An Individual’s Concern Results in a Unique Partnership

In the fall of 2001, Catherine Smith, a substitute teacher at the William Howard Taft School in Boise, orchestrated a $5,000 grant from the C.M. and Edna Peyton Cotton Foundation, allowing the Lee Pesky Learning Center to provide consultation services and early literacy training for teachers and at-risk kindergartners and first graders at the school. 

Taft is a Title One School with 71% of their students enrolled in the free/reduced price meals program – the second highest rate in the Boise School District.  41% of the Taft kindergartners taking the Idaho Reading Indicator test last year had moved in or out of the school during the year.  Research has shown that student mobility (changing schools within the year) is one of the primary handicaps facing students in all income brackets.  Given these factors, it might appear that these students are at a high risk of failure.  However, Taft’s visionary principal, Dr. Susan Williamson, and her committed staff are taking the necessary steps to ensure that all students succeed.

Deb Glaser, the Center’s Director of Education, designed a training forum for teachers at Taft.  It draws from the research-based methods of teaching reading with an emphasis on literacy issues in Kindergarten and First Grade.  During the bi-weekly meetings, teachers gather to identify student weaknesses, develop a collaborative action plan and implement the plan in their classrooms.  Taft and LPLC teachers also work together to craft individual instructional plans for the children who struggle most with reading, which Taft teachers then apply in their classrooms.  As the children are tracked through fourth grade, outcomes of intervention will be measured, thus providing a demonstration model of the effects of early identification and intervention.

The initial results are very good.  Last winter, only 24% of the kindergarten students were reading at top proficiency levels on the Idaho Reading Indicator (IRI); this winter 52% are.  The numbers for first grade are even more dramatic, up from 34% at the top proficiency level last winter to 80% this winter.

Deb Glaser, who has been working at Taft every other week, notes, “the kindergarten, first grade, and remedial teachers at William Howard Taft Elementary have utilized best practices to truly make a difference with their students' reading skills.  Their dedication to the child and the collaborative effort as they plan their instruction and assess progress is apparent in their enthusiasm and the student outcomes.”

The partnership between the Lee Pesky Learning Center and the William Howard Taft School was continued during the spring with a grant from the Whittenberger Foundation.  This unique partnership reveals the power of a cooperative and coordinated approach to early literacy instruction.  It also demonstrates the enormous difference that an individual can make in the lives of many.  Mrs. Smith’s concern for the children of Taft has truly made a difference in this community.