News & Press

EARLY INTERVENTION PROJECT WINS STATEWIDE AWARD

The three-year study grew out of a school assignment in grant writing completed by Matt Miller, then an eighth grade student, and now enrolled at Stanford University. Matt’s brother is dyslexic and was then a student at Chartwell School, a private school for children with dyslexia and related language-based learning difficulties. Matt wondered whether his brother could have avoided years of stress, failure and discouragement in school if he had been identified when he first entered kindergarten. John Alexander, then Executive Director of Chartwell, served as one of Matt’s early advisors, along with Barbara Johnson, Program Specialist in reading disabilities for the Monterey County Office of Special Education Local Plan Area and Doug Brown, then Coordinator of Special Education for the Pacific Grove Unified School District. Upon completion of Matt’s assignment, he and his advisors decided to carry out the proposed study. They submitted a revised version of Matt’s early assignment to the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. In December 2000, the Packard Foundation awarded a special project grant of $87,300 to Chartwell School as lead agency in collaboration with Pacific Grove Unified School District and the Monterey County Office of Education, for an early identification project for K-2 elementary students at risk for reading failure. The original hypothesis stated that an early intervention program that could both identify and remediate students who are at risk for reading failure could significantly reduce the number of students who require intensive intervention throughout their elementary years and decrease the number of students who experience reading difficulties.

The study began with entering kindergartners in Pacific Grove in 2001-2002. All students in the entering class were included, regardless of language background or potential handicaps. Although it is not possible to diagnose dyslexia formally as early as kindergarten, it is possible to determine if a student is at risk for potential reading failure by assessing proficiency in early reading indicators such as phonemic awareness and alphabetics.

The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skill (DIBELS) was selected as the measure to be utilized to screen 104 kindergarten students in the Pacific Grove Unified School District (PGUSD). The most important reason for choosing the DIBELS was that it assesses the essential pre-reading and early literacy skills that are discussed in both the National Reading Panel (2000) and the National Research Council (1998) reports. The DIBELS is also cost effective. Materials are free and a fee of one dollar per year per student is in place to monitor student’s progress. The brief tests are easy to administer, and allow for student progress to be tracked multiple times in an academic year. In Pacific Grove, students were tested three times per year for three years on key pre-reading and reading skills and received instruction based on an evaluation of their scores. Classroom teachers, reading specialists and instructional aides used instructional materials that met the specific needs of each student at risk for developing difficulties in reading. The DIBELS tests also showed which students had mastered specific skills and when they needed additional instruction in different skills in order to reach benchmark goals.  Matt Bell, Principal at Robert Down School reported “The DIBELS focus on specific reading and/or pre-reading indicators has helped staff focus on those same indicators, which, in turn, produces better readers for all students, not just those needing intervention.” 

“Our results mirror those of national studies in helping children read and learn successfully by identifying potential learning challenges and offering extra instruction before the student ever falls behind their peers,” commented Douglas Atkins, Chartwell’s current Executive Director. “The results of this project broadly demonstrate that early identification and intervention can reduce the number of students who are at risk for reading failure.” Even those students who still did not reach benchmark levels for specific reading skills by the end of grade 2 made significant progress. Teachers and administrators remarked that they observed increased skills in students’ phonemic awareness (recognition that words are made up of a series of sounds), understanding of alphabetics (knowledge that letters written in a certain order are associated with specific sounds that make up words) and reading fluency (speed and accuracy). Most notably, the educators stated that the use of the DIBELS allowed them to focus on specific reading indicators, track individual progress and intervene with dedicated focus for specific reading skills. Educators and administrators in the PGUSD reported, “Kindergarteners have never come so well prepared for 1^st grade.  I’m sending them off to 2^nd grade stronger than ever!” “The program has been great! I hope it continues.”  In addition to Robert Down School and Forest Grove School in PGUSD, which are continuing the Early Intervention program, Foothill School, Tularcitos School, and Spreckels School have also begun implementing early reading assessment and intervention models using DIBELS along with some local private schools.

The results of the study also demonstrated that efforts at remediation of reading difficulties beginning in kindergarten can decrease the numbers of students later referred to special education. In addition, the Early Intervention Project provided insights about the most effective and efficient methods of conducting this type of intervention. For example, teachers who adopted the new teaching methods in their regular classrooms reported greater satisfaction with the project and commented that their students seemed better prepared to read and are more enthusiastic about reading. 

All three of the collaborating partners are very encouraged by the results of the study and plan to help other schools learn about and adapt the methods used to meet the specific needs of their populations. Future plans for the dissemination of the results of this study include a continuation of literacy symposiums, teacher training in best practices for reading instruction, workshops for educators, parents and community members on early intervention and the development of a lending library at Chartwell to support area schools who could benefit from additional resources to supplement reading curriculum. All interested schools can contact the Kristen Atkins, Outreach Director at the Chartwell School or Matt Bell, Principal at Robert Down School for information of how to obtain access to these services. 

Since 1983, Chartwell School has educated students with dyslexia and related language disabilities through instruction that is research based and emphasizes an explicit, systematic, phonetically based multi-sensory approach. Students spend an average of 2-4 years at the school and then return to the mainstream school of their choice. The only school if its kind on the Central Coast, students commute from the three communities of the Salinas Valley, Monterey Peninsula, and Santa Cruz County. Chartwell currently enrolls 101 students, ages 6-14.

Educators at Chartwell School have always been committed to sharing their knowledge and expertise about best practices in teaching students who struggle to learn. “Recent research suggests that 99% of all students can learn to read when they receive quality instruction by a highly-trained teacher, yet National Assessment of Educational Progress statistics report that nearly 40% of fourth grade students cannot read at grade level,” commented Kristen Atkins, Chartwell’s Outreach Director.

Chartwell School’s outreach programs also include workshops on various aspects of learning for parents, professionals, and community members in Seaside, Salinas, and Santa Cruz.  Chartwell participates in a learning partnership with other schools and youth organizations, a teacher training partnership with California State University Monterey Bay, and Learning Support Advisor services. Atkins commented, “We are grateful for this opportunity to share our knowledge with other local schools and youth organizations and are accepting inquiries from other organizations interested in early intervention. ”

For more information about this Early Intervention Study, or to learn more about how you can implement an early intervention program in your school, please contact Kristen Atkins, Chartwell School Outreach Director at 831.394.3468 or katkins@chartwell.org. Websites relevant to this story include www.chartwell.org for Chartwell School; www.csba.org for the California School Boards Association, www.pgusd.org for the Pacific Grove Unified School District; www.monterey.k12.ca.us for the Monterey County Office of Education; http://dibels.uoregon.edu for the DIBELS.

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