The staff became one unit. People had mastered different areas of the program, so when we had component meetings, professional discussions got really strong.
SHERRY BROTHERTON, teacher and full-time SFA Reading Facilitator
The Challenge
Richards R-5 elementary school in West Plains, Missouri, is an example of an entire school culture that is wholly dedicated to reading. Richards has been using Success for All since 1998, and through the longstanding partnership, SFA evolved into “an entire campus philosophy,” according to reading facilitator Sherry Brotherton.
More importantly, the SFA schoolwide philosophy has allowed everyone to be on the same page in their approach to teaching reading. This was not the case prior to implementation of SFA. “Before we were
using basals, and every teacher was doing their own way of teaching reading. There was not a great deal of consistency,” says Brotherton.
The Results
By pulling together, and creating a consistent culture of learning achievement, the Missouri school has gone from strength to strength over the years. Richards made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2010 and has outscored the state average in reading proficiency despite the fact that the number of students who qualify for free or reduced lunch is 15% higher than the state as a whole.
“The art teacher, the computer science teacher, the gym coach – they are all pitching in to teach reading,” says Brotherton. “The parents have also prioritized teaching reading at home.”
“Everyone is trying to do what they need to do for the kids,” echoes Thompson.
Like most schools that embrace SFA, Richards has mastered the program enough to tweak certain aspects of the instruction to its individual needs while still adhering to the instructional framework. For example,
the school has added some extra emphasis to teaching authorial intent and poetry within the 90-minute SFA reading block. For Brotherton, such fine-tuning reflects the philosophy of a school that is unified behind the concept of continuous improvement: “There’s always a ‘we can do better’ philosophy.”