EVERETT — What’s the key to getting kids to become better readers?
Walk through Everett’s Garfield Elementary School and you’ll see signs of its efforts just about everywhere.
You see it in the library, where students tape pieces of paper on bookshelves headlined: “You Should Read Thi
s Book,” with space for them to explain why they liked it.
It’s in the hallways, where students from different grade levels walk to another classroom to be grouped with other students at their reading level for intensive daily work.
And it’s with individual students, who are learning how concepts such as retelling and summarizing what they read helps their comprehension — key to determining student performance on standardized tests.
The school’s work on improving reading scores was a major factor in it being named last week to a list of 186 schools receiving achievement awards from the state Board of Education.
Garfield was one of only five elementary schools in Washington to receive an improvement award, school principal Shannon Koehnen said.
The improvement awards were given to schools where students have made a significant improvement over two years on state tests, said Aaron Wyatt, spokesman for the state Board of Education.
“What really separates this index is it is combining two years of data, and so you’re not just rewarding flashes-in-the-pan performance,” Wyatt said.
For elementary schools, the state combines the performance of third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.
“If you combine all areas — reading, math, writing and science — Garfield students made the most growth overall in the Everett school district,” Koehnen said.
Garfield saw its combined reading scores in third-, fourth- and fifth-grade increase nearly 9 points over two academic years.
All this in a school where three-quarters of its 335 students come from families whose incomes qualify them for free or reduced-price lunches.
And each year, about a third of students either leave for other schools or are new to the school, so its school population is ever-changing.
Garfield’s math scores increased over the two-year period, too. But students, particularly fourth-grade students, still lagged behind state standards with just 40.7 percent meeting the goal last year. Yet 55 percent of third-graders exceeded them.
Emma Barrett, 10, said that school’s new reading program, which was launched last year, “keeps us busier, gives us more things to do and expands our comprehension level.”
Marshawana Green, 10, said simply: “I love to read.”
She sometimes helps fellow students who have problems with reading. “I try to help them figure out what the word means if I know it, and if not, I’ll use the dictionary to try to explain it more,” she said.
Cade Brecht, 11, grinned when he learned that his school was named to the state list.
“It feels cool because I’m going to the school that got the award,” he said.
Another key to the school’s reading success is getting kids to choose the right book to read, ones they’re able to read rather than just “checking out books to carry around and look cool,” said Barb Weber, librarian.
“It’s really hard to understand the story if you’re so busy decoding words every few seconds,” Weber said.
By finding the right book, not too hard, not too easy, kids’ confidence and appreciation of reading grows, she said.
“They get really excited about reading and want to read more and then all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Wait a minute. I scored better on this test. Wow!'”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
Achievement award winners
The state Board of Education gave achievement awards to 186 schools in the state. Here are schools that received recognition in Snohomish and Island counties:
Overall Excellence
High School: Coupeville High School, Coupeville
Middle & Junior High schools: Evergreen Middle School, Everett; Gateway Middle School, Everett
Elementary School: Silver Firs Elementary School, Everett; Silver Lake Elementary School, Everett; Woodside Elementary School, Bothell; Odyssey Elementary School, Everett; Woodin Elementary School, Bothell
Multilevel: Madrona Non-Graded, Edmonds; Maplewood Parent Cooperative, Edmonds
Schools with significant gifted populations: Cedar Wood Elementary School, Everett
Special Recognition
Closing the Achievement Gap: Chase Lake Elementary School, Edmonds; Skyline Elementary School, Everett; Maywood Hills Elementary School, Bothell; Olympic View Elementary School, Oak Harbor
Improvement: Garfield Elementary School, Everett; Totem Middle School, Marysville; Leaders in Learning, Monroe
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