1. SMITH MIDDLE SCHOOL

2. At SMITH MIDDLE SCHOOL parent
communication is essential!
This leads to….
•Parents can support schools by knowing what changes are occurring in school
practices and instruction.
•Parents who know their children best, are in the best position to inform
schools about their children’s needs
•A parent’s interest/encouragement can affect a child’s attitude towards
school, classroom conduct, self-esteem, and motivation

3. TRENDS IN
DATA
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Smith Middle School Reading
Proficiencies
6th
Grade
7th
Grade
8th
Grade
• 6th grade has consistent data from
year to year.
• 8th grade show significantly less
proficiency than the other
grades, additionally, it typically has
less than half of its students scoring
proficiently.
Let’s follow a group of students:
2007, 6th grade: 62% proficient
2008, 7th grade: 56% proficient
2009, 8th grade: 42% proficient
This particular group of
students, along with the others that
are tracked in this data, show
significant decreases each year.

4. Comparison Reading Proficiency Scores
Smith Middle School vs District
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
7th Grade Reading
Proficiencies
Smith
Middle
District
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
6th Grade Reading
Proficiencies
Smith
Middle
District

5. 30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
8th Grade Reading Comparison
Proficiencies
Smith
Middle
District

6. Recommendations
for 6th grade:
Provide explicit instruction and
supportive practice in the use of effective
comprehension strategies throughout the
school day
Examples of effective comprehension strategies
researchers have studied include:
• Active comprehension monitoring that leads to the
use of fix-up strategies when comprehension fails
• Use of graphic and semantic organizers, including
story maps
• Question generation
• Summarization and paraphrasing
selective rereading.
Motivational recommendations from:
Five Areas of Instructional Improvement to Increase Academic
Literacy By: Joseph K. Torgesen
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
6th Grade Reading
Proficiencies
Smith
Middle
District

7. Recommendations
for 7th grade:
Teach essential content
knowledge so that all
students master critical
concepts
• Making sure students have
background knowledge about the
topic they are reading about. This can
be done through cross curricular
planning among all the subjects
• More vocabulary instruction using
high-utility words and skills such as
using context clues to have word
consciousness.
Motivational recommendations from:
Five Areas of Instructional Improvement to
Increase Academic Literacy By: Joseph K.
Torgesen
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
7th Grade Reading
Proficiencies
Smith
Middle
District

8. Recommendations
for 8th grade:
Increase students' motivation and
engagement with reading
This can be done by:
1. Content goals for instruction, students need
relevant and engaging goals through their
reading instruction.
2. Choice and autonomy support, students will
need to help decide which books they read, or
how their assignment is formatted.
3. Opportunities to collaborate with other
students, this can also combine their love for
technology so that they can collaborate and
communicate through on-line sites such as
Edmodo.
Motivational recommendations from:
Five Areas of Instructional Improvement to Increase
Academic Literacy By: Joseph K. Torgesen
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
8th Grade Reading
Comparison Proficiencies
Smit
h
Midd
le
Distri
ct

9. THANK YOU!
Thank you for to the teachers of Smith Middle
School for their willingness to focus on
continuous improvement and making
changes to instruction that is focused on
student learning outcomes.
A special thanks to the 6th grade
teachers, under the leadership of Mr.
Johnson, for their hard work over the last
five years in maintaining their scores, and
helping us to plan for future improvements.
And……
Thank you to our wonderful parents who
are willing to go above and beyond to
support their children!