Oakhurst Elementary School
Reading Lab Overview
2007-2008
For many years, OES has basked in the luxury of having an on-site reading specialist. Mrs. Andrea Monsalve has worked with OES teachers for many years to support and guide their literacy instructional programs for struggling readers as well as pull-out identified students in need of intensive small group instruction to increase reading fluency and comprehension.
We are pleased to announce the continuation of our reading lab to service identified students in grades 1-5 again this year. Working with the California Diagnostics Center, OES teachers and staff received training on a research-based assessment instrument, DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy). DIBELS is designed to assess each student’s fluency rate, essentially a screening tool that predicts reading success. The assessment tool also provides all of us the opportunity to know more about each child’s reading level by looking at the big ideas in reading, focusing instruction on phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, accuracy and fluency with connected text, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Every child at OES has been assessed on the designated DIBELS assessment for each grade level and their scores are then input into the DIBELS data system. Classroom reports can be accessed, reflecting each child’s rank based on the fall, winter and spring benchmark. Students are ranked in one of three categories: intensive (needs substantial intervention), strategic (additional intervention) or benchmark (at grade level). Much time has been spent reviewing a variety of diagnostic assessments, including DIBELS, to determine which students are to be pulled out for reading lab instruction. The time schedule is as follows, Monday—Thursday:
First Grade: 8:00—8:40 am
Second Grade: 8:45—9:25 am
Third Grade: 9:30—10:10 am
Fifth Grade: 10:30—11:15 am
Fourth Grade: 11:20—12:05 pm
Our reading lab has three levels. Tier I is the classroom; Tier II is working with our reading specialist, Mrs. Andrea Monsalve, and Tier III has identified students working with our Resource Specialist, Mrs. Gail Lancaster. Students working in the Tier III reading lab are not students identified as special education. Far from it...these are kids that need even more intensive instruction from a very specialized teacher, provided by Mrs. Lancaster. During our designated pull-out times, the students remaining in the classroom receive differentiated instruction with their classroom teachers to meet their individual needs in Language Arts.
The expansion of our reading lab definitely required a team approach, as everyone provided input on time frames, vision, goals, and objectives. All students are assessed three times throughout the year (September, January and May). Continued, on-going monitoring of all students takes place with the goal of every child being at benchmark by the end of the year.
Kathleen Murphy
Principal
Oakhurst Elementary School |