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Re: We are under a Reading First Grant!!
Posted by Positive person on 5/11/08

On 5/10/08, emma wrote:

I thought Reading First programs were for under-performing
schools?? You said your school was "highly performing",
right? Why on earth would your principal want to change what
you were doing, since it was obviously successful? I don't
understand.


> We are now required by our state to have ability groups
> (flexible, supposedly) and have literacy stations which
> reinforce skills and strategies that are taught whole
> group or in the small ability groups. We have our
> principal, our reading coach (paid out of the grant) and
> the State Reading Specialist coming in our rooms and
> documenting everything we say and do and making sure we
> have 85&37; of our students engaged at all times in the
> learning. Reading First has practically destroyed my love
> of teaching. I have very little autonomy in my classroom
> anymore. I was a HUGE Four Blocks teacher before this RF
> stuff came on board. The first year of RF our school went
> from Highly Performing to just Performing our state and
> standardized test scores dropped badly in math and dropped
> in reading, too!! The principal tried to make excuses by
> saying that anytime a school begins a new program, the
> test scores take a hit. Well, this is our 2nd year and I
> still feel like I'm in a strait jacket. I manage to fit in
> some 4 blocks elements but I have to really disguise it so
> that I can do it. The prep time for the centers and
> planning for 3 Tiers of learning are about to drive me to
> the brink of a nervous breakdown, not to mention constant
> exhaustion. Can you offer me any words of encouragement.


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Posts on this thread, including this one


• We are under a Reading First Grant!!, 5/10/08, by emma.
• Re: We are under a Reading First Grant!!, 5/11/08, by Positive person.
• Re: We are under a Reading First Grant!!, 5/18/08, by Unfortunately, in these lean times RF=more $$$ (nfm).