East Grand School District, Colorado

The current initiative on literacy began at the elementary school level, and now the middle school and the high school are also focusing on this topic. State assessments, such as the CSAP, and the push for accountability and standards at the local level have driven the district to adopt literacy as its primary goal.

The district is addressing literacy in a number of ways. Four literacy coaches form the literacy team. The LA is a member of this team. They receive training on how to teach teachers to help children with literacy. The school also has learning centers, which address student literacy needs. Through this structure, each faculty member is assigned to focus on one literacy area, such as writing, or phonics. They teach students in a small-integrated group for one class period. The teachers then rotate throughout the learning centers to ensure that all students receive instruction in all literacy areas. In addition, all teachers, including those in classes such as physical education and art, are bringing writing into their curriculum. This year, incorporating literacy into each class is on a voluntary basis. Next year, however, incorporating literacy goals into every class will be mandatory for all faculty; all teaching personnel will be required to include literacy curriculum in their courses. Commercial programs, such as Step Up to Writing, STAR Reading Program, Reading Across the Disciplines, and Multisensory Reading Strategies, are currently used to help students with writing.

Currently, the literacy effort is supported by a grant from the Colorado State Department, as well as a federal Lighthouse Grant that enabled them to fund the initial literacy efforts. These grants have helped compensate the literacy coaches within each site and provided professional development funds to foster participation in in-service training. The grants will not be renewed after the end of this academic year.

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