NREVSD meets reading guarantee

All New Richmond Exempted Village School District third grade students from last year met Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee and advanced to the fourth grade without the need for additional reading instruction each school day.

"We are very pleased with the efforts of our students, staff, and administrative team,” said NREVSD Supt. Adam Bird “We made growing student literacy a priority and are thankful that no students were retained due to the Third Grade Reading Guarantee."  

Author Jinny Powers Berten discusses her Littsie book series
with Monroe Elementary 3rd graders. She was selected
as a guest speaker as part of the new curriculum
 designed by the district's 3rd grade teachers.

Except for students with individualized education plans, Ohio third grade students were required to meet a minimum score of 392 in 2013-2014 on the state reading test to move on to the fourth grade.  The minimum score increases to 394 for 2014-2015 and eventually to 400. This score must be attained either in the Fall or Spring state reading tests.

Of the non-exempt returning students, only three failed to score 392 on the OAA reading last spring but passed the alternative Terra Nova test at the start of the district’s summer reading camp for K-3 students and qualified for advancement.

"It was also made possible through the support of the Board of Education for our reading initiatives,” noted Bird. “The school board supported the hiring of elementary reading tutors and supported the summer reading camp for the past two summers."

The 8-week summer reading camps were directed by Monroe Elementary teacher Greg Chandler and were attended by 137 students in 2013 and 97 students in 2014. The 2014 summer reading camp included a visit by author Tim Callahan, author of the Kentucky Summers adventure series, which is based loosely on his childhood. The school board purchased copies of his books for the camp students as an encouragement for students to continue reading during the summer break.

New Richmond summer reading camp director Greg Chandler introduces author Tim Callahan.

Part-time reading tutors were added at the start of the current school year and work for three hours each day at the district’s three elementary schools. They assist teachers with reading improvement plans for students who appear to be falling behind in reading.

Students in grades K-3 are evaluated to determine if they are reading at grade level and a reading improvement plan is developed to address each student's unique reading problems.

Another factor in meeting state reading standards is the K-12 English Language Arts course of study approved by the New Richmond Board of Education last year. Designed to meet the new Common Core state standards as well as the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, the language arts initiative was the result of more than a year of planning by a district steering committee and grade level teams from New Richmond, Monroe and Locust Corner elementary schools.

Teacher Sue Kelly and some of her summer reading camp
students made a thank you card to the school board for
their support of the summer reading initiative.

“It’s important that we have alignment at the elementary level and agreement on common reading materials so students coming into middle school from our three elementary schools all have the same background, all have the same experiences having read the same books,” said John Frye, director of Staff and Pupil Services for the New Richmond Exempted Village School District.

NREVSD’s third grade teachers not only aligned their reading materials, they went an additional step and aligned their guest speakers. Jinny Powers Berten, author of the Littsie series about an immigrant girl in the 1800s who comes in contact with real characters that lived in Cincinnati such as Nicholas Longworth, Dr. Drake, Salmon Chase, Harriet Beecher Stowe, James Birney and John Rankin, spoke at all three district 3^rd grade classrooms and reviewed book reports from students who read her books as part of the new curriculum designed by the district's 3rd grade teachers.

“The exhibit of their reports was fun for me to see,” said Berten. “As an author, it is very rewarding to see the children interested and learning. Their teachers have done a great job."