Reading program is being considered

The program would require two teachers to take a course at OSU.
McDONALD -- The board of education learned about a reading program that could be instituted at Roosevelt Elementary to target first-graders who are behind their classmates.
Leslie McBane, a reading recovery teacher leader, told the board that Martha Justice is the reading leader at Roosevelt.
The program would require that two teachers be trained through a yearlong graduate course at Ohio State University at a cost of $6,725 to $8,125, depending on tuition and material costs. In subsequent years, the teachers would have to attend several updates at a total annual cost of $400.
Each teacher would be asked to give a three-year commitment because of the district's investment in their education.
The program would allow a short-term intervention for first-graders who are at the bottom of the class in reading. Each pupil would receive one-on-one daily 30-minute individual lessons in reading and writing. They would then return to their regular classrooms.
Two teachers share one class, and alternate between teaching the regular class and working with the pupils who are working below the level of their classmates.
Justice said that last year she had seven such pupils, although she is not formally trained under the master's program.
The board said it would discuss implementing the program.
Funding
McBane noted that funding for the teachers' education can be drawn from Reading Recovery and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, the nation's special education law.
The board also approved a revised edition of the district's Educational Technology Plan for 2006 through 2009. The plan must be updated every three years so the district can be eligible for Ohio SchoolNet funding, which provides updated computer software and hardware.