Public board plans to focus on reading

With grade three and six testing coming up next month, the Rainy River District School Board is aiming to give reading a boost after looking at last year’s results.
“Strategically, all boards are required to pay attention to the areas of reading, writing, and math. But you need a focus, and our board has chosen to focus heavily on reading,” noted Superintendent of Education Terry Ellwood.
“The end effect is we plan to create ‘reading specialists’ in all our primary and junior classes,” he added.
This will be accomplished by training grade three/six teachers in the use of teaching aids and techniques to provide a concrete understanding of reading concepts while still making it fun.
Some of this training has been ongoing during several professional developments days this school year, and last summer.
Several other ideas for improvement include encouraging all primary grades to develop a home-school reading, or “book bag,” program to enhance students’ love for reading.
This also will establish a strong connection with parents to play an active role in their child’s development of reading skills, a board report said.
Another idea is “levelled books,” or those that are clearly marked to give students a better idea as to whether a book they choose in the classroom is the same as, below, or above the level they’re performing at.
Some of these initiatives have been in some board schools in recent years but the board is looking to make them widely-practised.
This focus is part of the System Curriculum Plan slated to be competed by June. This will outline a list of expectations for reading skill development, as well for writing and math, for teachers of grades K-10.
The decision to increase focus on reading is the result of a regular review of the previous year’s Education Quality and Accountability Office results.
The board results for level three and four achievement show both grade three and six results were below the provincial average. Only 40 percent of grade threes passed–nine percent below the average.
And grade sixes scored six percent below their respective average, with an average of 44 percent.
On the attitudinal survey part of the tests, results showed girls enjoy reading and writing more than boys, and less than 50 percent of students do reading, writing, and mathematics that are not part of their school work.