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Story posted April, 2008

Results:
• 83.3% of students now read at or above grade level, which is well above state average

A sign in the main office of Southside Primary School lists "protected reading times" for each grade level (for example, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for kindergarten). "No interruptions can be made to classes at these times," the sign warns.

Southside's vigilance when it comes to guarding classroom reading time is a reflection of a broader effort at the school to ensure that teachers have not just the time, but also the necessary skills, to help their students succeed. And, at Southside, success is measured according to one major objective: that 100 percent of students will be reading at or above grade level before leaving second grade.

Located approximately five miles east of Selma, Southside serves approximately 385 students, most of them from low-income families. The school's embrace of reading as the linchpin of student success started in the late 1990s with a determined effort on the part of school staff to better understand the mechanics of reading instruction - what works, and what doesn't, to ensure that every child can read. The reading effort gathered steam when Dallas County decided to make all of its schools Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) sites. ARI is a statewide initiative to train teachers to teach reading in proven and effective ways.

At the heart of Southside's "reading first" approach is a reading coach who works with teachers to plan and model reading lessons, address problems in the classroom, and offer customized feedback and advice. According to Southside reading teacher Fran Spivey, the coach works primarily with new teachers and those with struggling or special-needs students. "Teachers soak this up," she said. "They couldn't be more positive about it, mostly because it is tailored to their day-to-day needs."

The teacher coaching is backed up by other reading-focused support and training for Southside's 21 classroom teachers, including professional development days and ARI training for new staff. All of Southside's teachers have attended the Alabama Reading Academy, a summer training program; and "reading intervention" teachers work with struggling students to make sure they can keep up. Southside teachers also attend regular ARI meetings where they are trained in key literacy techniques. And, Southside Primary has implemented the Voyager core reading program, which includes its own professional development component.

Southside's support for its teachers has paid off in high levels of student performance. In spring 2007, 83.3 percent of Southside students were reading at grade level, according to the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). The statewide average among elementary and primary schools in Alabama was 74.4 percent.

Test scores aside, Spivey said the most important result of Southside's focus on reading has been teacher empowerment. "Instead of saying, 'My student can't read,' now teachers are able to say that students are having problems with multi-syllabic words or comprehension or other issues. They can pinpoint the problem, and that makes it a lot easier to solve," said Spivey.

Further details about this story can be found in our sources:
Susan Rountree Salter, for Alabama School Boards Magazine, "Slow and Steady: Southside Primary Changes Net Huge Improvement", October 2005

Alabama School Boards Magazine, "Southside's Secret: Teamwork, Tears and Focus", October, 2005

John Norton, for Alabama's Best Practices Center, "Southside Primary's Early Stages of ARI", no date

Photos from Southside Elementary School