Overview of Program

The Read to Succeed Program is an intervention provided in small group or one-to-one instruction to support at-risk learners, specifically struggling readers. Read to Succeed is offered to students in grade three to twelve who have difficulties with reading fluency and/or comprehension who are two or more grade levels behind.  The goals of Read to Succeed are to improve reading performance and to gain confidence and skills necessary to work independently in a regular classroom.  The teachers are trained to implement the program daily (90 mins/day) in addition to the regular Language Arts instruction and work in groups of 15 or 28 with two teachers.  The program is viewed as an intensive support which aims to move children out of the program quickly as they gain confidence and competency and learn to read for both information and enjoyment.  The Read to Succeed program relies on consistent communication and collaboration between the regular classroom teacher and the trained Read to Succeed instructor, with recommendation of a Read to Succeed Team in every school.
Every year, the Read to Succeed program has averaged a double or tripled gain in reading comprehension (measured by the Gray Oral Reading Test).  Read to Succeed is viewed as a strong intervention for supporting struggling readers and promoting a lifelong love of reading.

Saskatoon Public Schools (2009) Read to Succeed Review and Action Plan: Recommendations: A Report of the Read to Succeed Review Committee

Assignment Four Project Logic Model R2S

GOAL	OBJECTIVES	ACTIVITIES	OUTPUTS	OUTCOMES	IMPACTS
Statement of the overall purpose of the project	Specific statements of what the project sets out to accomplish	Specific tasks to complete through implementation of the project	Immediate results (direct products of project activities)	Intermediate results (1 to 3 years after project starts)	Long-term results (3 to 10 years after project starts)
To improve reading performance To build and foster student confidence in reading and writing To build background knowledge (curricular outcomes) students are missing in content areas Foster a love of reading for knowledge and enjoyment Teach students the reading - writing connection Teach students that reading and writing are communication tools (to convey messages)	To gain the confidence and skills necessary to work at an independent level in the regular classroom setting For students to improve one grade level equivalent (GLE) in one year (at least) Establish good language habits through modeling  and explicit instruction Students have metacognition, independence and control over their learning Students learn to read well enough to handle the grade level materials they learn at school	Training of teachers in Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM) Small groups of 15 students (or two working with 28 students) The Read to Succeed program is embedded into the school day as uninterrupted every day for 90 minutes, on top of regular daily Language Arts Systematic approach to instruction Collaboration across classrooms with support staff, resource room teacher, English as an Additional Language teacher and classroom teacher(s) Explicit goals and expectations Sequence of phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, vocabulary, fluency, reading comprehension strategies and comprehension skills implemented daily Writing every day Read Alouds from teacher daily Daily silent reading Word study and word work daily (including classifying)	Monitoring of program and successes based on curriculum Ongoing daily formative assessments Word assessment 3 times during each PWIM cycle Summative assessments three times a year (as students come into the program, January and June)	Students have exited the program and are academically successful in their classrooms Students are able to apply the learned reading and writing strategies to aid in their learning Students read to find new information and for enjoyment Students can read and write at grade level Students have confidence as readers, writers and learners	Competence in reading and writing becomes proficient so that they can function in society as productive democratic citizens An enjoyment of reading for knowledge and pleasure Critical thinking based on reading
Goals and Objectives represent the Strategic Directions of your Project		Activities comprise the Project Work Plan, which should include details for each activity (Who?, What?, When?, Where? How?)	Outputs link directly to project activities; activities are what is done…outputs are the expected results of what is done	Outcomes relate to your objectives; objectives are desired, outcomes are the expected results	Impacts relate to goals; a goal is desired, impacts are the expected end-results

Assignment Three

           A READ to SUCCEED PROGAM at one school

Who should be involved? 

Students, Classroom Teachers, Read to Succeed Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Superintendents, Resource Room Teachers, English as an Additional Language Teachers, and Literacy Teachers.

How might they be engaged?

By collecting observations, feedback, opinions, data and through conversation, each of the stakeholders can provide reflection and the success or failure of the Read to Succeed goals.

           Focus the Evaluation

What are you going to evaluate?  Describe program (logic model).

The program I have chosen to evaluate is the Saskatoon Public School Divisions’ Read to Succeed Program.  The goals of the program are to improve student reading performance and instill confidence and competency so that children may work well independently in a regular classroom.  Progress is also gained by gains made in Grade Level Equivalency (GLE).

What is the purpose of the evaluation?

The purpose of the program is to evaluate whether the program is reaching it’s goals and to what extent. 

Who will use the evaluation? How will they use it?

Who/users	How will they use the information?
Read to Succeed Teachers	Teachers working directly with students, eg. Read to Succeed teachers, Resource teachers and classroom teachers will be able to evaluate whether or not they are reaching their goals.  Literacy teachers and consultants will be able to measure the gains made and the areas which require modification.
Literacy Teachers
Literacy Consultants
School Administrators	The principal and vice principal in the school will be able to measure the effectiveness of the program in order to improve the Continuous Improvement Framework set out by the Ministry and Division which is to create higher literacy rates among students.

What questions will the evaluation seek to answer?

Are the goals of the Read to Succeed Program clear and understood by all the stakeholders?  If not, what clarifications or additions are needed? What would each of the stakeholders proclaim the value or effectiveness of the program to be?  What extra training, resources, information or support do the stakeholders require in order for the goals to be attained?

What information do you need to answer the questions?

What I wish to know	Indicators – How will I know it?
The knowledge of the program of stakeholders.	Survey and interview.
The procedures and implementation steps of the program.	Interview and observation.
What is working well with the program?	Interview and Testimonials from stakeholders.
What is not working well or not being utilized and why?	Interview and survey.
What modifications could be applied to the program?	Survey and interview.
What information, training, supports and resources would make the program more successful?	Survey and interview.

When is the evaluation needed?

The results of the evaluation should be attainable by the end of April, so that they can be shared with the stakeholders and suggested modificationschanges in the final school report.

What evaluation design will you use?

The evaluation design used will be Provus’s Discrepancy Model which is designed to:  improving the existing Read to Succeed Program, address the greater accountability of educators to the public and make wiser decisions by administrators (and consultants) about the implementation and effect of the program. 

           Collect the information

 

What sources of information will you use?

Existing Information: Read to Succeed and Resource Room teachers’ evaluations and feedback on the program.  AFL and CAT/4 test scores as well as daily work gathered from the teachers.

People: Read to Succeed, Resource Room and Classroom teachers.

Pictorial Records and Observations: Observations obtained through learning walks and teachers opinions of student confidence and competence will be collected. 

What data collection method(s) will you use?

X	Survey	X	Document review
X	Interview	X	Testimonials
X	Observation		Expert panel
	Group techniques		Simulated problems or situations
	Case study		Journal, log, diary
X	Tests		Unobtrusive measures
	Photos, videos		Other (list)

Instrumentation: What is needed to record the information?

A survey must be created, as well as a set of interview questions seeking information about the goals and purpose of the program and it’s effectiveness.  A checklist for observation, based on a review of the Read to Succeed documents.  A gathering of student samples and assessments (recent and from the beginning of the program) to compare and ask teachers to comment on.

When will you collect data for each method you’ve chosen?

Method	Before program	During program	Immediately after	Later
Survey		X
Interview		X
Observation		X
Tests	X			X
Document Review		X
Testimonials		X

Will a sample be used? 

No	X
Yes		If yes, describe the procedure you will use.

Pilot testing: when, where, how? 

Pilot testing will occur before the evaluation begins specifically by looking at the survey questions, interview questions and tests collected by a groups of stakeholders.

           Analyze and Interpret

 

The surveys, interview questions and observations will be gathered and sorted so that they can be summarized and compared to the review of the Read to Succeed program review.  The testing of Grade Level Equivalency will be done prior to and after the evaluation. 

How will the data be analyzed?

Data Analysis: the survey questions, interview information and observation questions will be sorted and studied for similar attributes.

Methods: Common ideas, criticisms and suggestions will be grouped together, as well as measurement of growth (GLE).

Who is Responsible? The evaluators will be responsible for sorting the information. 

How will the information be interpreted—by whom?

The information will be categorized and analyzed, then shared with stakeholders to be analyzed again and interpreted by those directly involved in the day to day implementation of the program as well as by the administrators and literacy consultants downtown for suggestions and improvements. 

What did you learn? What are the limitations?

The stakeholders will meet to discuss the results and whether or not gains have been made.  They will discuss what implications might have occurred and what led to the successes or goals not met.  The stakeholders will develop a list of modifications or changes which could be implemented so that goals are attained.  The limitations might be the attitudes and opinions of the stakeholders with regard to the barriers which might exist in student success in the program Eg. Student absences, or transiency. Another limiting factor might be the resources suggested to improve the program.

 

           Use the Information

How will the evaluation be communicated and shared?

To whom	When/where/how to present
Teachers	A summarization of the findings will be presented to the teachers.
	A meeting or in-service would gather the stakeholders together to make suggestions and ofer improvements.
Administrators	Administrators would be included in the summarization presentation and the in-service.
Parents	A short report on the findings and the suggestions for improvement would be shared with parents (letter or email).

Next steps?

The stakeholders and evaluators would gather to design a timeline and actions related to the outcomes, the suggestions and the changes needed for improvement.  Administrators would then share the information with their superintendents.

           Manage the evaluation                      Standards

X	Human subject’s protection	X	Utility
X	Management chart	X	Feasibility
X	Timeline	X	Propriety
X	Responsibilities	X	Accuracy
X	Budget