Posted: 2/14/07
Educators educate Senate panel
 North Branch staff (l to r) Carla Meemken, Sara Ertl, Rodney Reisnouer, Matt Dorschner, Julie Summer, and Jenny Rediske, describe their ideas for early education intervention, to a Senate panel. |
By Patrick Tepoorten
With state legislators set to begin debating the state budget for the next two years, members of the Senate Education Committee were invited to North Branch to hear two separate approaches to early education intervention.
The St. Croix River Education District (SCRED), which is comprised of the East Central, Hinckley-Finlayson, Pine City, Rush City, and Chisago Lakes school districts, described for the panel its all-encompassing program centered on its reading model and all-day kindergarten, while the North Branch school district proposed a targeted approach.
Six senators attended the listening session, including Rick Olseen (DFL - District 17), Chairman Charles Wiger (DFL - District 55), Michael Jungbauer (R - District 48), Sandy Rummel (DFL - District 53), Patricia Torres Ray (DFL - District 62), and David Hann (R- District 42). District 17B Rep. Jeremy Kalin (DFL), was also in attendance.
North Branch
District Superintendent Rodney Reisnouer opened North Branch's proposal by noting that it was not North Branch's intent to talk much about financing. "Our focus tonight is not to whine to you," he said.
While it was understood the district does support all day/every day kindergarten, the early intervention program presented by North Branch, called the K-1 Initiative, centered on targeting the 20 - 25 percent of students that really need extra assistance in reading.
Those students, explained kindergarten teacher Juli Summer, would attend kindergarten on off days along with a regular schedule, in classes of about 15 students. The extra days would be comprised of half days with a teacher and a half day with a paraprofessional. In essence, it would create an all day/every day component for students struggling with reading.
The program would also entail a parent component, including the possibility of home visits and "dinner presentations" by district staff, to help parents help their children. As well, local senior citizens would be involved, as reading partners, and space would be sought at local senior centers, as the district does not have the space to accommodate the program.
Elementary school principal Matt Dorschner added that, while school districts might assume all parents have the skills needed to effectively help students with homework, "that is simply not the case." He also went so far as to guarantee the district could produce significant gains with the program.
Similar approaches would be used in first grade and, according to district representatives, would give the district two full years to intervene on students' behalf. Specifically, the students who demonstrate the most need, opening the door for a much more beneficial education through secondary school.
Rummel asked the district to expand on why the district was not seeking funding for all day/every day kindergarten for all students. Reisnouer replied that the district understands the state does not have money for it, and added that, even if it did, the district doesn't have the space to accommodate it. Further, if the district had the space, it wouldn't alter current class sizes.
Jungbauer asked the district if having lower class sizes in specific areas is important, would there be other classes which could sustain higher numbers.
North Branch administrators were unable to give specific examples of such classes. Reisnouer said only, "it is certainly better if all classes were around 15 students."
Reisnouer also stated that, even with state funds directed at lowering class size, the district still has numbers in the mid to high 20s from kindergarten through fourth grade. He added that it had been the district's intention to use those dollars for kindergarten through second grade only, but, "if we didn't spread it around we'd have 30 to 40 students per class in third and fourth grade."
SCRED
SCRED's approach, which it has had in place in various forms since the late 1990s, is geared towards a reading model called "Response to intervention" and an all day/every day kindergarten component for all students.
Representatives were able to demonstrate, using testing data over a period of years, that students have improved dramatically in areas of reading due to Response to Intervention.
The assessments are used to determine a host of things, from the chances of success on state standardized tests, to the need for educational intervention on students behalf.
Data collected since the mid-1990s shows marked improvement in the area of reading. Every grade has shown growth in reading fluency and average improvements of 20 words per minute by the end of the year over previous curriculum. Those 20 words can make a big difference, according to SCRED special education director Kim Gibbons. She explained that a third-grade student who can read 107 words per minute has a 72 percent chance of passing state tests, while one who can only read 87 has a 49 percent chance.
Response to Intervention has also had a dramatic affect on at-risk students. Between 1996 and the present day, first graders have gone from finishing the year in the low 20s to the mid-30s, and the upward pattern continues through sixth grade, where students read well over 20 words per minute faster than previous.
Part of SCRED also has an all day/every day kindergarten component that includes East Central, Hinkley-Finlayson, and Pine City. Jack Almos, superintendent for the Hinckley-Finlayson district, encouraged senators to fund all day/every day kindergarten for all students, and to center learning on the SCRED research-based curriculum. SCRED was able to demonstrate remarkable progress in both districts in grades one and two regarding reading rates.
Rush City Superintendent Vern Koepp, who is credited with being the first to adopt the curriculum, wrapped up SCRED's presentation. He said that educators face a "narrow window" in which to teach students reading properly, and that the situation should be approached with urgency.
"Unlike North Branch, I am not asking for part, I am saying go for the whole enchilada. How can we deny our kids that," he concluded.
A contrary view
Despite both district's support for all day/every day kindergarten, Reisnouer did provide a study by Rand Education that gave a contrary view. "Ready for School: Can Full Day Kindergarten Level the Playing Field?" studied almost 8,000 students from kindergarten to fifth grade and reported on a variety of indicators.
Among other things, the study found that any reading achievement created in kindergarten was lost by the fifth grade. In the area of math, the study found that all day/every day kindergarten actually had a negative affect on performance by fifth grade.
In conclusion, the study did not find all day/every day programs significant in education. "This study reinforces the findings of earlier studies that suggest full-day kindergarten programs may not enhance achievement in the long term."
Legislation
Sen. Olseen wrapped up the presentation by stating that he was impressed by what the educators had to offer and promised, "We have heard you loud and clear."
In the days following the presentation, Olseen and Kalin agreed to sponsor twin House of Representatives and Senate bills for the creation of the North Branch K-1 Initiative. The bills, which are being written now, are expected to create a two-year pilot program at a cost of $860,000.
SCRED, on the other hand, already has legislation making its way through the process. Sponsored by Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL - District 56), and Rep. Tim Faust (DFL - District 8B), the bills are of a much wider scope than those being considered for North Branch. SCRED's bills are an effort to make all day/every day kindergarten and the SCRED reading model the standard state-wide. SCRED was given roughly $1.2 million by the legislature to develop its program, and SCRED director Chris McHugh believes they have created the model. "We know it works," he concluded.
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