Rowan, Haddon Heights Partner for Reading Project
Rowan, Haddon Heights Partner for Reading Project
April 9, 2002
More than 50 students from the College of Education at Rowan University are participating in a joint Rowan/Haddon Heights Public Schools Professional Development School project focusing on reading and improving comprehension in elementary school students and through Friday, April 12, from 10:30 ? 11:15 a.m., they will travel to Glenview School, 1700 Sycamore Street, Haddon Heights to review that project in action.
Through a Goals 2000: Professional Development School grant from the State of New Jersey, Haddon Heights is working to transform Glenview Elementary School (grades K-3) into an action research site. The site is being used to investigate the impact of intensive professional development on changes in classroom instruction and the use of guided reading on student achievement in the area of reading comprehension.
Teachers have moved from whole class instruction to working on guided reading with very small reading groups (for a part of their instruction), for which they are maintaining running records of the children?s reading work. The approach ensures students have access to appropriately difficult texts to read, thereby enabling them to become more active learners.
By visiting the classrooms this week, the Rowan students, all who are elementary education majors, will have an opportunity to see how an experienced teacher manages multiple activities, including a reading group. (Fifty students also participated in this project last fall.)
Additional Rowan students, who are completing a reading certification program, have been helping collect data on the young readers, a vital step in arranging the groups, and some have volunteered in the classroom.
Dr. Kathy Ganske, a professor in Rowan?s Reading Department, has worked with Glenview teachers on techniques and lessons, among other aspects of the program. ?This type of partnership is advantageous for both the schools and the university. We have sites where our students can see best practices in action, and we get to help teachers develop their best practices,? Ganske said.
NOTE: In addition to Rowan students observing the Glenview classes this week, Haddon Heights teachers will visit Rowan throughout the day on Wednesday, April 17, in, Robinson Building, to meet with students for a follow-up sharing after their visit to Glenview School and to address other interested students.
Through a Goals 2000: Professional Development School grant from the State of New Jersey, Haddon Heights is working to transform Glenview Elementary School (grades K-3) into an action research site. The site is being used to investigate the impact of intensive professional development on changes in classroom instruction and the use of guided reading on student achievement in the area of reading comprehension.
Teachers have moved from whole class instruction to working on guided reading with very small reading groups (for a part of their instruction), for which they are maintaining running records of the children?s reading work. The approach ensures students have access to appropriately difficult texts to read, thereby enabling them to become more active learners.
By visiting the classrooms this week, the Rowan students, all who are elementary education majors, will have an opportunity to see how an experienced teacher manages multiple activities, including a reading group. (Fifty students also participated in this project last fall.)
Additional Rowan students, who are completing a reading certification program, have been helping collect data on the young readers, a vital step in arranging the groups, and some have volunteered in the classroom.
Dr. Kathy Ganske, a professor in Rowan?s Reading Department, has worked with Glenview teachers on techniques and lessons, among other aspects of the program. ?This type of partnership is advantageous for both the schools and the university. We have sites where our students can see best practices in action, and we get to help teachers develop their best practices,? Ganske said.
NOTE: In addition to Rowan students observing the Glenview classes this week, Haddon Heights teachers will visit Rowan throughout the day on Wednesday, April 17, in, Robinson Building, to meet with students for a follow-up sharing after their visit to Glenview School and to address other interested students.