TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Vigo County School Corporation has achieved their highest pass rate ever on the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination.
IREAD-3 measures foundational reading standards in third grade students each spring and summer.
Thirteen of Vigo County School Corporation’s 18 elementary schools beat the state average, including Fayette Elementary School, which recorded a perfect 100% pass rate.
“Our teachers do an excellent job making sure our students are readers,” said Dr. Karen Goeller, deputy superintendent. “The consistently high quality of teaching across our district on a daily basis is a major reason why we have high IREAD-3 scores.”
The IREAD-3 assessment is part of series of exams created to support early reading instruction in grades K-3. Introduced as a part of 2010 legislation, the test asks third graders to demonstrate grade level reading proficiency before moving on to fourth grade reading instruction.
The scores are particularly impressive in light of Vigo County School Corporation’s mobility rate, which far exceeds the state average. Mobility rate measures how often a student moves schools, whether inside or outside a district.
Curriculum coordinators work closely with teachers to use a corporation-wide pacing guide so that students stay on track no matter what school they’re attending.
Students in the Vigo County School Corporation receive daily instruction as a part of a core reading program that focuses on phonic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Classroom teachers and principals work on daily interventions to ensure that every student is a reader.
Teachers, coordinators and coaches also run an intensive summer program to give second and third grade students additional literacy support.
Title I schools use a program called Reading Recovery, a one-on-one tutoring program for first grade students having the most difficulty learning to read and write. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program extends learning beyond the school day for students.
Vigo County School Corporation also attributes this success to a focus on pre-kindergarten education that started in 2009 with a Title I pre-kindergarten program at Deming Elementary School. That initial program was so successful that the following year, two more Title I prekindergarten programs were started.
Vigo County School Corporation now operates 13 Title I pre-kindergarten programs and four daycare/pre-kindergarten programs modeled after Vikes and Tykes at West Vigo.
On average, kindergarten students see an 11% jump in their DIBELS score—a test that measures early literacy skills—if they went to a pre-kindergarten program.
