A Tale Of Two Schools

     In the movie A Tale of Two Schools, both were going about revamping their educational programs to something that they felt will benefit their struggling students. Both schools were similar in the aspect that they were behind academically( low state test scores), high poverty rate, and both wanted to set in place programs to help students decoding skills. The two schools introduced in this video were Bearden and Walton Elementary Schools.
      Bearden Elementary School is located in Mississippi and adopted the Project Read Program. The program has students sound out vowel sounds in order to decode words. The teachers at the school, however, have lack of resources and feel unprepared when trying to teach to the program. There is a lack of support at the school to help teachers adapt to the program. There was a women who came in to demonstrate to the teachers how the program was to work and it was clear that the teachers were not adapted to the style of the program. I feel that this program can work with populations of students, however, the lack of preparation and the lack of understanding the teachers have to implement this program has set this program up to fail from the start in my opinion.
     Walton Elementary School is located in Texas and has adopted the Reading Mastery program. The programs focus is to sound out words with the support of symbols. Students use this system to work on decoding of words. All the supports for this system are words with symbols and no pictures are added to the books. The program is scripted and easy to follow for the teachers. I feel that this program seems to have a good response from the teachers and students who are using this program.
     Both of these schools have more strives to go to make their students fluent readers . I believe that both programs need more comprehension skills added in to the programs. The programs focus so much on decoding that they miss the mark on comprehension and fluency skill building. Students spend so much time decoding words, that I feel they do not work on the ability of how they understand what they read and whether they read with proper accuracy, expression, or speed. That being said, both programs are not perfect.  I would say that the program that seems to work best or that I would pick would be the Reading Mastery. All the students seem to like the program and the teachers have the tools they need in order to teach the program. Compared to Bearden, Walton seems to have prepared and adopted their program better. I think this program seems to be effective in teaching decoding skills for reading. I still feel there needs to be more incorporation of comprehension and fluency added to the program as well as picture books. It seems that each school was trying to focus on decoding and with that in mind Walton is the best representation of mastering the skill of decoding to read.

A Tale of Two Schools

Christa A. Hernandez

      Choosing one of the reading programs from "A Tale of Two Schools" to implement in my own classroom was challenging because both Bearden and Walton Elementary Schools were struggling with various aspects of education; ranging from a lack of resources, to poor family environments, as well as low esteem teachers due to feeling unprepared. However, I do believe that both Project Read and Reading Mastery could be beneficial if used in the correct district. For example, in more affluent towns who are supplied with the necessary amount of supplies, resources, and educated professionals. Overall, the basis of the programs are essentially a great tool to help students read, however, when combined with the demographics and status of Walton and Bearden students, little to no progress was made. 

      Walton Elementary decided to use the program Reading Mastery, which is a prewritten script that walks teachers through each lesson word by word. The basis of the program begins with letters and their sounds and although eventually works up to higher order thinking, allows very little creativity to be implemented into the classroom when "following the directions." Therefore, it would worry me that if I chose to use this program, my classroom would become a regiment with no thinking outside of the box. There would no longer be lessons that the students would be able to relate to and remember because it would be repetitious and predictable. I find it hard that the people who wrote this program took into account every childs' different learning style or ability. Therefore, it would be hard to use such a structured text when students capabilities vary. However, even though these could be issues for most, some students could advance their reading ability. Tavares for example, may not have been caught up with the rest of his class in terms of reading level, but he did make strides in the right direction. Personally though, I would have a very rough time using this in my class due to my specific teaching style and what I believe in, as far as making learning matter to students and having them be able to use unconventional ways of learning to ensure academic progress.

      Bearden on the other hand, I think with the right training for their staff, would have had a very influential program in Project Read. Clearly this was not the case though, which is another reason I had a hard time choosing which program I would use. Yet, if all the right needs were met by both the supervisors and the teachers, I do believe that Project Read would be a more beneficial program for elementary students. If teachers were given the right amount of time and resources to learn the necessary information and were supported by the school, it would be much more creative and engaging than Reading Mastery. Using signals and phrases to me, is more helpful than reading a script word for word with no room for reinvention. Students can interact with the lesson and have more of an opportunity to be involved. Therefore, because they are more involved there would be a higher chance that they would be able to put meaning to the knowledge they are learning.

A Tale of Two Schools

Nikki Morgan

After watching A Tale of Two Schools, I couldn't help but feel both inspired and saddened. It was inspiring to see the teachers at these schools work so hard for their students to succeed in reading, yet it was sad to see the harsh reality that many schools face: the inability to read.

At Bearden Elementary in Mississippi, their reading program - Project Read - had a focus on decoding. However, this program was difficult to prepare for because there was a lack of training. The teachers did have the freedom to choose their approaches, but it proved to be difficult. On top of that, the school was located in a very poor, rural town where parental involvement in school was rare. At Walton Elementary in Texas, Reading Mastery was the reading program being used. This also had a focus on decoding. However, this program had more structure, as well as more support. The program was not literacy-rich, though, and did not contain much connected text, pictures, or color. Walton was located in a more urban/inner city area.

If I had to teach at one of these schools, I think I would choose Walton. As much as I would want to help Bearden's students, their reading program does not have the structure that I would need to make sure I am on the right track with teaching my students to read. Although Walton isn't literacy-rich, I would make sure to include these types of materials in my classroom to reinforce what my students are learning. I also feel that Walton's Reading Mastery program was more effective. It was great to see how happy and excited the teachers and students were when they found out that their school did well on the TASS test.

If these programs were used in more affluent areas, I think they would be even more successful because there would be more support, particularly parental involvement. Parental involvement is very important, and it is sad that there is not much of it in urban or rural areas. However, I do not believe that just because a student is living in an urban or rural area does not mean he or she cannot succeed. All children are teachable, and all children can learn. It just takes great teachers to help them and guide them in the right direction.

A Tale of Two Schools

As I watched the video, “A Tale of Two Schools,” I was very saddened by the fact that so many schools in such a rich country are not given the proper resources needed for students to receive the adequate education they deserve.  I found it very heartbreaking that children living in poorer areas of the United States are having so much trouble learning how to read due to the fact that their schools are not provided books for them to learn from.  In addition, the students are growing up in homes, apartments, or even outhouses where there is very little print and their parents do not care to read to them.  In Fort Worth, Texas, as the video mentions, three-quarters of the population is living in poverty, and since children are in and out of apartments, they are in and out of school and not receiving a proper education.  In Walton Elementary School, Reading Mastery is the instruction program that teaches letters and sounds, and also includes spelling, writing, and reading stories.  As I watched the video, it became evident that Reading Mastery is a positive program for the reason that it is very structured and gives students a lot of stability.  It also seems to be much more effective and has been more successful at helping students learn to read than the Project Read program at Bearden Elementary School in Sumner, Mississippi.  However, I feel as though Reading Mastery is very scripted and agree with critics that it squeezes creativity out of the classroom.  Because teachers read word for word from a script, the class is very robotic and makes the students act as robots. 

Although I find the structured routine aspect of the Reading Mastery program a bit annoying, I think I would still prefer to teach it over Project Read.  Jill Todd at Bearden Elementary seems to have a really tough time teaching her students, because the program is more complex, requires extensive teacher training, and grants freedom but with little professional development.  Because it is not very structured, it seems to be unorganized and thus makes it harder for students to learn to read.  On the other hand, Reading Mastery seems to motivate students and keep their attention in the classroom.  Even though Tevares is still struggling while his classmates are gaining fluency, his teacher, Mrs. Jackson, often encourages him and makes him actually enjoy being in school.  I loved how Mrs. Jackson used Tevares to help a younger girl with her reading skills and how she allowed him to become the teacher in the classroom.  In order for achievement to take place, students need teachers who are dedicated, hardworking, determined, and confident that every single child can learn and be successful. 

While these two reading programs certainly could be used in more affluent areas, I do not think either one of them would be.  Schools in affluent areas are more likely to have better resources, appropriate textbooks, and much more assistance when teaching children decoding and reading comprehension skills.  Therefore, I feel as though the reading instruction programs in an affluent area would make print readily available to the students at all times and thus be much more beneficial to their learning experience.  I also feel that, because students in affluent areas are much more used to print, teachers may not have to work as hard or implement such difficult programs as Reading Mastery and Project Read.  While I do feel as though Reading Mastery is effective and has been very successful, I believe that there are more effective techniques that can and should be used to help students learn to read.  I know that, if I were to teach Reading Mastery in my own classroom, I would make it much more fun for my students and not as robotic. Nevertheless, I do realize how difficult it is to teach students how to read and understand that student achievement requires a great deal of patience, devotion, motivation and love.

Blog 1

    After watching the "Tale of Two Schools" it upset me because as the movie mentions early on, the school in Texas had 3/4 of the children living in poverty and in Mississippi a majority of the students were living in third world situations. It is sad because in America we like to think that everyone has an equal chance to learn, but there is no denying that it is much more difficult for these children. Teachers said that many of the students have never even read a book until they came to school and many don't even know how to hold it or the basic parts of a book. I think it is very important as a teacher to realize that not all students are going to have the resources at home to practice reading, and although you can only teach them in school, I would definitely try to have a library system for those children so that they can take home classroom  books so they can practice at home. They even said that the town library was shut down in Mississippi, which really puts the students at a disadvantage.
    If I was a teacher I think that I would want to use the Project Read program. Even though they did not seem to have a lot of professional development and support to use the program there is more freedom for the teachers. I did not like that the Reading Mastery program was so scripted and that the students could only read the books made for the program. The letters were turned into symbols and to me that is not going to help them when they transition to regular books. Also the books were all words and did not have any pictures. I also think it is important for children to read books from different kinds of authors and see the different styles of writing and the different kinds of illustrations, so that they can decide what they enjoy. Although Project Read didn't seem as effective as Reading Mastery I think it was because the teachers lacked knowledge of the program and tools. They used different hand gestures and little rhymes that I think could help students to read and they can remember them for when they are on their own. Reading Mastery on the other hand seems like it works best when there is a teacher there instructing the students, but when they are on their own I don't think that it helps them out as much.

A Tale of Two Schools

I have never been in a school that is like Walton and Bearden Elementary and it made me realize what it's like for so many children and teachers out there.  I am used to being in schools that have libraries full of books as well as classrooms full of books and it was sad and eye opening to see these two schools and the daily struggles they face.  I think it's easy for many students to take reading for granted because they learned it so early on and once they learn it many don't even keep up with it while there are millions of students out there (like Tavares) who would give anything to learn to read and have books available to them.  One scene in the movie that really effected me was when the principal of Bearden elementary resigned.  This was a man that was at the school for years and basically deserted his own children and wife because he was at the school the entire day every day and year after year he felt he was getting nowhere.  He had the state on him because of low test scores but yet the state would not give them any funding and no matter how hard he and the teachers worked-there seemed to be no progress.  So after he gave it his all he felt like he had to move on.  It's sad that one person has to even work that hard every day every year and even more sad that there is no progress yet constant criticism.  This was a man who cared about his students and his staff but he became completely wiped out and had nothing left in him.  That must have upset the students and probably made him feel that all those years and work were for nothing.....

In the movie the two schools had different reading programs and different outcomes. Walton adapted reading mastery and Bearden had project read.  Walton students were moving forward and becoming very proficient in reading while Bearden students were falling even more behind.  It was interesting to see the two programs that I have never heard of before and see two very different results.  Both schools worked very hard to implement these programs but only Walton succeeded.  Walton teachers were trained in reading mastery while Bearden teachers had little or no training with Project Read.  Both schools also lacked books and comprehension material to go along with it. 

I would have to choose Reading Mastery as the program I would implement in my classroom because it seems so successful and the students seemed to be happy and engaged.  I also feel that I didn't get as good of a sense of what Project Read was about because it was so disorganized.  Reading Mastery  was a successful program that the teachers and students were happy with and the students did learn to read-it's proven it works.  The weakness with the program--but this was also mainly due to lack of funding-is that there weren't books available for the children to learn with as they learned the program.

I do feel that this program would be effective in an affluent area for kindergarten and first graders.  It teaches all the main components that children need to start off with--phonics-which includes sound and word recognition.  It would be great for K and 1st graders and then they could go into more advanced reading programs from there. 

Blog 1- A Tale of Two Schools

After watching “A Tale of Two Schools,” I was undecided about which reading program I would want to implement in my future classroom. Both Reading Mastery and Project Read have great things to offer children, but also things that I would want to do differently. However, I believe that both reading programs can be used in an affluent area. They were created to be a beneficial tool to aid students’ reading, which could help all children, not just the students who are struggling.

            We saw the teachers at Walton Elementary use Reading Mastery to teach literacy to their students. Reading Mastery is a structured reading program that constantly teaches letters and letter sounds. Gradually, elements of spelling, writing, and reading stories are added in. This program requires the teacher to read a script word by word. Although this makes it easier for the teacher to learn and adapt to the program, it does not make a creative learning environment. The teachers are confined to the words they choose, which means that the text and information is not being taught to the students in a way that is meaningful to them. As we have learned in previous classes, student learning is more effective when the students can relate the material being learned to their lives. In spite of this, I did see that this was an effective program. Tavares Gross’s reading progressed throughout the year in both comprehension and fluency. He may not have been at grade level, but he was reading.

            I would only want to use Project Read if I was in a supportive school. The teachers at Bearden Elementary felt unprepared and needed more training. Because the program uses physical cues to help children learn, it was more difficult and time consuming for the teachers to learn. However, I feel that this program was more fun and creative for the students. The hand movements and cute sayings got the students involved in the lesson, and helped them to remember the information they were learning. I also saw student progress in comprehension and fluency from the program.