Read 90 - Part 2

Targeted Accelerated Growth

The Read 90 program is designed to help students read at grade level by the time they complete 3rd grade. There is an associated understanding that students enter school reading at different levels. While some students read at high levels, others read at lower levels. The Read 90 program intends to help students reading at high levels continue to read at high levels while assisting lower level students to catch up. At the heart of assisting students to catch up is the Targeted Accelerated Growth Loop, or TAG Loop.

The TAG Loop consists of four steps:

1) Diagnostic testing

2) Proportional increases in instructional time

3) Focused teaching to the deficient sub-skill

4) Retesting to assure that learning has actually occurred

· Diagnostic testing is used early in the school year to determine the reading ability of all students. Reading materials are then selected for each student based on the level of their reading ability. School staff tested students in the first weeks of school to identify each student’s reading ability.

· Proportional increases in instructional time allows students more time to improve their reading ability. Schedules at Nome Elementary School have been adjusted to provide students extended reading time.

· Focused teaching to the deficient sub-skill is used to address the specific reading needs of students. This step in the TAG Loop again refers to the use of the proper materials for students based on their individual reading ability. The two main reading material sources for the Read 90 program include the Houghton Mifflin and Reading Mastery Reading/Language Arts Series.

· Retesting is used to monitor student progress during the year. The Read 90 Program uses a Mastery Model for achievement. Students are required to learn lessons to a mastery level before they advance to the next lesson. This model helps to assure actual student learning has occurred.

Teachers and staff have always worked hard to help all boys and girls receive an excellent education. Through implementation of the Read 90 Program, with the associated Targeted Accelerated Growth Loop, special attention is now being used to help students who enter school with lower reading abilities read at high levels while helping students with higher abilities continue to grow.