Learning how to read, not just how to pass a test

Students in Ms. Butler’s classroom at Ballard Elementary began the morning by reading a poem together. But this was not a somber “We’re in summer school, get us out of here” rendition.

“Pizza pizza, yessiree, Pizza pizza, all for me.

Pepperoni, mushroom too, not a single slice for you!”

By the end of the poem extolling the universal joy of not having to share, the students were shouting. But — more importantly — they were reading.

The poem was one of several they have read during nearly six weeks of remedial reading instruction, aimed for Manatee County’s 361 most struggling readers.

Third Grade Summer Reading Camps, held at Ballard, Blackburn, Braden River, Kinnan and Miller elementary schools, are for the students who did not meet the state requirements to progress to the fourth grade. From June 5 to July 20, they reported to school in hopes of making enough progress to earn promotion to fourth grade.

Third graders in Manatee County cannot be held back more than once. Students who do not score a level two or higher on the FSA language arts test are held back, but there are six exemptions to that requirement. Some students attending Ballard’s camp obtained an exemption through a portfolio of work they amassed during camp. For those who did not make the required progress, the SAT10 stood between them and fourth grade.

On Thursday, the students who had not earned a promotion through a portfolio took the SAT10. The district did not have numbers available Thursday as to how many students took the test, but it will know early next week which students passed and which will need to repeat the third grade.

The students at the summer reading camp are some of the toughest cases for Manatee teachers. Last year, 27 percent of the students attending camps were promoted to fourth grade.

“If they were two years behind in grade level, they are not going to make up two years in five weeks, but they will show great growth,” said Kimberly Organek, the executive director of curriculum and professional learning.

Ballard Elementary principal Mike Masiello said the reading gains at summer camp are not instantly evident, but they were no less valuable.

“They are here, they are learning, they are engaged in something academic during the summer,” Masiello said. “On the surface, it can take two or three years for all of the additional instruction to translate.”

Despite the goal of passing the SAT10, the summer reading camps don’t fall into the dreaded category of “test prep,” Masiello said.

Tammy Butler, who is running a class at Ballard, taught the students Latin root words and taught them how to break down words that they do not know when they are reading. She reads them stories out loud, they read to her, and she meets with students once a week to talk about their progress. It’s a smaller, quieter and more fun learning environment for students who are struggling.

“This is instruction and learning,” Masiello said. “The test is the measurement of what did they learn.”

“For me it has been seeing the growth, how they were when they first came in,” Butler said, while pointing to a chart tracking reading level progress. “For some I am just amazed how they have grown a year’s growth in a short time.”

Butler said her scores last year weren’t especially high. But, she said she is encouraged by the progress she sees week to week with students who come into the camp years behind in reading skills. Several of the students on Butler’s chart had made significant gains, going from a first-grade reading level to the equivalent of a mid-year second grader, in just a few weeks.

Taking a break from recess Wednesday afternoon, Shadeed Wright, 9, said he had fun rapping poems in Ms. Butler’s class. He talked about how he liked seeing his friends in school over the summer, and he talked about his accomplishment of amassing a portfolio that qualified him for promotion.

“I feel like I’m ready,” Wright said. “I believe in myself, so I’m going to fourth grade.”

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Learning how to read, not just how to pass a test."