WARREN Reading program shows impact

Most of the pupils in the reading-help program come from low-income families.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A program for the city school district's disadvantaged pupils is helping to improve reading skills.
The Reading Recovery program targets first-graders in Trumbull, Mahoning, Geauga, Jefferson and Ashtabula counties. There are 350 children in the program each year, with 64 percent of them coming from the city of Warren.
Program coordinators gave a status report to school board members Tuesday.
The program provides 30-minute individual lessons each school day to those children deemed in need of extra help in reading. Sessions last from 12 to 20 weeks.
Leslie McBane, Reading Recovery teacher, said the program serves some of the most disadvantaged pupils in the area. Sixty-eight percent of the pupils in the program receive free or reduced lunches.
Marlene Pond, a consultant with the program, said teachers work with the pupils using a set of little books which progress in difficulty.
Results
A report of the program shows that 38 percent of the 351 pupils served in the 2001-'02 school year reached the average level of other pupils when they had finished the program. That's an increase of 4 percent from the previous school year. Twenty-seven percent were recommended for further action, down from 33 percent the previous year.
The program report suggests areas that need improvement, including teacher assignments and teacher experience. Teachers assigned to the program half-time didn't produce results as successful as those who weren't responsible for classroom instruction. "This seems to suggest that the dual role compromises strong Reading Recovery instruction," the report said.
Board members were pleased with the progress.
"This shows that our children do have the ability -- even the lowest of the low," said Lynn Gibson, board vice president. "People just have to believe in them."