Secondary schools in the Person County system are taking students on "Reading Journeys" to augment reading and comprehension skills, and although the program is in its infancy, teachers say they now have better teaching tools and that they are seeing progress in their students.

Sandy Davis, assistant schools superintendent for six-12 education, said she began searching last February for ways to help struggling readers at the middle and high school levels.

She wanted focused intervention strategies, she said, that would help children "become more effective readers."

Davis also emphasized this week, while observing a sixth-grade class at Northern Middle School, that she wanted to use research-based methods that were proven to help sixth- through ninth-grade students improve their reading, understanding and comprehension of various types of written materials.

The school system is using state funds that were set aside for reading remediation and acceleration to target 45 students at each middle school for the entire academic year and a comparable number at the high school over two semesters.

Davis said three teachers – one at each school, received initial training in the Voyagers program before 2006-07 classes began and that they continue to receive professional development as the term continues.

Wendy Staskiewicz, who teaches the Passport Reading Journeys classes at Person High School, said, "One of the things I want parents and students to understand is that this program is an opportunity, not something shameful. Our reading program is similar to what colleges and universities do all the time. They use test scores," she said, "to decide who needs a refresher course in reading, writing, or math. The refresher course is not a punishment, but a way to ensure that students are successful."

Lisa Pittman, the Northern Middle School Journeys teacher, said the program gives her "a tool box" to use in the classroom to identify exactly which reading skills her students possess and how best to help them build upon those skills.

Some of her students show progress on a daily basis, she said.

"They come in here frustrated," Pittman said, because they aren’t strong readers. But when she uses the Journeys tools to assess how best to work with each student at their own level, "when they make that connection" in reading, "I see their eyes light up and they have that ‘eureka moment.’ I can see their attitudes changing daily," the teacher said with pride in her voice.

According to Davis, many students who are well beyond the elementary grades still struggle with reading and need help building upon essential skills. According to Voyager Expanded Learning, L.C., which offers the Reading Journeys program, nearly eight million students in fourth through 12th grades struggle to read at grade level.

By using the company’s research and research-based methods, educators have new instructional tools and strategies that have been proven to benefit students who are at risk of academic failure, Davis and Pittman said.

Davis said students in Person County are guided to the Journeys program based on individual school assessments.

Jerry Caricofe, NMS principal, said he and NMS teachers used past reading scores and end-of-grade scores to place students according to their skill levels.

Caricofe said NMS administered a skills test at the beginning of the school year to see where students were in their reading abilities. Tests will be given during the year to determine progress.

"We did all we could to get [the program] to the people who most need it," the principal said.

Three sixth-grade students said they were happy about Reading Journeys.

Lakeisha said, "It helps me understand and read better." She said she likes to read "funny books," and that the reading program has helped her "understand better what a book is talking about."

Emily said the program had helped her "learn, and get my brain started. It gives me knowledge," she said of the program, "and helps me understand big words."

Emily likes to read "funny and scary books."

When she grows up, Emily hopes to become a movie director, a professional basketball player and a game warden.

Lakeisha has big plans for the future too, as she hopes to be a teacher, a track star and "do hair."

Vunchaseia, also a sixth-grade student at NMS, said she thought Journeys was a "good program. It is helping me learn more words and read better," she said, thus allowing her to "do better in school." She likes to read mysteries.

Staskiewicz said of her ninth-graders, "My students are quite bright in other areas; they just need to enhance their reading skills. I have been surprised to discover that many of my students are not slow readers. They actually read too quickly to understand and absorb the material."

Students use the computer labs at school to perform their "Solo" reading one day each week. During this time, the students use the computer program that accompanies the teacher texts, student workbooks and literature for the program.

The computer exercises feature reading passages, word recognition tools, comprehension strategies and self-tests. When students complete their Solo flight each week, they are able to print out a certificate of completion that shows how well they did on that day’s work.

The program also provides built-in reading connected text assessments and benchmark assessments based on the Lexile® Framework for Reading, which tells teachers and parents where their students are, not only by grade level, but by skill level within the grades.

Pittman said she could give her students text that would challenge, not frustrate them, thereby giving them a chance to enjoy their work while also building their skills to a higher level.

"It helps me understand where a child is and how to help (him) be successful," the teacher said.

In addition to Pittman and Staskiewicz, Diane Knott teaches the Journeys program at Southern Middle School.