The Garfield County School District 16 is getting federal funding to help teach kids to read and write – welcome news for a district that has seen some struggles in those areas.
The district has been awarded two federal grants to boost student literacy.
The grants total more than $400,000 and will cover things like professional development for teachers, literacy coaching and classroom materials.
One, the Comprehensive Early Literacy Grant, is a new grant that supports kindergarten through third grade students. The other, the Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant, supports students across all grade levels, with funding that began last year.
“This really enables us to focus on literacy, K-12,” said Superintendent Jennifer Baugh. “And literacy not just being reading, but also includes writing and speaking — so all communication.”
With the Colorado Department of Education placing emphasis on its Science of Reading literacy initiative, Baugh said the grant will come in handy. The Science of Reading program focuses on the teaching of phonics — helping children connect written letters to the spoken sounds they make, to help them read and write.
“That’s the early stages of learning to read, where … you recognize that letters and combinations of letters make particular sounds and how you blend them together,” Baugh said. “And that’s basically what phonics is — it’s reading through the word. And research has found that over the last couple of decades, phonics instruction hasn't been as strong as it could have been. And we are finding readers who just can't break down any kind of word.”
Baugh said the state’s emphasis on phonics will force many school districts to examine their existing curriculum around phonics and make sure that teachers are given the proper resources for instruction.
“It doesn't mean we forget about reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, all that’s really important. But if the kids can't read the actual words, all that's for naught,” Baugh said.
Baugh is well-aware of the literacy challenges facing her district, which includes Parachute and Battlement Mesa, where poverty is high and many children are English language learners.
The district struggles when it comes to state literacy assessments.
Baugh said about a third of Garfield 16 students are English language learners.
“So they're not just learning, and should be learning English, but we also want them to develop their Spanish literacy as well, so they’re truly biliterate, not just bilingual,” she said. “And in those instances parents might be challenged to help them at home because their [own] English proficiency might not really be there.”
“So that is a challenge,” she added. “But it's not a hurdle we can't overcome. And we find that over the course of time, that population of students does very well on state testing.”
Baugh, who was an English teacher and a reading specialist prior to becoming superintendent, believes that her students can get better at reading and writing. She touts the library’s “robust” programs that connect parents with resources to help their kids do well in school. And she said parents in her district proudly show up to support their kids in all academic and extracurricular activities.
Baugh wants to use the grant funding as “an opportunity to build a stronger connection from school to home.”
“These are our kids, our neighbors, our friends, the people we go to church with … they are all part of the community,” she said.
“We just want to give every kid the best shot at the opportunity to do whatever it is they want to do,” Baugh said. “Education shouldn't be a limiting factor for them in their hopes and their dreams.”
