Our Program Gets Results
Portland Reading Foundation dedicates approximately 7% of direct program costs to performance evaluation of students. In addition to tests administered by the schools themselves, Portland Reading Foundation uses a battery of specialized pre and post tests to identify reading challenges and to track individual students’ progress. First graders participating regularly in the Portland Reading Foundation program typically make one to two years progress on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. Children in third grade and above often make slower progress because of poor self esteem, poorly developed reading skills that must be “remediated,” and reliance on a “guess and go” approach. Portland Reading Foundation has documented effectiveness with many readers in later elementary grades. Last year at Chief Joseph a 4th grader made 2.2 years growth in spelling and 1.9 years growth in reading of isolated words. At Humboldt, a 4th grader made 1.7 years growth in spelling and 2.5 years growth in reading isolated words.
2010-11 Portland Reading Foundation (PRF) Test Summary
PRF tutors worked with over 175 students at 13 Portland metropolitan schools during the 2010-11 school year. Of which, 153 students began the program in October, 2010, 6 exited early having met grade level, and 25 students entered the program in early 2011. 99% made gains on one or more diagnostic and standardized reading tests, even if they did not complete five months or more of tutoring. The average student who completed five months of tutoring made a 1.7 years’ gain in reading on standardized measures.
Portland Public Schools: Students chosen to participate by school staff in the PRF Reading Intervention Program were1 to 1 ½ years below grade level (a “strategic” classification).
103 students completed five months or more of tutoring made strong gains on PRF assessments including: the Wide Range Achievement Test of Reading (WRAT); the Test of Written Spelling; and DIBELS Words per Minute Test.
|
Grade Level
|
# served
|
Gain on WRAT
(grade level increase)
|
Gain on TWS
(grade level increase)
|
DIBELS Gain
|
|
Grade 1
|
35
|
2.0
|
1.5
|
32 words/min
|
|
Grade 2
|
23
|
1.1
|
1.2
|
31 words/min
|
|
Grade 3
|
14
|
1.3
|
1.3
|
36 words/min
|
|
Grade 4
|
13
|
2.4
|
1.0
|
10 words/min
|
|
Grade 5
|
12
|
1.3
|
1.2
|
23 words/min
|
|
Grade 6
|
6
|
1.7
|
.7
|
29 words/min
|
|
Avg. Gain
|
|
1.7 grade level
|
1.3 grade level
|
28 words/min
|
In mid February, 2011 PRF began a new program at Kelly Elementary. 16 --3rd-5th graders participated. These students started the program one or more years below grade level in reading and spelling. After less than four months of PRF tutoring, 8 of the 16 tested at or above grade level in both reading and spelling. The average student made a .6 grade level gain on the WRAT and a .8 gain on the TWS.
Reynolds District School: At Alder Elementary, where 96% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, the staff specifically chose students for PRF intervention that were far below grade level (an “intensive” classification). PRF served 27 students from grades one and three. They were all non native English speakers. First graders could not identify all the letters in the alphabet and could not identify any letter sounds. They were not able to score above 0 on our standardized tests. At the end of the year, the average first grader showed strong gains in letter/sound identification and in the ability to read nonsense (consonant vowel consonant) words. The average third grader started the program 1.6 years below grade level and ended only .5 years below grade level, a gain of 1.1 years on the WRAT. These students will need another year of intensive intervention in order to meet grade level in reading.
[1] National Research Council. (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Edited by C. Snow, S. Burns, and P. Griffin, Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.