Monthly Updates

April 2006 Uniontown Area School District School and classroom visits were primary on the Project MP3 agenda this month. Project staff appreciated the many opportunities to observe guided reading lessons, reading activity centers, reading recovery lessons, and literacy oriented morning meetings in K-4 classrooms. These visits coupled with discussions with teachers will help us to develop future workshops and trainings on topics such as: effective classroom management to maximize learning, proven research-based practices in reading, engaging cooperative learning activities, data-driven instructional decision making, and effective use of curricular and supplemental instructional materials. Given the administrators’ hesitation to require teachers to add additional assessment responsibilities to their already full plates, Dr. Zigmond and MP3 staff agreed to take the lead in conducting the Spring Benchmark assessments using the DIBELS and Reading MAZE. To ensure accuracy and reliability, a team of 11 evaluators (including doctoral students, graduate students, and Project staff) participated in a two-day assessment and integrity training developed by our PaTTAN Consultants. Next, Eileen coordinated schedules with school principals to establish a three week assessment window beginning May 1st to collect Spring Benchmark data on over 800 students in the participating 3 elementary schools. Our assessment “SWAT” team was ready. In the meantime, Project staff gathered a cohort of district personnel to attend PaTTAN’s summer conference at Penn State: Making Adequate Yearly Progress: Improving Student Achievement Through Effective Practices. This conference affords the MP3 teams from UASD and the Central Dauphin School District the opportunity to not only take advantage of the conference sessions, but also collaborate and consult with each other, with Project staff at Pitt and Lehigh, and with Project PaTTAN consultants from across the state. It will be a terrific learning and team-building opportunity. Amanda Kloo - Project Coordinator, University of Pittsburgh Back to Monthly Updates Main Page