Supporting our Youngest Readers
Rapides Head Start to 3rd Grade
Literacy Initiative
Our Vision
Rapides Parish Schools are relentlessly committed to providing a supportive and innovative educational system that ENGAGES our community, EMPOWERS individuals, and ELEVATES our people to their maximum potential.
We Believe
Rapides believes our students can and will achieve as well or better than any other students across our great state and across our country.
What is our mission?
All students are reading on grade level by the end of 3rd grade.
We believe all students will have improved literacy outcomes through high-quality instruction and interactions by effective teachers supported by leaders and families.
District initiatives will focus on:
Purpose of a K-3 Literacy Screener?
Act 520 requires that all students in grades K through 3 be screened by a single statewide screener the first 30 days of school, in December and in April. This screener is used to identify which students may be at risk for experiencing reading difficulties so that teachers can provide timely and effective support. The literacy screener also assists in identifying students for further evaluation for specific programming, including students who display characteristics of being dyslexic or gifted.
K-2: Where are we now?
All students will read on grade level by the end of third grade.
23-24 DIBELS PROFICIENCY & GROWTH | |||
| BOY | EOY | GROWTH |
Kindergarten | 33% | 61% | 28% |
1st Grade | 50% | 63% | 13% |
2nd Grade | 55% | 53% | -2% |
3rd Grade: Where are we now?
All students will read on grade level by the end of third grade.
23-24 ELA LEAP PROFICIENCY & GROWTH | |
| Percent Mastery + |
Rapides | 50% |
Louisiana | 44% |
MISSION POSSIBLE
“Elevating Reading Proficiency for ALL Students”
ROAD MAP for Reaching Literacy Goals
District-wide Tier 1 Curriculum
Systematic Support
Structure: PD & Coaching
Effective Scheduling Alignment Resources
Family & Community Engagement
Effective Collaboration to Support Data
Multi-
layered RTI
Success of core
instruction is
dependent upon
students mastering
these emergent skills.
Connecting Literacy Screener Data to the Science of Reading
Supporting with High-Quality Materials
Equipping all classrooms with high quality Tier 1 materials & resources and creating standard-aligned assessments.
Supporting with Systematic
Support Structure
Ensuring students receive high-quality instruction from effective teachers by supporting schools and teachers through ongoing professional development opportunities
Pre-K Teachers & Admins will be trained on the following:
Supporting with Systematic
Support Structure
PreK - 3rd Grade Lead Teachers, ELA Teachers, and Administrators will participate in ongoing leadership training to ensure the following:
Systematic Support Structure
All supports created to ensure student success.
Supporting with Systematic
Support Structure
Ensuring students receive high-quality instruction from effective teachers by supporting schools and teachers through ongoing professional development opportunities
What kind of support? | Leadership Learning (Quarterly System Analysis) | Instructional Coaching with Tiered Support | Weekly Data Analysis (EL Champion Collaboration) | Monthly Lead Teacher Meetings |
Who does the support target? | School Administrative Teams and District Instructional/ Curriculum Personnel | Ongoing, on-site professional development for leadership teams and teachers. Model lessons and interventions for students. | School Administrative Teams and District Instructional/Curriculum Supervisors; feedback then delivered to teachers | School Administrative Teams and Lead Teachers |
Supporting with Effective Scheduling & Alignment of Resources
Guidance for development of Literacy Schedules:
Highly effective MASTER SCHEDULES utilize and maximize all resources to support Head Start -3rd grade literacy goals.
Supporting with Multi-layered RTI Plan
Tier 1: All Students Receive High-Quality Instruction
Tier 2: Increase Support for At-Risk Students Students
Small Group Instruction 3-5 times a week; 20-40 minutes:
Up to 4 students with the Same Needs
Tier 3: Intensive Interventions
Small Group Instruction or 1:1 Instruction Daily; 20-40 Minutes
All K-3 students are screened three times a year for reading proficiencies with DIBELS Next through Acadience Learning. These screeners are a set of brief tests that measure essential skills like phonological awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, and comprehension that are needed for students to become proficient readers.
If a student is determined below benchmark from screening results:
IASP: Individual Academic Support Plan
Supporting with Literacy Plans for Students Working Below Level
All students in grades 4-5 who score unsatisfactory, Approaching Basic, and Basic on LEAP in math and/or ELA are required to have an IASP.
IASP: Individual Academic Support Plan
Supporting with Literacy Plans for Students Working Below Level
High Dosage Tutoring (HDT) is a research-based instructional model that explicitly addresses students’ unfinished learning from core instruction and leverages extra time to prepare students for grade-level content in math and reading. Act 771 of the 2024 Louisiana Legislative Session requires school day embedded tutoring for certain Kindergarten through 5th-grade students.
Supporting with High Dosage Tutoring
Supporting with Data
Informed Decision Making
| What are we going to measure? | What assessments will we use? | How often will we progress monitor to determine if the supports are working? |
Pre-Kindergarten & Head Start | Foundational Skills; alphabet knowledge, vocabulary and oral language, phonemic awareness, and listening comprehension | Mclass: Preschool Early Literacy Indicator (PELI) to determine who is at risk and in need of interventions. | 3 times a year; progress monitoring of students receiving additional, targeted early literacy instruction |
Progress toward meeting Louisiana state standards (Early Learning and Development Standards) and Head Start standards (Early Learning Outcomes Framework) throughout the year. | Teaching Strategies GOLD (TSG) Online Portfolio System | Teaching Strategies GOLD Report Card; Literacy and Math; three times a year after checkpoints Teaching Strategies GOLD Report Card; Development Domains (Cognitive and Language); three times a year after checkpoints; Early Head Start |
| What are we going to measure? | What assessments will we use? | How often will we progress monitor to determine if the supports are working? |
Kindergarten | Foundational Skills: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary & Comprehension | Mclass Screener to determine who is at risk and in need of interventions. | 3 times a year; progress monitoring every 3-4 weeks *Students will receive targeted interventions as needed. |
The phase at which a student is currently reading and spelling, gauge approximate grade level and mastery of the Louisiana State Standards | Microphase Benchmark Assessment | 3 times a year | |
Progress toward meeting grade-level expectations of Foundational Reading ,vocabulary and Reading Comprehension Skills aligned to the Louisiana State Standards | Imagine Learning Diagnostic | 3 times a year | |
Progress toward meeting content standards (specific skills) throughout the year. | Standard-Based Progress Report to determine grade level mastery of standards. | Quarterly |
| What are we going to measure? | What assessments will we use? | How often will we progress monitor to determine if the supports are working? |
1st Grade | Foundational Skills: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary & Comprehension | Mclass Screener to determine who is below benchmark and in need of interventions. | 3 times a year; progress monitoring every 3-4 weeks *Students will receive targeted interventions as needed |
The phase at which a student is currently reading and spelling, gauge approximate grade level and mastery of the Louisiana State Standards | Microphase Benchmark Assessment | 3 times a year | |
Progress toward meeting grade-level expectations of Foundational Reading, Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension Skills aligned to the Louisiana State Standards | Imagine Learning Diagnostic | 3 times a year |
| What are we going to measure? | What assessments will we use? | How often will we progress monitor to determine if the supports are working? |
2nd Grade | Foundational Skills: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary & Comprehension | Mclass Screener to determine who is below benchmark and in need for interventions. | 3 times a year; progress monitoring every 3-4 weeks *Students will receive targeted interventions as needed |
The phase at which a student is currently reading and spelling, gauge approximate grade level and mastery of the Louisiana State Standards | Microphase Benchmark Assessment | 3 times a year | |
Progress toward meeting grade-level expectations of Foundational Reading, Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension Skills aligned to the Louisiana State Standards | Imagine Learning Diagnostic | 3 times a year | |
Student independent reading level and growth. | STAR | 3 times a year |
Supporting our Youngest Readers
With data informed decision making
| What are we going to measure? | What assessments will we use? | How often will we progress monitor to determine if the supports are working? |
3rd Grade | Foundational Skills: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary & Comprehension | Mclass Screener to determine who is below benchmark and in need for interventions. | 3 times a year; progress monitoring every 3-4 weeks *Students will receive targeted interventions as needed |
Progress toward meeting grade-level expectations of Foundational Reading and Reading Comprehension Skills aligned to the Louisiana State Standards | iReady Diagnostic to determine what type of supports are needed. | Diagnostic: Growth monitoring checks every 4 weeks. | |
Student independent reading level and growth. | STAR | 3 times a year | |
Proficiency and growth in reading literary text, reading informational text, vocabulary, written expression, written knowledge and use of conventions of language. | LEAP | ELA Proficiency Exams; Growth monitoring with assessment indexes throughout the year; analyzing data from iReady standards mastery |
Supporting with Family and Community Partnerships
District: Community & Parent Connections
#RapidesReads
Schools: Cultivate a learning environment that instills and fosters a love of reading!
A “Literacy Team” is formed that includes all stakeholders and establish goals and updated the literacy plan.
#RapidesReads
District: Community & Parent Connections
23-24 Literacy Task Force:
#RapidesReads
District: Community & Parent Connections
Reading Revival Camps and Enrichment Highlights
All students will be reading on grade level by 3rd grade in Rapides Parish! This is our MISSION, and it is POSSIBLE!