profile edits

Katie Berger

Everyone recognizes Sue Schell as she walks through the halls of Franklin Elementary School. She greets students in their small reading groups and watches students sound out words and listen to stories. If it weren’t for Schell, these groups may not be in place.

Schell helps coordinate the school-wide Title 1 program that helps students who are struggling in academics, especially reading. Schell said it was a joint effort to get the ball rolling on Title 1, but it has been very beneficial.

“When you see students, even the ones who aren’t struggling too much, excel within these groups, you realize how important it is,” Schell said.

*Good background below. Here, though, gives us a quick sense of the news. Has spending on this program increased? Has it decreased? Is it at-risk? What’s new with this program?

Title 1 is part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides financial assistance to states and school districts to meet the needs of at-risk students. Each year, Washington schools receive $xxx,xxx to provide extra instructional services to students in mathematics, reading and writing.

Schell became involved with the program 15 years ago, and has watched its progression from a target to school-wide program. Title 1 is federally funded with each state receiving funds. The State Educational Agency then awards certain schools funds based on the number of low-income students each school has.

Franklin Elementary School qualified this year to become a school-wide Title 1 school. This means that more than 40 percent of students are on either free or reduced lunch, which qualifies the school for more funding. This also allows for much more flexibility within the program, Schell said. Now, instead of teachers assessing students and only involving at-risk students in the Title 1 program, any students may qualify.

The program at Franklin includes four paraprofessionals. These are teachers specially trained in reading modules, comprehension, phonetics, and other reading tools. Throughout the day, these paraprofessionals, including Schell, meet with groups of four to six students in different grade levels to work extensively on areas where the students are struggling. The program works as a preventative tool to ensure that all students are meeting state standards in education. The earlier learning problems are addressed, the better the outcome, Schell said.

(transition) In Spokane, the program isn’t limited to Franklin. On a recent Tuesday at Sunnyside Elementary School, Lorna Bruya worked with …

“Can you sound out ‘H’?” Lorna Bruya said to a first grader during a reading session. Bruya is another Title 1 teacher at Sunnyside Elementary School. Lorna also has been involved with Title 1 for 15 years, and has worked closely with Schell on educating themselves on better techniques to teach reading.

“In 1995, Sue and I both volunteered to go to a two-week summer Reading Leadership workshop at Western Washington University,” Bruya said “Margaret Moody, from New Zealand, spoke at this workshop, and New Zealand has the most extensive knowledge about literacy and reading. It was very exciting.”
Bruya said it can be difficult to watch some students backslide over the summer. Remaining patient, staying optimistic, and giving plenty of praise for a student’s success helps stay in focus for the greater cause. (what are we trying to say here? Can we clarify?)

“sometimes, it takes a while for some things to click for students,” Bruya said, “but when it does, and when you see them get excited and talk to their friends about books they’ve read or want to read, it’s very rewarding then.”

Good. See notes in text. Need a stronger new angle. I only see 2 sources in the story. With a third, this is an ‘A’ paper. 88/100