Open Letter: Comprehensive Literacy Grant update

Dear Parents and Community members,

We would like to take the opportunity to review Lincoln School’s Montana Comprehensive Literacy Grant and update the community about progress we’ve made during this first year.

Due to this grant our school will receive $750,000 over the next three years! This money is being used to fund textbooks, technology, a preschool and many other benefits to the students. This grant requires proof of educational growth in our children. Growth is being measured using various metrics.

The first tool to measure growth is MAPS testing. MAPS testing is used to assess student growth in reading, English and math. Historically the MAPS tests have taken place in the Fall and Spring each school year. To better track student progress we have implemented a Winter testing session for reading and English. The MAPS testing is strictly used internally and is not a high stakes test.

Another tracking device is DIBELS. DIBELS assesses the fluency and retell of each child’s reading in the elementary school. In the primary grades DIBELS assesses the children’s ability to name letters and their sounds, and blend sounds to form words. Students in grades 3-6 read a passage at grade level for one minute to measure their rate of reading and accuracy. Students then have one minute to retell the passage they read to assess comprehension.

The students in grade 3-8 also take the Smarter Balanced (SBAC) test. The SBAC measures student achievement in math and reading. Smarter Balanced is the required state test for all schools, and its results will also help inform us about our students’ progress. This test is administered to Lincoln students in April.

We are taking this data and constantly analyzing and using it to know how to better help the kids. The data is used to find which students are struggling with reading concepts. We as a staff are doing our best to help these students to get back on grade level.

One of the ways we can do this is to give the students extra reading time in the afternoon. We call this hour WIN (what I need) time. The students who need extra help are going to teachers or paraprofessionals and receiving differentiated instruction. Our students who are reading at grade level or above grade level are working on homework, typing skills, I-ready (an online math program), AR reading, or any other work that their teacher thinks will help them to be more successful.

This grant is a wonderful opportunity to give our students more resources so we can help them to be the most successful people they can be.

If you have any other questions regarding the grant please do not hesitate to call Superintendent, Carla Anderson, or our grant coordinator, Annette Gardner, at 362-4201.

Sincerely,

Lincoln Schools