Fielding, a director of Kennewick Schools in Washington for over 20 years, will speak about his work with third grade students and the challenge of getting 90 percent of those students reading at grade level.
In the spring of 1995, after learning that only 57 percent of the Kennewick School District's third graders could read at or above grade level, the school board set what many people believed as an unattainable goal. The goal was to, in three years time, have 90 percent of third-graders reading at or above grade level by the end of the school year.
While not accomplished in three years, Kennewick had managed to achieve this "impossible" goal by 2006.
On Monday, Fielding will detail Kennewick's model for assuring that the top 60 percent of students continue to make annual growth while the remaining 40 percent of students — who have not achieved minimum state standards — make annual growth, plus necessary catch-up growth.
In this presentation, Fielding will discuss Kennewick's key strategies — including giving elementary school principals the authority to choose his/her own approaches, treating instructional time as a critical commodity and significantly increasing the use of data.
He is also scheduled to discuss how superintendents, boards, principals and professional teacher associations can work together in different ways to support high achievement.
In his presentation, Fielding will show school officials how to put the focus on direct instructional time; use literacy coaches to enhance classroom instruction and develop instructional leaders; take charge with good governance and clear goals; make the most effective use of district-wide instructional conferences; shift administrative focus to supporting classroom instruction with learning walks and the two-ten rule; get the right data from assessment systems for middle school and high school students, as well as elementary students; how much to increase direct instructional time for children who are behind; and set up reading blocks for students at all grade levels.
In addition to more than 20 years as a director of Kennewick Schools, Fielding has served for nine years as a director of the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) and for six years as a director of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NEA).
Fielding has presented at eight National School Board Association (NSBA) conferences, and is also co-founder of the National Children's Reading Foundation. He was the initial author of the “National Children's Reading Foundation's Ready!” for Kindergarten curriculum, and holds an LL.M in taxation from Georgetown University.
Middlesboro Superintendent Rita Cook hopes that Fielding’s presence will have a positive impact on the school district.
“It is a very inspirational story and one that we hope to emulate here in Middlesboro,” Cook conveyed.
Cook explained that Fielding will be attending the meeting at the request of the Elgin Foundation — who is currently working with the district on the reading endeavor.
“I do think our involvement in the Elgin Foundation program will benefit our community and students greatly,” Cook expressed. “And getting 90 percent of third-graders reading on grade level, by the time they exit third grade, would be a great accomplishment for any school district.”
She added that Fielding's book explains that, while some children come to school with school readiness skills, many children are behind in vocabulary and other academic concepts.
“It is said that students grades kindergarten through third grade learn to read, but students fourth grade and on must read to learn. So without these reading skills, our students will just fall further behind,” said Cook.
Adam Young is a Staff Writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. He can be contacted by e-mail at ayoung@middlesborodailynews.com.
Post a Comment
