Purpose: A school wide tutoring program that emphasizes prevention and early, intensive intervention. The program is designed for schools that have disadvantaged populations, and its intention is to make sure that all children are successful in basic skills, especially reading, the first time they are taught.
Rationale: Wasik and Slavin (1993) suggests the following tenets provide the background for Success for All:
- Reading and learning should be done through interaction and meaningful text,
- Phonics should be taught systematically and that stories selected for reading should be meaningful, interesting, and use vocabulary that is phonetically controlled.
- Emphasis should be placed on meaning and not just word recognition. Children should be taught to see the relationship between words they read and the understanding that they gain from them
- Children should be taught strategies that will make them successful readers.
Intended Audience: Low-achieving children in the early grades.
Description of the Procedures:
1. Reading Tutors-The reading tutors who are certified tutors with experience in teaching primary reading tutor in one-on one situations with children who are not successful in their reading groups. Teachers and tutors work together to coordinate the instructional approaches with individual children, recording specific problems and needs on communication forms. In addition, the tutor administers an informal inventory to each child and with the information gained, decisions are made regarding reading group placements and the need for tutoring.
2. The Program-During the 90 minute reading period, students are grouped by reading ability into a homogeneous class of 15-20 students. This grouping allows the teacher/tutor to teach the whole class simultaneously without the need to put them into small groups.
4. Preschool and Kindergarten- half-day preschool and/or full-day kindergarten for eligible children is provided so that appropriate learning experiences and language development and use are taught.
5. Family Support Team-At the school site, a team of social workers, attendance monitors, asst. principals, and counselors are present to make families feel comfortable with the school and provide specific services. The support of parents is essential to the success of the program.
6. Program Facilitator- An experienced teacher works as the program facilitator to oversee the operation of Success for All. This individual helps plan the overall program, works on scheduling, visits classrooms and tutoring sessions to provide assistance. The facilitator also works closely with the teachers concerning curricular matters.
7. Teacher and Teacher Trainings- Brief initial training mixed with extensive classroom follow-up and group discussion. Training is given on implementing the reading program and teachers receive a manual that provides strategies and specific lessons. Tutors receive additional training for tutoring strategies and assessment.
1. Reading Tutors-The reading tutors who are certified tutors with experience in teaching primary reading tutor in one-on one situations with children who are not successful in their reading groups. Teachers and tutors work together to coordinate the instructional approaches with individual children, recording specific problems and needs on communication forms. In addition, the tutor administers an informal inventory to each child and with the information gained, decisions are made regarding reading group placements and the need for tutoring.
2. The Program-During the 90 minute reading period, students are grouped by reading ability into a homogeneous class of 15-20 students. This grouping allows the teacher/tutor to teach the whole class simultaneously without the need to put them into small groups.
- In grades Kinder to 1st-emphasis is placed on the development of basic language skills through the use of storytelling, retelling, and dramatizing the literature. Materials used are big books, language development kits, , and oral/written composing activities. In the second semester, beginning reading is introduced with letters and sounds through oral language activities and moved to written symbols. Repeated oral reading to partners and teacher, instruction in story structure and comprehension skills, and integrated reading and writing lessons are done at this stage.
- In the primer reading level, students are introduced to reading and composition activities based on cooperative learning. These activities emphasize prediction, story structure, story-related writing and summarization, vocabulary, and decoding practice.
- In the 2nd year of S.F.A., programs for writing and language arts based on cooperative learning are introduced. A structured writing process approach is used to teach students how to respond to and facilitate each other's writing.
4. Preschool and Kindergarten- half-day preschool and/or full-day kindergarten for eligible children is provided so that appropriate learning experiences and language development and use are taught.
5. Family Support Team-At the school site, a team of social workers, attendance monitors, asst. principals, and counselors are present to make families feel comfortable with the school and provide specific services. The support of parents is essential to the success of the program.
6. Program Facilitator- An experienced teacher works as the program facilitator to oversee the operation of Success for All. This individual helps plan the overall program, works on scheduling, visits classrooms and tutoring sessions to provide assistance. The facilitator also works closely with the teachers concerning curricular matters.
7. Teacher and Teacher Trainings- Brief initial training mixed with extensive classroom follow-up and group discussion. Training is given on implementing the reading program and teachers receive a manual that provides strategies and specific lessons. Tutors receive additional training for tutoring strategies and assessment.