Supt. Evers recognizes two Racine Reading First schools

Mrs. Sally LeTendre, 1st grade teacher; 21st Century Supt. Dr. Robert Morelan;

State Supt. Dr. Tony Evers; and Mrs. Kathy Heineck, Director of Curriculum

State School Supt. Dr. Tony Evers praised Racine's 21st Century Preparatory School and Janes Year Round School at a conference in the Wisconsin Dells recently for being among 16 Wisconsin schools that served as Reading Best Practices Model Sites during this school year.

Dr. Evers welcomed the schools' staffs to the April 22 event at the Great Wolf Resort. The 16 schools provided 640 teachers from 125 elementary schools, public and private, an opportunity to visit their classrooms to observe the implementation of Reading Best Practices they learned about at four workshops. Reading Best Practices include: fidelity to a core reading program; screening, diagnostic, and progress monitoring assessments; word walls and print richness; classroom libraries; and literacy centers.

“We are celebrating the successes of these programs and districts through their singular focus on raising the reading achievement of all students,” Evers said. “For Wisconsin to ensure that every child graduates with the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in the workforce and further education, every student must be a competent reader. These Reading Best Practices programs are helping students to become proficient readers.”

Dr. Robert Morelan, superintendent of 21st Century, said, “We are closing the achievement gap especially for our minority students who are achieving above the state average in the proficient and advanced categories in reading. We also appreciate the opportunity to provide professional development to the eight school districts  we support."

Beth Pestka, Kindergarten teacher; Deborah Coca, Janes principal; Supt. Evers; 

Dr. Bethel Cager, Area 2 Supt.;  and Karen Plummer, site coordinator

Janes Year Round School principal Deborah Coca said, "Being a recipient of the this grant has provided our staff  the opportunity to share their expertise with the visiting sites. The  evaluations of the program were very appreciative and positive. The  implementation of the Read First Model has given my staff new teaching styles to provide differentiated reading interventions that help meet the needs of all students with differing abilities. I am so proud  of my staff for their efforts and working on closing the gaps for all students. One of our major accomplishments was reading for our third grade African-American students. We went from 10 percent advanced and proficient in 2008 to 100 percent advanced and proficient this year on the WKCE. "