Program helps first-graders most

ATLANTA — An intensive reading program now in about 60 percent of Georgia's elementary schools appears to be showing promise for first-graders but has not proved as effective for older children, according to the first comprehensive report on the project.

The report, which is expected to be presented to the State Board of Education later this month, says the Reading First program has been especially helpful to pupils who are having the most problems learning to read.

"What this tells us is if it's going to be effective, we've got to catch the kids at the kindergarten, first-grade level because you're going to get diminishing returns as you get up in years," said state schools Superintendent Linda Schrenko, who has championed the phonics-heavy Reading First program. "If we can, we might want to even catch them in prekindergarten."

Armed with more than $13 million in Reading First funding, the board last spring added 252 campuses to the 351 that began receiving money for the program during the 1998-99 school year.

More than 232,000 Georgia pupils attend the grades in schools that are part of the program, according to Department of Education officials.

Reading First has mushroomed in the past few years, with funding increasing 51 percent alone for fiscal 2000, which began July 1. The General Assembly also approved a huge boost in money for after-school reading programs.

Earlier this year, national tests suggested 45 percent of Georgia fourth-graders were reading below the basic level.

Ms. Schrenko and the board promoted the program in hopes of dramatically reducing the number of pupils leaving third grade without solid reading skills.

The program requires schools to spend at least three hours a day teaching reading in kindergarten through third grade -- about double the time spent in most schools. Each child reads at least 25 books a year.

The grant money can be used for things such as reading materials and teacher training.

The program has been extremely popular with educators in some of the state's systems. For instance, Department of Education officials list more than 30 Reading First schools in Richmond County alone.

Meanwhile, the state's largest system, Gwinnett County, has developed its own intensive reading program.

The education department report on last year's 351 Reading First sites shows the average amount of time spent on reading instruction in those schools increased. However, the average amount of time spent on reading instruction was less than the required three hours.

Evaluators also found many schools didn't have the materials to fully start the program during the fall semester.

In testing, Reading First children did better than the preceding classes that didn't have the program.

Pre- and post-testing of Reading First pupils showed improved vocabulary and reading comprehension for first-grade children who took part in the program during the 1998-99 school year. However, the same testing suggests that "Reading First does not have a positive effect on achievement" in grades two and three, the report said.

"The data support the finding that Reading First appears to be most successful in grade one," the report said. "In both vocabulary and comprehension, well over half of the schools showed improvement in first grade.

"In grade two, when the spring pre-test and post-test scores are examined, the data showed that less than 40 percent of schools showed improvement in vocabulary, and less than 20 percent showed improvement in comprehension."

However, the report also indicated fewer children in the schools were being placed in remedial programs, possibly because their needs were being met by Reading First. And teachers reported fewer behavior problems among pupils.

The report found the program had an especially positive impact on "low-achieving students," those having most trouble learning how to read.

"That's what it's designed for. Reading First was always to be a remedial program," Ms. Schrenko said. "It's a program for those who don't get their skills in first, in second grade."

The superintendent said Reading First needs to catch problems early so teachers in later years don't have to undo the mistakes made in first, second and third grades.

Barbara Christmas, director of PAGE, the state's largest teacher organization, praised the program but said teachers need to do more than just teach phonics.

"I hear teachers continue to say you need a combination of approaches," she said. "All good teachers would say they want to emphasize phonics, but not at the expense of teaching (reading) comprehension.

"It's a good program, but I think good teachers have to remember all the other things they've learned about teaching reading."

Ms. Christmas also said it's too early to fully judge the program.

"We need to look at data over a number of years to see if those results are sustained," she said. "It's not how high you jump, but how straight you walk when you come down. Education reform is like that. We all jump real high when we see some new education program.

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