the year (MOY). Another 19% made Average/Expected growth. This is based on nationally normed data that takes into account students' starting levels and the anticipated growth. There are several standouts here. In one second grade class (Ms. Powell), more than 50% of students made Well Above Average Growth. In a third grade class (Ms. Ellis), 86% of students made Well Above Average or Above Average growth.
Sixty percent of third graders who started at the Well Below Benchmark level demonstrated Well Above Average or Above Average Growth.
By the fourth round of progress monitoring, 76% of K-4 students met the expected end of year benchmark.
In 7th grade, nearly 50% of students were At and Above Benchmark at the MOY. Additionally, the majority of students made significant progress and will likely meet benchmark standards with an additional year of consistent curriculum implementation.
Seventy-five percent of students receiving HillRAP instruction (including intervention, special education, and English Learner service delivery) made above average or higher growth from BOY to MOY on at least one targeted DIBELS probe.
100% of K-4 students identified as English Language Learners showed above average or higher growth on at least one probe. 86% of students with IEPs showed above average or higher growth on reading fluency.
One teacher commented, “The HillRap intervention program helped me to teach my students the skills they were missing that aren’t typical/consistently taught in general ed."
Challenges
Adoption of the new curriculum at the middle school level has proven to be more challenging than the elementary roll out for a couple of reasons. First, many middle school teachers were hesitant and felt a bit unprepared to teach literacy. Secondly, middle school teachers had less coaching available to them, so they needed additional school based coaching and support. Finally, student engagement was more challenging at the middle school level. However, with time and consistency, students adjusted to the classroom protocols and the curriculum’s structure.
Future Modifications
KIPP-Gaston will continue using both elementary and middle school curriculums next year with a few changes. They intend to expand the elementary curriculum as Bookworm adds materials for 5th grade. In addition, middle school teachers have requested more coaching and the opportunity to observe others as they implement these new strategies. School leaders will video teachers successfully implementing the strategies, so they can learn from one another and see the practices in action.
Critical Components
Getting Started
As with any large literacy initiative, it is critical to secure funding in order to provide training and purchase materials.
It was vital for school leadership to establish a supportive environment for teachers as they learned and implemented new curricula. The creation of the KIPP NC K-8 Literacy Blueprint helped develop common language and clear guidelines for implementation.
Ongoing Supports
As with any large literacy initiative, it is critical to secure funding in order to provide training and purchase materials.
It was vital for school leadership to establish a supportive environment for teachers as they learned and implemented new curricula. The creation of the KIPP NC K-8 Literacy Blueprint helped develop common language and clear guidelines for implementation.
Equity Connections
The school’s decision to focus on literacy instruction is especially impactful for the 60-70% of KIPP-Gaston’s student population that is considered educationally disadvantaged (ED). Research shows, “Students who have lived in poverty are three times more likely to drop out or fail to graduate on time than their more affluent peers; if they read poorly, too, the rate is six times greater…For black and Latino students, the combined effect of poverty and poor third grade reading skills makes the rate eight times greater” (Casey Foundation, 2011). Undoubtedly, the importance of developing educationally disadvantaged students into proficient readers is of the utmost importance as explicit, research-based literacy instruction can improve the trajectory for these students. (Butters, 2018)
Research
1. Annie E. Casey Foundation (April 8, 2011). “Students Who Don’t Read Well in Third Grade Are More Likely to Drop Out or Fail to Finish High School”. Accessed on June 1, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.aecf.org/blog/poverty-puts-struggling-readers-in-double-jeopardy-minorities-most-at-risk
2. Butters, H. (November 6, 2018). “Improving Reading Outcomes for Economically Disadvantaged Students”. Edutopia. Accessed June 7, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/improving-reading-outcomes-economically-disadvantaged-students
3. United States Census Bureau.” Quick Facts North Carolina”. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NC/PST045219
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