All Our Kids To Read At Grade Level By 3rd Grade

By Ken Mettler

It is not acceptable that 20% of our kids read in the lowest quartile! We must implement reading tutoring to ensure that we meet our legal, ethical, and moral obligation to these children.

"...Now with the district's implementation of the .... program for 1st-3rd grades, …" "…..To improve our intervention plan for students the district is initiating a ....... plan that will, within the next two years, become a reality in first, second, and third grades. This year class sizes in the first grade have been lowered to less than 18. By the end of 1998 the other primary grades, second and third, will be lowered to twenty or below....Once the class sizes have been reduced, these teachers will begin daily after school tutoring with the goal that by the end of third grade all children will be fluent readers…." Page 19

"….c. Reading- Current research indicates the need for early intervention. Several programs and approaches illustrate our efforts to intervene early..... Our goal is that by third grade all students will be reading at grade level. The teachers are being in-serviced for an eight week session meeting weekly. The primary teachers, with their new knowledge on literacy, will devote thirty minutes after school each day to offer individualized one-on-one tutoring to a first grade student who cannot read beginning materials independently….." Page 22

"…Visits to early literacy programs that used this model, and additional research into reading led to our....program. This program provides for an intense in-service component which prepares teachers to intervene early to insure that primary students leave third grade as proficient readers…." Page 26

I take seriously my duty as an elected Trustee of the Rosedale Union School District to formulate policy that is best for the children.

Sincerely,

Ken Mettler