Literacy Project

Kennedy Middle School

The Kennedy Extended Day Literacy Project will be free and open to all nominated Kennedy students. Students will be nominated by teachers, parents, and counselor, using academic performance, ELL needs, and 4J Reading Assessment data. Parent permission and support will be required. Bus passes and transportation support plans will be provided, whenever possible, to assist in removing barriers to student participation. The coordinators' responsibilities will be to secure community volunteers to provide one volunteer/mentor for every two students. Every effort will be made to provide a reflective cultural/ethnic balance between the mentors and the participating students. There will be active recruiting for Hispanic and African Americans mentors. *As reported in the Latino Youth Project Survey, (September, 2001) students are more successful and feel more connected when they have visible ethnic/racial role models in their lives.

The Kennedy Literacy Project will meet for one hour, 3:30 - 4:30, four days per week. Certified teaching staff will work collaboratively with the Coordinators to develop individual student academic profiles for each student as a way to communicate fluency, comprehension and vocabulary skill levels. An extensive high interest paperback library will be developed to provide motivating reading practice for students. This library will be created with Scholastic books. They will be organized by topic and by reading level, which Scholastic identifies. By using Scholastic books, we will be able to purchase the Scholastic computerized comprehension program, Reading Counts, that assesses the student's comprehension skills and understanding of the vocabulary. Volunteers will provide fluency and accuracy training activities. The computer is a motivating way to assess students and give clear feedback about their progress. Students will work with coordinators to develop personal reading goals. As positive reinforcement and as a means to increase student motivation for improved skills , students will have the opportunity to earn points for an end of semester celebration with coordinators and volunteers. Students will also be able to earn WOW tickets, which is a school-based positive motivational program for prizes and acknowledgment.

All volunteers will receive training in 4J volunteer policies, Kennedy behavioral expectations, and "best practices" reading strategies in an effort to address the specific needs of our low achieving students. Nutritious snacks will be provided at the end of each class.

Why is this project important?

At Kennedy, our 2004 Oregon State Assessment data reflects a serious achievement gap for students of color, English Language Learners and students from low income families. Our data clearly shows a percentage of high achieving students, and a percentage of students who need and deserve additional academic support.

4J 2004 Reading Data
% Exceeds/Meets, % Did Not Meet

African American 48% 52%
Hispanic 34% 66%
White 76% 24%
Kennedy Overall Population 72% 28%

This grant, in combination with District 4J Literacy Funds and Kennedy financial support, is critical to our ability to expand and enhance learning opportunities for our children who are identified as being at risk of failing. National research has shown a high correlation between connections to school, through extended day programs, and academic success.

Who and how many will be served?

Kennedy Literacy Project will begin by directly serving 20 students. The Scholastic Book Library will be used by all Kennedy students involved with our reading intervention programs: approximately 75 students. Students identified for the extended day program may include ELL students who can not fit reading intervention classes into their daily schedule, due to scheduling of ELL classes. One of our main intervention programs, READ 180, can serve 60 students. We have more students who are in need of support than we can serve. Reading intervention classes sometimes conflict with important classes such as band, yet we can fully serve these students in our extended day program without loss of elective time.

How will you evaluate the success of this project?

We will evaluate success by using Oregon State Assessment data, Kennedy grade report data, 4J Reading Assessment data, Scholastic's Reading Counts, comprehension assessment. We will include student, parent and teacher surveys which would reflect attitude and self-esteem related items.

Does this proposal build upon existing programs at your school?

Absolutely! This project is tied directly to our School Improvement Goals to increase literacy and close the student achievement gap in reading. Not only is this a Kennedy goal, but it is a goal shared by the 4J School Board and our Superintendent, George Russell. The sustainability beyond this grant is reflected in the positive actions of the Kennedy staff. To maximize our limited resources, important decisions were made such as having larger elective classes in order to schedule several smaller reading intervention classes during the school day. Kennedy has already hired a Literacy Instructional Assistant to support all reading intervention classes, including the extended day Literacy Project. We just require the high interest Book Library and the Reading Counts program that can be used for years to come!

How will the funds be spent?

Reading Counts Scholastic Comprehension Program; Action Middle School Collections Super Kit (4 collections); bus passes; printing and student materials.