Back in September, the Washington Township school district implemented a new reading program with hopes of improving the skills of some students.
Read 180, which targets students who may struggle with reading and comprehension, has exercises designated to improve reading scores.
More than half way through the school year, township school officials say they are impressed with progress they have already seen with the program.
Read 180, created by book publisher Scholastic Corporation, uses various techniques to engage students in reading, including group reading with peers and computer instruction.
Each student is given "Lexile points," which help students advance to their current or advanced grade level.
There are two Lexile measures — the reader measure and the text measure. The reader measure represents a person’s reading ability on the Lexile scale. The text measure represents the text’s level on the Lexile scale.
“When used together, they can help a reader choose a book or other reading material that is at an appropriate level,” Director of Elementary Education Bobbi Marciano said. “The Lexile reader measure can also be used to monitor a reader’s growth in reading ability over time.”
As an example of how the Lexile system works, a first-grade reading level ranges from zero to 300 points. So a student with 250 points is on a first-grade level.
Currently five schools in the district, Thomas Jefferson Elementary, Bunker Hill Middle School, Chestnut Ridge Middle School, Orchard Valley Middle School and Washington Township High School, are using the program. The district may also be adding the program to Hurffville elementary and Birches elementary in the future.
“We’re so optimistic with this program,” Marciano said. “The kids are seeing themselves as readers.”
Stephanie Sonnak, a Read 180 teacher at Chestnut Ridge Middle School, told those who attended a recent board of education meeting that she was proud of the improvement students have shown in such a short time.
Director of secondary education, Jack McGee, said the program costs $31,000 per building. However, the district owns the license, so it’s not an annual cost to the district.
“It was certainly worth the cost because the students were suffering with reading and now they see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Marciano said.
Sonnak said the classes are set up to encourage engagement in the classrooms and it builds a community for learners. Every 20 minutes, the students rotate throughout the classroom to utilize each aspect of the program.
According to the Read 180 website, the classroom has different learning sections for the students to concentrate on. There are sections for independent reading, small-group learning, whole-group instruction and computers for the software section.
Sonnak said at the beginning of the school year, the kids were opposed to the class, but as the year continues, they are changing their opinion.
“Now, they come to me and ask for help in other subjects,” she said. “And I love helping them and I love that they are now setting goals for themselves.”