|
In August 2005, the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) was awarded a grant from the Vermont Department of Education to conduct the Advancing Reading in Vermont Education pilot project. The goal of the project was to improve the reading comprehension skills of Vermont 4th-12th grade students. LCIRT implemented this pilot project in five schools in Southern Vermont from September through June 2006. We continue in the 2007-2008 school year, working with additional schools as well as furthering our work with our partners from the first year.
ARIVE is an innovative, cost-efficient approach to addressing concerns about literacy, based on the recognition that effective professional development is sustained, collegial, and founded on local assessment, and expertise. The program helps schools build their capacity to foster self-directed learning among educators.
ARIVE includes:
- Enhanced, face-to-face training for school-based Literacy Leaders to support and mentor colleagues as they implement new approaches in their classrooms.
- An online graduate level course Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension in the Content Areas for grade 4-12 teachers. The course explores research-based strategies to improve reading comprehension in the content areas. The course includes readings, lesson plans, templates for assignments, up-to-date resources, and video clips of Vermont teachers demonstrating the strategies in their classrooms.
- A stand-alone component of the online course only for teachers not working in the partner schools.
Here is what ARIVE participants have to say:
"Thank you for planning these lessons in a way that makes it viable and valuable to us as educators. It is refreshing to take a course that practices what is preached and models strategies that we can adapt for our own use in our classrooms."
"I have to say that I really love this online class. I am learning so much, and I love the format!"
"What I am most enjoying about this course is that it is encouraging me to take the time to think about my practice. Although I am constantly reflecting on what I do and how it affects my students, I often don't take the time to reflect on why I am doing what I do."
"I congratulate the Landmark teachers for accumulating all the data which is presented in a marvelously organized format. Thank you."
"The video showed me how to help all the students come up with ideas when previewing. I also liked the list of internal organizers that was available for the students to use. I think this will be very useful, especially when first teaching this to students - it gives them the vocabulary they need."
For 2005-2007, ARIVE's partners included the following Southern Vermont schools:
- Brattleboro Area Middle School
- Twin Valley High School and Twin Valley Middle School/Whitingham Elementary School
- Leland & Gray High School
- Townshend Elementary School
- Rochester School
Initially eleven teachers served as literacy leaders, seventeen participated on school teams, and eight were participants in the stand-alone online course. We estimate that 500 students were impacted as a result of this project.
For more information, please contact the Project Director:
Linda Hecker
Director of Educational Services
Landmark College Institute for Research and Training
Telephone: (802) 387-6735
Email: lhecker@landmark.edu
|
