# Presentation: 600504

## St. Pius X Catholic SchoolIndianapolis, Indiana 

- Ted Caron, Ph.D., Principal
- Kathy Taber, Middle School Literature Teacher

**Building a Culture of Reading: How A School’s Philosophy, Curriculum and Instruction Help Promote Reading in Middle School**

## School Facts

**Catholic School serving students in grades K-8**
**430 Students (150 middle school students)**
**Northeast side of Indianapolis—part of Archdiocese of Indianapolis**
**26 credentialed staff and 11 supporting staff**
**Emphasis on research-based teaching strategies and utilizing technology effectively as a teaching tool.**
**ISTEP+ (Indiana state test); Indiana Reading Diagnostic Assessment; locally-constructed math and writing assessments**

## Creating a Context for Student Engagement: A Research Base

**NAEP data reveals that highly engaged readers evidence higher achievement than less engaged readers (Campbell, Voelkl & Donahue, 1997)**
**Students benefit when provided opportunities to select from a wide variety of texts (Morrow, 1996).**
**Students’ achievement and motivation to learn increase when presented opportunities to explore texts in conjunction with outside resources (Morrow & Young, 1997; Guthrie, Schafer, Von Secker, & Alban, 2000).**
**Social collaboration and discourse among students fosters interest and active learning over time (Zahorik, 1996; Nolen & Nicholls, 1994).**

## A School’s Philosophy About Reading

**An effective teacher...**
**values reading and helps students to value reading**
**helps students to select relevant and interesting literature from a classroom library**
**provides time for self-selected reading**
**models good attitudes and behaviors related to reading**

## Micro-Curricular Reading Strategies

**Varying novels**
**Teacher read-alouds**
**Partner reads with reflective writing**
**Participating member of Young Hoosier Book Award Program (Association for Indiana Media Educators)**
**Reading to younger students**
**Collaborative projects**
**“****Rocking Chair Reads”**

## An Authentic Approach to Literature Instruction

**Interviews**
**RAFT Writing**
**Newspaper Editorials**
**Character Poems**
**Postcards**
**Interview Responses**
**Using Webquests (Handout 1)**
**Panel Discussions (Handout 2)**

**Holocaust Panel Discussion (Video)**

## Macro-Curricular Reading Initiatives

**Valuing reading in a school’s curriculum planning**
**DEAR time**
**Great Books Seminar**
**Summer Reading Books**
**Using novels and small group experiences in earlier grades**
**Ipod Initiative**
**Book Clubs**
**Reading Incentive Program (younger grades)**

## Results

- Since 1999-2000: Average of 96.5% proficiency rate among 8th graders on Eng/LA portion of state assessment
- Overwhelming majority of middle school students rank in the 95th percentile of students on statewide assessment
- Attendance at after-school book club sessions
- Qualitative data suggests positive support from parents and students

## Key Learnings

## Challenges

**1) How do we continue to integrate technology to **
**further promote a culture of reading (e.g. blogs, **
**Wikis, podcasts)?**
**2) Foundational Reading Skills**** **
****
**Love of Reading**