Help Raise Student Test Scores - Listening Center Needed for an Academic Intervention Classroom

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

I am writing from PS 107, located in the Soundview section of the Bronx. This is a grades K-5 school that has a history of under-performance in English Language Arts and Mathematics. While the students make small gains each year in each subject area, we're still below the NYC average. Because of this, I am, in collaboration with the Yale University School Development Program, in the process of establishing an Academic Intervention classroom that will service our lowest performing students, on grades 2-4, in English Language Arts. What's special about this room is that it would be set-up with six work stations, each facilitated by a teacher, paraprofessional or qualified parent. This classroom model enables students to be in a highly stimulating learning environment, utilizing developmentally appropriate instruction, in areas such as guided reading, vocabulary development, story writing and publishing, and letter/sound correspondence. Because there will be an instructor at each work station, the children will be given intensive, individualized instruction where they need it the most. This classroom would be utilized throughout the day on a rotating basis, servicing students on grades 2-4, approximately 72 students all together. This model is beneficial to students because the adults instructing them will be able to build positive relationships with the students, get to know and understand their individual needs, and address their needs in small groups. Because the instruction is developmentally appropriate, the students will experience success, which will in turn build students' self-esteem, which will raise their own expectations. Positive self-esteem and high expectations result in healthy children. Healthy children are motivated to become successful. It will also establish a home/school connection - having parents volunteer, increasing parent involvement. Another important addition to this intervention classroom would be a literacy listening center. At this center, a small group of students, approximately six, would be able to listen to a story, while reading along with the book. This center is especially important for low performing students because they are able to follow along with a story, on their reading level, without constantly stopping to decode unfamiliar words. Also many students are auditory learners and process information a lot more efficiently when they can hear what they are trying to read. At this time, I am requesting the donation of a "Listening Center" and CD & Cassette player. This type of learning environment has been successfully implemented in many City of New Haven schools and has proven to raise standardized test scores in the lowest performing student population.