2008 Grant Proposal Details

Breakfast Club Year 4   Yujin Gakuen Elementary

Total: $2000

Description:  Our primary goal is to reach students who are not currently receiving other specialized interventions, yet are not on-track to meet the third grade reading benchmarks. This intervention group will target first and second grade students who tested below the 30th percentile based on district fall reading scores. At this writing, as we study the spring kindergarten reading scores, there are twelve students who scored below the 10th percentile. They will most certainly be invited to attend this early morning study session. 24 students scored in the negative z- scores. They will receive invitations. We would also like to maintain flexibility within this program to include any third-grade student who may also benefit from the direct instruction model used within the group. The few third graders we have invited in the past have also been great at listening to first graders read to them one–on-one. We anticipate being able to serve as many as thirty-six students during the school year. We plan to run three sessions. The first session starts as soon as the grant is approved and runs till after the winter testing in early January. This first session is dedicated to first graders. The middle session, which starts the end of January, and runs until spring break, focuses on the second grade students. Finally first graders are the focus of the last session, which runs from after spring break till the end of the first week in June. Students arrive to the first grade classroom promptly at 8:00 and are dismissed with the start of school at 8:20.

Why is this important?  We feel this additional intervention is critical for these students because we are not a Title 1-school and receive no opportunities for additional services beyond the special education program. Our school could be eligible to receive Title 1 funds under federal guidelines as we do have greater than 30% of our families who are on free or reduced lunch. However, our district only provides Title 1 funds for schools at the 40% level. Also our classroom teachers have the challenge of helping their students achieve a full-year's growth in a half-day English program. This half-day program greatly reduces the opportunities for repetition and practice, which are so important for lower performing students. This proposal takes this into account by offering a before-school class, rather than a pull-out format. The instructional assistant will be able to use a variety of strategies in a small group setting to better meet the needs of our diverse learners. These strategies include some one-on-one computer time using interactive sites such as “Starfall.com. This allows the IA to work with more students. It also allows her to focus on smaller groups of students at a time for oral reading practice.

Who will be served?  An instructional assistant will use direct instruction to teach 1st and 2nd grade students remedial reading. This class will meet before school for twenty minutes each day for the entire school year. Students will receive instruction in phonics, blending, fluency, and reading comprehension. Materials to be used will include MacMillan Connections Basal Program Readers and components of the Houghton Mifflin Reading Program. The use of "Below Level" and "Extra Support" Materials will be coordinated with both first and second grade classroom teachers. Ideally students will get pre-instruction on this material before use in the general classroom setting.

How will this be evaluated?  Student progress will be monitored through monthly assessments in reading fluency and comprehension. Ultimately, our goal is for students in this program to read and comprehend above the 30th district percentile rank. This growth will be measured using the District spring testing scores. For the past three years of the Breakfast Club, we have seen our first grade scores gradually improve throughout the year, until by the end of the year, our lowest first grade scores were above or near the 4j district average scores for first graders. This has happened in two of three years despite the fact that our September scores are lower than district average to start with since our Kindergarten students learn in Japanese for 70% of their ½ day that they are in school. In 07-08, on the District Reading assessments, given three times a year to all first graders, the minus z scores from this group of YG first grade students decreased from 25 students in September, to 20 students in January, to only 5 students with negative z scores in June. This visual, showing our Yujin Gakuen first grade progress is an amazing one to behold. We credit the hard work of these students and availability of Breakfast Club for their improvement. Thank you EEF

Does this build on existing programs?  As mentioned previously, this proposal is for a continuation of a program originally conceived three years ago. Again, this year the program will be administered by the first grade teacher, Nancy Imamura. Linda Caldwell, our Kindergarten instructional assistant, will be hired once again to continue to implement the remedial reading program. This program will build upon the in class instruction from the regular classroom teachers. Teachers will provide input to the instructional assistant regarding specific skills that need to be taught, and will monitor student progress. As mentioned previously, the "Below Level" and "Language Support" materials for our Houghton Mifflin Reading program will be part of the curriculum. Leveled readers, Phonic Readers, Vocabulary and Social Studies Readers are available to Breakfast Club members to complement what is going on in the classroom. We are fortunate to have an exceptionally qualified instructional assistant who is able to competently manage medium sized groups of students. This assistant has considerable experience teaching the English portion of our kindergarten. Not only is she already familiar with the students, but, she has proven to be extremely effective with her knowledge base and her personal skills in encouraging students to be more successful learners.

Budget:  Classified salary needed for student contact hours are 20 minutes a day for five days a week (1 hour 40 minutes a week) for 27 weeks. (or more weeks if the grant is approved sooner). Classified salary for preparation at 10 minutes a day for five days a week or 50 minutes a week for 27 weeks. Classified salary for planning and consulting with certified staff on a bi-monthly basis from November - June.

Proposal #:  114