Savannah-Chatham public schools grapple with reading, testing and making a difference | savannahnow.com

Hubert Middle School eighth-grader Ahmad Moss had a journal entry to write, text to read and a list of vocabulary words to define Tuesday, and that was just during his math class.

Promotion requirements for grade-level reading are going up again this year, and Hubert Middle School plans to be ready.

At the end of last school year more than 2,600 Savannah-Chatham public schools students in grades two through eight failed to meet the grade-level reading and state test standards for promotion.

This year’s move to even higher standards has the potential to academically decimate students at inner-city schools such as Hubert, where 45 percent of the enrollment comes to school already reading below grade level.

In response, for the last several years, Hubert’s teachers and staff have intensified efforts to strengthen reading skills. Every class, from Ahmad’s math class to the science lab and even the locker room, has incorporated meaningful reading and writing into the lessons.

Class schedules include time for every student to devote 60 minutes exclusively to reading. Several assessments are administered throughout the year to determine student reading deficiencies and areas of growth. Hubert administrators effectively use the data to map out reading action plans for each student. Those who struggle the most get even more reading time before and after school. Those who are proficient are given the assistance they need to perform above and beyond the standard.

“I probably spend five hours reading every couple of days,” Moss said.

And it has paid off.

The percentage of Hubert seventh graders who read on grade level jumped 18 percentage points from 43 percent in 2012 to 61 percent in 2013.

via Savannah-Chatham public schools grapple with reading, testing and making a difference | savannahnow.com.