CPS Striving Readers in Brief

CPS-SR is a major undertaking by the 64 participating schools that are working to transform literacy teaching and learning, especially for struggling readers in Grades 6, 7, and 8, and by the district and service and resource providers contributing to these efforts. The following description makes this clear.

CPS-SR has three goals:

1. Redesign schoolwide reading instruction for all students (Tiers 1, 2, and 3) in all subject areas based on scientifically based reading research (schoolwide component).
2. Intensify reading support for struggling readers through in-class (Tiers 2 and 3) for Grade 6 and extended-day (Tier 3) intervention for Grades 6, 7, and 8 (intervention component).
3. Empower teachers to apply knowledge and skills in research-based instructional strategies to classroom practice (professional development component).

Reaching these goals will bring about the following outcomes:

1. Each project year, participating students who move into the “meets and/or exceeds standards” categories based on ISAT reading achievement scores will exceed the performance of the control group.
2. Each project year, the gap in reading achievement between participating student subgroups will indicate an improved decrease based on disaggregated ISAT reading achievement scores as compared with the control group.
3. Students participating in Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions will improve their reading achievement levels as measured by performance on the May administrations of the ClassViews assessment as compared with October baseline data.
4. There will be a decrease in the number of students required to attend mandatory summer school, as compared with previous years.
5. Participating teachers will demonstrate mastery of the program’s research-based principles, as observed in the application of their knowledge to instruction planning and classroom practice, as compared with baseline data.
6. By the end of the project, teachers will fully implement all research-based best practices covered in their professional development in daily classroom routines, as measured through observations and self-assessment and compared with data from previous years.

CPS-SR will pursue the three goals and reach the six outcomes through implementing a comprehensive, coordinated literacy program across the curriculum in Grades 6, 7, and 8 of 29 schools, 14 & 15 each in two cohorts (as of summer 2009).