Test scores up at Colorado school after grants received, Renaissance implemented
Columbine Elementary School principal Ron Pflug and his fellow staff members really liked what they saw when some of their teachers began using Accelerated Reader (AR) during the 1999–2000 school year. The gains in student achievement were clearly evident with the use AR, and because of that Pflug wanted to implement the Renaissance program schoolwide. However, at that time the school didn’t have the funds to support schoolwide implementation, and that’s when Pflug, his staff, and parents decided to apply for grants to help their cause.
Over the past three years, the school has garnered over $242,000 in grant money, about $71,300 of which has been used to pay for Renaissance Learning products, training, and support materials, including the schoolwide implementation of AR and Accelerated Math.
“As we researched possible programs, we looked at several options and decided on schoolwide implementation of AR, because of its research base, and because teachers already using the program were pleased with it,” says Pflug.
During the 2000–2001 school year, Columbine received $138,000 through a Read To Achieve grant, $37,000 of which went to Renaissance Learning products, training, and support. The following year, the school received $79,709 through a Comprehensive School Reform grant—$24,300 going to Renaissance Learning products, training, and support. If the school receives funding in years two and three through this grant, they plan to purchase additional Renaissance Learning products, including Fluent Reader and Accelerated Vocabulary.
Also during the 2001-2002 school year, Columbine received a $25,000, one-year Improving Literacy Through Libraries grant, of which $10,000 was spent on AR books and quizzes.
Located in Fort Morgan, Colo., there are approximately 320 students at Columbine Elementary School in grades 1–4. Approximately 60 percent Hispanic, 40 percent Anglo student population, and approximately 61 percent on free or reduced lunches. According to Pflug, a high number of students at Columbine are at risk of school failure due to poverty, lack of experiences, and second-language concerns, which is part of the reason why Renaissance was brought on board at the school.
“We want to improve achievement for all children at this school, which is consistent with the No Child Left Behind Act,” says Pflug. “The benefits of AR and Accelerated Math apply to all students—we are seeing fewer students score at the unsatisfactory level, and we are seeing increases in achievement with all student populations.”
Since the implementation of AR schoolwide, student achievement on the reading portion of the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) exam has improved significantly. In 1999, 36 percent of third-grade Hispanic students at the school scored proficient or advanced, while in 2002 60 percent of Hispanic students scored proficient of advanced. Fifty-four percent of the third-grade Anglo students at Columbine scored proficient or advanced in 1999, while 84 percent were at that mark in 2002.
Fourth grade scores on the reading portion of the CSAP have also increased, as 39 percent of the fourth-grade students scored proficient or above on the CSAP exam in 1999, while 54 percent were proficient or above in 2002.
And the gain in academic achievement hasn’t gone unnoticed, as Columbine Elementary School’s recent test score increases played a big role in the school receiving a “Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award” for the 2001–2002 school year.
$25,000 grant helps teachers personalize instruction
Mike Dover, Director of Special Education for the Lebanon Special School District (LSSD) in Lebanon, Tenn., wanted to find a way to extend the benefits of Reading Renaissance’s personalized instruction to students with special needs.
With input from librarians, media specialists, and general education and special education teachers from the district’s five schools, Dover applied for a Tennessee State Department of Education’s Sliver Grant Award. Sliver funds help districts improve test scores for children with disabilities.
The grant monies allowed for more books and more technology at each school site, says Lynn Cable, education specialist for the district. “Through this grant we have been able to purchase a new computer and printer for each special education teacher,” she says.
The effort was a success and in fall 2001, the district received a $25,000 Sliver award.
The goal was to use funds from the grant to support the LSSD co-teaching philosophy of inclusion, says Cable.
The award also allowed the district to purchase additional high-interest/low-level books for each classroom, which helped special needs students participate in Reading Renaissance activities and enabled teachers to personalize instruction.
$30,000 grant expands library computer power
The Big Sandy School District in Dallardsville, Texas, recently received a $30,000 grant from the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board (TIF) of the state of Texas.
The state agency says in a news release, “With this funding from TIF, the Big Sandy district is increasing its opportunity to enhance its existing access to the Texas Library Connection resources for teachers and students. The $30,000 grant will assist the district in building technology infrastructure to support TLC.”
The grant allows the Big Sandy library to add 10 computer workstations, update the Spectrum circulation system, offer faster Internet access and provide staff training. Librarian Ava Brown notes, “While all AR quizzes are administered in classrooms under the supervision of teachers, we will have more workstations in the library to provide for faster searches for titles, AR BookGuide access, Internet searches and other research.”
The TIF release adds, “Training is also a significant aspect of this initiative. The district had to address how students and teachers would learn to effectively use the new resources that will be brought into the library.”
Darrell Myers, superintendent, says, “This grant will provide funding for the technology that will add to the already invaluable resources the library has. Our goal is to offer our students the most positive learning environment possible. We also want to provide our students with the access and opportunities through technology that those in larger districts have.”
Librarian Brown and Technology Director Susan Crawford are excited about the addition of the new technologies at Big Sandy.
Since its creation by the 74th State Legislature in 1995, TIF has awarded approximately $1.2 billion in telecommunications infrastructure grants to its four constituent groups: public schools, libraries, institutions of higher education, and public, not-for-profit healthcare facilities.
$8,000 in grants helps Ohio school with implementation of Reading Renaissance
About four years ago, Marjorie Mills, first-grade teacher at Tri-County North Elementary School in Lewisburg, Ohio, was looking for a way to help her school implement Reading Renaissance, so she applied for a school-improvement grant through the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation. Just before the start of the 1998–1999 school year, the Tri-County North staff received word that the grant application had been approved, and by October of that school year, the school was up and running.
“We received $4,000 through the grant, and that was enough to get us started with Accelerated Reader,” says Mills.
But Mills didn’t stop with the Martha Holden Jennings Grant. In the summer of 2001, she applied for a $4,000 IT-based School Net Grant, which was approved in the fall of that year. With the School Net Grant, she was able to obtain over 300 AR books for her classroom alone, and over 600 books total.
Since receiving the first grant in 1998, Reading Renaissance has been an “integral” part of Mills’ classroom instruction. With STAR Early Literacy and AR, Mills says she’s never seen the reading growth she’s seen over the past few years with her first-grade students.
“With Reading Renaissance, I’ve never had so many first graders read this many books in my life; almost all of my students had achieved independent reading status by the end of last year,” says Mills. “The beauty of Accelerated Reader and Reading Renaissance is that every student reads at their own level, and they can be successful there.”
New Hampshire school wins $150,000 CSRD grant to implement Renaissance
Jane Fargo has been an educator for 15 years. When she became principal of Epsom Central Elementary School in Epsom, N.H., in 2001-2002, she was eager to bring Reading Renaissance on board. In less than a year, she had secured a Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) grant to accomplish this goal.
The grant of $50,000 yearly for three years will be spent on Reading Renaissance professional development and products.
Fargo notes that in New Hampshire, "many schools have bits and pieces of the program. Our goal is to become the first Master School in the state."
In addition to on-site training for the entire staff, Epsom Central's School Renaissance school improvement process includes Accelerated Reader (AR) textbook quizzes that support both the Rigby and Houghton-Mifflin textbook series. "The AR textbook quizzes will support what teachers are already using in the classroom," says Fargo. Since the textbooks were chosen to align with state standards, AR textbook quizzes will help teachers prepare their students for the state high-stakes tests.
"And the program provides a quantitative means to track growth," adds Fargo. "All our teachers are eager to improve literacy with this scientifically proven program," she concludes. "We want to share it with parents and get families more involved. Next year will be very exciting. And within five years don't be surprised to see a New Hampshire teacher giving a presentation at a Renaissance conference."
Students apply for grant to get more books
Shortly after Green Mountain School in Woodland, Wash., introduced Reading Renaissance in 1999, library books began to fly off the shelves. "Students were continually asking for new choices of Accelerated Reader (AR) titles," says Janet Syring, technical coordinator for the school. "But we did not have enough books to keep up with the demand."
That’s when the school’s Leadership 4 U Team (12 students in grades 5–8) decided to submit an application for a Southwest Washington Initiative Forward Thrust (SWIFT) grant for the purchase of additional books for the library.
"With the SWIFT funds, we will now be able to purchase 500 AR titles for the school," explains Syring. "We will also order the quizzes that go with the titles so that students can continue to make reading progress."
The SWIFT funds will also provide training for Leadership Team student mentors. In this peer-tutoring program, leadership students give up their half-hour lunch recess to read with younger students. "The younger students benefit from having a reading partner, and the mentors gain leadership skills and mentoring experience," explains Syring.
Green Mountain teachers have embraced Reading Renaissance enthusiastically. "Students are self-motivated with Reading Renaissance, set personal goals, and even struggling readers succeed and learn to be accountable for their reading," comments Syring. "Teachers appreciate the readability levels set by the program making it easy to encourage students to read at their reading level and progress to the next level when goals have been met."
Reading Renaissance has made a difference for Green Mountain parents as well. "Parents look forward to the TOPS Reports coming home so they can praise their children on their accomplishments," says Syring.
North Carolina elementary school wins CSRD grant; schoolwide implementation closes achievement gap
Highland Renaissance Academy in Charlotte, N.C., is an inner-city school with the highest poverty rate in the district. Ninety-four percent of the students attending this K–5 school are eligible for free or reduced lunch. In the fall of 1998 the State Board of Education designated the school, previously named Highland Elementary, a state "low-performing school" and assigned a state assistance team to work full time to improve student achievement and build continuous improvement strategies among the staff.
When Principal Jenell Bovis arrived shortly after the state assistance team in October 1998, only 33 percent of third-graders were reading at grade level. Bovis was determined to help the school improve. "I’d used Accelerated Reader at the Florida district where I’d been previously," she says. "I knew it worked."
Accelerated Reader (AR) software was already available at Highland, but Bovis was aware that for her teachers to see real academic growth, they would need Renaissance training. She and her staff wrote a Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) grant. With funds from that grant, the school implemented Reading Renaissance Professional Development in early 1999.
Bovis was convinced that for Renaissance to take hold at Highland, the teachers had to believe in it. "It was easy to get the teachers excited about AR because I know it works, and I could tell them that it works. Once they saw the kids actually reading, they were hooked." Reading Renaissance was implemented one classroom at a time, followed by score increases in every classroom.
At the end of the 2000–2001 academic year, those former third-graders were fifth-graders, and 87 percent were at or above grade level. "That was another affirmation that our children can excel," says Bovis.
In 2001 Highland received Reading Renaissance Model School Certification. "Achieving Model School in Reading Certification was like a dream come true for the staff," says Bovis. "Especially since everyone said it couldn’t be done."
Highland also implemented Math Renaissance with great results: 80 percent of their third-grade students were at or above grade level; 100 percent of the fourth- and fifth-graders were at or above grade level.
Highland is truly a success story: the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction recognized Highland as one of eight schools in the state that are effectively closing the achievement gap.
In addition, in 2001 Highland was selected to become one of the district’s "theme" schools. "It was easy for us to choose Renaissance as our theme, especially once we received Model School in Reading Certification," says Bovis. “We renamed the school Highland Renaissance Academy, and the Model School banner is the first thing you see when you walk in.”
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