Middletown LEADS way on literacy instruction
School district is one of 17 in New Jersey chosen to pilot teaching methods
BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN - The state's fourthgraders recently placed second in the country behind Massachusetts in reading proficiency with a score of 231, according to the New Jersey Department of Education.

Middletown interim Superintendent Karen Bilbao happily announced the news to those in attendance at the Sept. 26 Board of Education meeting.

In a study, the NJDOE also found what they call a "middle grades drop-off" that shows declines in reading proficiency after fourth grade.

At the meeting, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Humanities Fred Carrigg presented a new "literacy design" that is being introduced into the district's curriculum.

"It is important to remember that this is not a program, or a series of books," Carrigg said. "It just comes down to good instruction."

The literacy design is being called LEADS, or Literacy is Essential to Adolescent Development and Success. Middletown was chosen by the NJDOE as one of 17 pilot districts where the LEADS model will be introduced.

LEADS breaks down into three tiers of instructional design. The first tier stresses whole group instruction, which focuses on developing a higher order of thinking skills. It is used to expand the students' vocabulary and give more background knowledge.

Tier two breaks down into smaller groups of five or six where the teaching is broken down into an instructional level with the teachers. This helps the students learn in smaller groups.

The third tier focuses on intervention, which would help struggling readers on an individual basis, as opposed to being pointed out in a classroom setting. Reading assessments will be given to students who fall below the average reading level. "They are assessments on reading," Carrigg said. "They are not tests. Remember that."

The subjects that will be taught are language arts, social studies and science. Over the summer, Carrigg led two separate week-long training sessions for teachers in the topics of vocabulary instruction, guided writing and phonics and vocabulary, to name a few.

Bilbao hopes that LEADS will keep the students of Middletown reading at the advanced proficiency that they have exhibited.

"Our students have to learn it, apply it, then hopefully use it in the future," Bilbao said.