Literacy First

This comprehensive, research-based reading reform process is designed to strengthen teachers' and principals' skills to be "consciously competent" problem solvers and decision makers when it comes to increasing student reading achievement.

Reading Recovery

This pullout program provides one-on-one tutoring by highly trained teachers to kindergarteners and first-graders with reading problems so that they may read at grade level and continue improving with out further remediation. Students receive a half-hour individual lessons each day for 12 to 20 weeks. As soon as students can read within the average range of their class and show that they can continue to achieve, their lessons are discontinued and new students begin individual instruction.

READ 180

This computer-supported program focuses on building the reading fluency and comprehension of struggling intermediate students. The program has five major components: (1) instructional reading where the students read leveled, content area passages and are directed to skill lessons on word recognition, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary and spelling; (2) modeled reading where the students listen to audio books in which a peer coaches model-fluent reading and self-regulated comprehending; (3) independent reading where students read independently from paperback novels appropriate to their reading level; (4) teacher-directed instruction where students and teachers interact daily through whole group and individualized instruction, and (5) assessment that lets the student and teacher know the student is progressing.

Smaller class size

In this organizational strategy, extra teachers are hired, thereby reducing the number of students in a classroom. This strategy is effective in increasing student achievement when teachers carefully assess students' abilities and adapt their teaching methods to meet each child's needs.

Coaching / modeling best practices in the content areas

This is a method of ongoing professional development and support for teachers and students. A curriculum specialist is available in the school to help teachers assess students' needs, design appropriate instruction, model teaching methods and help teachers refine their teaching methods.

Differentiated instruction

This is a from of instruction that seeks to "maximize each student's growth by meeting each student where she is and helping the student progress. In practice, it involves offering several different learning experiences in response to students' varied needs. Learning activities and materials may be varied by difficulty to challenge students at different readiness levels, by topic in response to students' interests, and by students' preferred ways of learning or expressing themselves.