Their percentile rank in Reading rose from 27th in 1998 to 45th in 1999. Even though the average scaled scores remained steady at 222 for the two years, fewer students scored at the Failing level on the 4th grade MCAS English Language Arts test in 1999 than in 1998. The reading program in Chelsea uses a variety of approaches. Title 1 teachers work with the classroom teacher for most of the time. Silver Burdett is used for literature in Grades 1-3 and students respond to literature daily by writing about what they have read.
Students read silently each day and there is also a period of teacher reading aloud.
In third and fourth grades, students are instructed in test taking strategies for ten minutes every day. This program has a structured phonemic awareness and phonics component, and dictation is done daily. It also has a literature collection. As these students progress into grades 2 and 3, the Open Court series will continue to be used. Reading assessments are done at the beginning of the year to determine needs by principal.