GRAND ERIE DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD. Data Report - Levelled Literacy Intervention and Empower Reading

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1 D-2-d GRAND ERIE DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD TO: FROM: RE: John Forbeck, Director of Education & Secretary Brenda Blancher, Superintendent of Education Scott Sincerbox, Superintendent of Education Data Report - Levelled Literacy Intervention and Empower Reading DATE: May 11, 215 Recommended Action: It was moved by seconded by THAT the Grand Erie District School Board receive the Data Report - Levelled Literacy Intervention and Empower Reading as information. Background The Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and Empower Reading are small-group intervention programs for students who are meeting with challenges in the area of reading. LLI is a short-term, small-group, supplementary intervention designed to serve struggling readers in the early primary grades. The LLI program is designed to provide 14 to 2 weeks of daily intensive extra reading lessons that result in accelerated progress with flexible decision making about student entry and exit. The recommended group size is 3 to 4 students at a time to allow for close observations and differentiated response to student strengths and needs. The objective of LLI is to help students reduce the gap between their current instructional reading level and their expected instructional reading level. The instructional reading level is determined from written materials which the child can read with no more than one word-recognition error in approximately 2 words. The comprehension score should be 75 percent or more. The objective of LLI is to help students improve their reading level and reduce the gap between their current instructional reading level and their expected instructional reading level. End of Year Instructional Reading Levels Kindergarten Level 3 Grade 1 Level 18 Grade 2 Level 28 Grade 3 Level 38 LLI lessons include the following: A combination of reading, writing, phonics and word study Emphasis on comprehending strategies Attention to the features of nonfiction and fiction texts Specific work on sounds, letters, and words in activities designed to help children notice the details of written language and learn how words work Help for students in expanding their vocabularies Explicit teaching for fluent and phrased reading

2 D-2-d Data Report Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and Empower Page 2 Opportunities to write about reading to learn a variety of writing strategies Empower Reading is a year-long, small group intervention program designed to serve struggling readers in the late primary and early junior grades. Consisting of 11 lessons, of approximately one hour in length, Empower addresses, head-on, the core learning problems that prevent children with literacy difficulties from learning to read and spell. Students are taught five decoding strategies and are guided students to use these strategies effectively when independently reading for meaning, information, or pleasure. The five strategies, taught in sequence, are: Sounding Out (a phonological letter-sound decoding strategy) Rhyming (a word identification-by-analogy strategy)1 Peeling Off (a strategy for separating affixes in multi-syllabic words) Vowel Alert (a strategy for trying variable vowel pronunciations) SPY (a strategy for seeking familiar parts of unfamiliar words) Empower successfully reshapes learners maladaptive beliefs about learning and their own abilities, and builds intrinsic motivation for reading and learning. Additional Information As part of the focus on Early Primary Literacy under the Achievement section of the Grand Erie Multi-Year Plan, the Levelled Literacy Intervention Program (LLI) was implemented in our Compensatory Education and OFIP Schools in the fall of 211. Since that time other schools have chosen to purchase the resource. We now have 35 schools using LLI. Learning Resource teachers and all classroom teachers implementing LLI are provided with training to administer the program. The Data Report found on Appendix A, illustrates the progress of 2 students from Grades 1 to 3 currently involved in LLI. On average it is expected that a student should move 1 reading levels per year (about 1 level per month with some levels taking longer to achieve than others). The blue bars on the data report show the baseline reading level of students involved in LLI for each of Grades 1 to 3. The green bars show the improvement at the mid-intervention point which is approximately 7 to 1 weeks. For students in Grade 1, the LLI data shows that at the midpoint of intervention all students are working within the target range for Grade 1 some at an early Grade 1 level, some at a mid-grade 1 level and some moving towards the end of Grade 1 target. For Grade 2, the current data shows that all students are working within the range for Grade 2 with some students exceeding the yearend target. For students in LLI Grade 3, again the data shows all students working within the range for Grade 3 with many students approaching the year-end target of Level 38 and a few students exceeding the target. Empower was first introduced in seven of our high needs Compensatory Education Schools in the fall of 214. Learning Resource Teachers where chosen to administer the program and received extensive training from representatives from The Hospital for Sick Children. Key aspects of the training included: Scaffolded instruction Explicit teaching of prerequisite skills for successful strategy use Sequential and cumulative program delivery Emphasis on consolidation and mastery

3 D-2-d Data Report Levelled Literacy Intervention (LLI) and Empower Page 3 Modelling: Students are apprentices to an expert reader (initially the teacher, later students take turns as expert) Explicit teaching of self-monitoring and strategy evaluation skills Retraining of unproductive attitudes and beliefs about success and failure The target group for intervention was students who may have previously been involved in LLI or students in Grade 2 who were operating in the target range for Kindergarten to Grade 1 as identified by DRA. The data report illustrates the progress of the students currently involved in Empower. It should be noted that not all students were at the same point in the program when the data was captured. Regardless, at the mid-year point all students have demonstrated improvements in their reading levels. Observations and Key Findings Data clearly shows that both the Levelled Literacy Intervention and Empower are very effective intervention tools for struggling readers. The Green LLI kit starts at reading Level 3 and for students who are not approaching reading and understandings at Level 3 this intervention may not help them meet with success other interventions are required for this group of students Students who did not achieve as expected with this the LLI program may have other learning challenges that need to be addressed LLI is an effective method of identifying other learning needs early in the primary grades The learning needs of some students dictate that individual Empower lessons may require more than one session to complete. Teachers report that students are using the strategies learned in Empower in other areas of their learning Next Steps Continue to support all schools implementing the Levelled Literacy Intervention and Empower Reading Plan for tracking student progress after they have exited the LLI program Consider expanding Empower to other Grand Erie schools for September 215 Consider implementing Empower Paces in one Grand Erie secondary school for September 215 Respectfully submitted, Brenda Blancher, Superintendent of Education Scott Sincerbox Superintendent of Education

4 Appendix A Grade 1 LLI DRA Target: Level 18 by the end of Grade Grade 1 Students: Each bar represents one student Grade 2 LLI DRA Target: Level 28 by the end of Grade Grade 2 Students: Each bar represents one student

5 Appendix A Grade 3 LLI DRA Target: Level 38 by the end of Grade Grade 3 Students: Each bar represents one student Grade 2 Empower DRA Target: Level 28 by the end of Grade Grade 2 Students: Each bar represents one student Grade 3 Empower DRA Target: Level 38 by the end of Grade Grade 3 Students: Each bar represents one student