For the last five years, FE Miley Elementary Teachers have been working very hard to improve our Reading scores. It’s been a long process, but we have made huge gains and have some amazing data and scores we want to share with you. Before we get into all of our data, here is some background knowledge that will help you understand the data better. The model we based our interventions on is called the RTI model, and that means we put our students into three tiers, or categories. Tier 1 students are at the Benchmark level, meaning they are on track for learning and need no extra interventions. Tier 2 students are at a strategic level, and they need some extra interventions to get them to the Benchmark level. They receive regular instruction with the whole group of students and then they also get some extra one on one or small group time to work on the skills they need. Tier 3, the last tier, is called the intensive level and these students receive whole group instruction, small group instruction and then also targeted one on one instruction. In an RTI model the goal is 80% of students in Tier 1, 5-15% in Tier 2 and 5% in Tier 3.
We started this process five years ago by doing two things: first, we implemented a new Reading curriculum called Journeys. We received professional development on how best to instruct our students using this new program. We also began using ISIP, a computer-based testing platform that all students, K-8, use monthly. This gives the teachers data on exactly what pieces students are missing and where they need more help. These were our scores
in 2014 when we started: 43% of our students were Tier 1, 31% were Tier 2, and 26% were Tier 3. After 5 years and lots of work, our scores in September of this year were 71% in tier 1, 21% in tier 2, and 6% in tier 3. By January this year, our scores are 85% in tier 1, 9% tier 2, 5% tier 3. These gains are quite exciting! We continue to work on ways to improve our scores and to help our students find success in reading. Our goal now is to bring every student up to benchmark level.
