ANNOUNCEMENTS

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 26
February 2, 2007

TO: Division Superintendents
FROM: Billy K. Cannaday, Jr.
Superintendent of Public Instruction

SUBJECT: Reading First Academies for Special Education Teachers

The Office of Elementary Instruction and the Office of Special Education Instructional Services at the Virginia Department of Education are pleased to announce Reading First Reading Academies for Special Education Teachers. Teacher Reading Academies for special education teachers of grades four through twelve will be offered in four locations. Attendees may participate in an intensive four-day academy or a regular five-day academy. Participants must attend the entire academy.

These academies will provide a focused professional development experience for special education teachers of students with reading difficulties. This professional development training may be used by teachers to satisfy the reading/English/language arts requirements of the High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) approved by the Virginia Board of Education on February 25, 2004.

The academies include sessions on the critical components of a comprehensive program focusing on scientifically-based reading research with emphasis on interventions for struggling readers, word attack skills, fluency, spelling, vocabulary development, comprehension strategies, and strategies to differentiate instruction within content area text. There is no cost for registration or materials. Lunch will be provided each day. Transportation and lodging expenses will not be reimbursed.

Priority registration will be given to teachers from schools accredited with warning and schools that did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) due to the subgroup of students with disabilities.

Detailed information for the 2006-2007 Reading First Academies for Special Education Teachers may be found in the attached document.

Questions regarding the Reading First Reading Academies for Special Education Teachers should be directed to Marie Ireland, special education specialist, Office of Special Education Instructional Services at (804) 786-9775 or by e-mail at Marie.Ireland@doe.virginia.gov or to Patience Scott, Reading First coordinator, Office of Elementary Instruction at (804) 225-3203, or by e-mail at Patience.Scott@doe.virginia.gov.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/suptsmemos/2007/inf026a.pdf

February 24, 2006

TO: Division Superintendents

FROM: Patricia I. Wright
Acting Superintendent of Public Instruction

SUBJECT: 2006 Reading First Teacher Reading Academies

The Department of Education is pleased to announce the Reading First Teacher Reading Academies to be held during the summer of 2006. These Teacher Reading Academies continue the professional development opportunities provided by the state as part of the Reading First grant. The academies are based on materials produced by the University of Texas, Center for Reading and Language Arts, and modified for use in Virginia by the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education.
Each academy includes a series of sessions built on scientifically-based components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, and will be offered in a four-day configuration from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
The Teacher Reading Academies are open to all Virginia administrators; teachers of kindergarten, first, second and third grades; as well as K-3 English as a second language (ESL) teachers, Title I teachers, and K-3 special education teachers during the summer of 2006. However, registration priority will be given to schools in divisions that received Reading First grant funding. School divisions are encouraged to send entire grade-level teams to the academies.
Registration will be conducted through each academy site and will begin April 3, 2006, for schools receiving Reading First funding, and April 24, 2006, for all other schools. The dates, locations, and registration information for the 2006 summer academies are located in the attachment.
Questions regarding the Teacher Reading Academies should be directed to Gail Barnes, reading first coordinator, via e-mail Gail.Barnes@doe.virginia.gov or telephone (804) 371-5378.

Click here to download the pdf file of this memo.

Clarification on Required Assessments

The Virginia Reading First approved application to the U.S. Department of Education requires four types of assessment: screening, progress monitoring, diagnostic and outcome. Each year of the grant the reading skills of all students must be assessed with screening, progress monitoring, and outcome measures. Diagnostic assessment is only administered to students whose screening scores or progress monitoring scores indicate the need for further assessment.

As you know, Virginia was approved to use the following assessments:

Screening: PALS-K and PALS 1-3, with the *Word Use Fluency section of DIBELS 6th edition *Word Use Fluency was added to screen for receptive vocabulary - a Reading First requirement.

Progress Monitoring: The LEA could choose a progress-monitoring instrument. The VDOE recommended PALS-K and PALS 1-3.

Diagnostic: The LEA could choose a diagnostic assessment. VDOE recommended PALS-K and PALS 1-3 for kindergarten and first grade students.

Outcome: Stanford Reading First Edition for grades K-2 and English SOL for grade 3.

Screening

Since the department could not provide the testing materials or needed training before the start of the 2003-2004 school year, the Word Use Fluency section of DIBELS was not administered during the first year of Reading First. Starting in the fall of 2004, the Word Use Fluency section of DIBELS will be administered. It will be given each time PALS 1-3 is given. Thus if you use PALS 1-3 for progress monitoring, you will also use the Word Use Fluency section of DIBELS.

During the summer of 2004, VDOE will provide training to all Reading First coaches in administering the Word Use Fluency section of DIBELS. The coaches, in turn, will train the teachers in their schools.
Materials for Word Use Fluency of the test will be downloaded from the Departmentís web site by each reading coach. The estimated time for administering this section of DIBELS is one minute per child.

Progress Monitoring

Progress monitoring is a classroom-based instructional reading assessment that evaluates children's learning based on a systematic review by teachers of children performing academic tasks that are part of daily classroom instruction. This type of ongoing assessment will determine if students are making adequate progress or need more intervention to achieve grade level reading outcomes. For Reading First purposes progress monitoring should have benchmarks, reliability and validity.

The core reading programs all come with progressing monitoring assessments. These assessments along with the mid-year PALS assessment and Word Use Fluency section of DIBELS meet the Reading First requirements for progress monitoring. Since the core reading programs have multiple options for assessing student progress, the district's Reading First reading specialist will work with each principal and coach to decide which core reading program assessments will be administered and how often they will be administered.

Reading First Colleagues:

We have had many inquiries regarding Kindergarten through grade 2 LEP students taking the Stanford Reading First test as an outcome measure for Reading First requirements. After meeting with the department's ESL specialists, we are providing the following guidance on how to proceed with the Stanford Reading First test for LEP students identified as Levels 1 or 2 according to the English Language Proficiency Standards of Learning.

The K-2 LEP students identified as Level 1 according to the English Language Proficiency Standards of Learning should not be given the Stanford Reading First test,
The school level LEP committee should determine whether K-2 LEP students identified as Level 2 according to the English Language Proficiency Standards of Learning are capable of successfully completing the Stanford Reading First test,
K-2 LEP students identified as Levels 3 or 4 according to the English Language Proficiency Standards of Learning should take the Stanford Reading First test, and
Since students in grade 3 will be taking the Reading SOL test as an outcome measure, LEP students will follow the department's guidelines in administering the test.

Thank you for your continued support in working with us as we continue to refine the parameters of Reading First.

Sincerely,
Virginia Reading First Management Team