West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Reading AchievementWest Liberty High School Library

Improving reading achievement is the first

long range goal of WLCSD’s comprehensive

school improvement

plan.

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

• Mississippi Bend AEA awarded an Action Research Grant

• to establish a small collection of professional materials on the teaching of reading for faculty

• to provide sustained silent reading groups with immediately accessible, high interest books

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Professional Development

• For three years

• Faculty divided into groups to study:– instructional strategies for middle and high

school students to improve learning– instructional strategies for high school students

to improve reading– differentiated education

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Professional Development

During each inservice teachers studied a different instructional strategy and wrote a lesson plan utilizing the strategy. Within a month, the lesson was implemented and peer coached. Observations were turned into the library media specialist who led the inservices and to administrators. At the next inservice, the previous strategy was reflected upon in small group discussion.

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Professional Collection

• Books and videos on:– Instructional strategies – Differentiated instruction– Building ESL collections

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Sustained Silent Reading

• Students are required to read 20 minutes per day during advisement period. They may read newspapers, magazines, or books, even textbooks.

• The high school receives over 100 newspapers per day for 382 students.

• A class-sized set of Time is delivered weekly.

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Sustained Silent Reading

• The Action Research Grant enabled the library to purchase over 500 paperback books to distribute to the advisement rooms

• Students are invited to the library to select the books for their room’s basket.

• Baskets of easily accessible, high interest books are available.

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Students select SSR paperbacks

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

SSR, cont.

• Books may be rotated at any time.• Students are encouraged to read the

paperbacks in or out of school.• Teachers model reading• SSR groups are encouraged to talk about

books.• Read aloud groups meet in the library media

center.

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

SSR & ESL

• A specialized collection of SSR paperbacks was purchased for the ESL room.

• In English and Spanish

• High interest, low English reading skills• “The fastest way to get anyone to learn English is

to have them read a lot in English”…Krashen, The Power of Reading,1993.

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Results: Reading Proficiency ITED scores

• Percentage of students reading at intermediate or high levels

0102030405060708090

100

1999 2000 2001 2002

Line 1

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant

Results: teaching strategies

• Over the last three years, teachers have been utilizing early dismissal time to study research based instructional strategies. As a direct result over 914 new lessons have been incorporated into classroom practices.

West Liberty High School LibraryAction Research Grant