They tried common pullout times for each grade level. Neither option worked well. The plan has paid off handsomely. Reading scores are climbing, and more kids are meeting state benchmarks. On a typical morning, first-grade teacher Marion Lei leads a Junior Great Books discussion group during literacy block.
Hands shoot up furiously.
Like the miller's daughter, Grout's classroom teachers are giving away their kids. But they're happy to do it. Of Lei's 26 students, five are attending an ESL literacy group, two are at a drama workshop, and three are with a special-ed instructor. Because all staff teach during the literacy blocks, student-teacher ratios drop dramatically. Many specialized groups contain only five to eight students.