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Lordstown teachers improve literacy teaching skills

Staff photo / Raymond L. Smith Lordstown kindergarten teacher Karen Nelson, left, questions Trumbull County Educational Service Center language arts coordinator Angela Guarnieri about an instructional program that helps teachers use data to improve reading comprehension in elementary students.

LORDSTOWN — Making students better readers by tracking their progress in learning literacy concepts as they move through elementary and middle school were some of the goals of a one-day program sponsored by the Trumbull County Educational Service Center on Friday.

Several dozen Lordstown teachers attended seminars in which TCESC instructors participated two years ago after the county received a $2.1 million Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy federal grant. It is designed to help educators improve literacy among impoverished students, those with disabilities, second-language learners and those with reading disabilities.

Angela Guarnieri and Lauren DeJulio, both curriculum supervisors, were able to obtain federal funding in 2019. The program is a partnership between TCESC and the United Way of Trumbull County as part of the federal grant guidelines.

TCESC applied for the grant as a consortium that included Joseph Badger, Lakeview, Lordstown, Newton Falls, Southington and Weathersfield schools districts.

Since its inception, Trumbull County ESC has expanded use of the concepts developed through the grant program to other area school districts.

“I have had children who have entered the first grade reading at a basic kindergarten level, but by the time they leave my classroom to enter the second grade, they’re at grade level,” said Cindy Scoville, a first-grade teacher at Lordstown Elementary School. “This is an amazing program.”

Karen Nelson, a 35-year kindergarten teacher, said the Core 5 program has helped teachers understand the strengths and weaknesses of individual students.

“We are not pushing some students too fast or going too slow for those more advanced students,” Nelson said. “It advances on the speed they are able to learn. We provide a lot of repetition and practice in reading.”

Guarnieri, TCESC’s K-6 English Language Arts supervisor, described teachers tracking the progress of students at least three times per year to determine their growth over time.

“When students first enter classrooms, teachers determine their knowledge baselines and test them two other times in the year to determine how much they have grown or what may be holding them back.”

Teachers use universal screening data to track the progress of their students.

“We are showing teachers how to analyze data to provide ways to better serve struggling students,” Guarnieri said.

The program, which is designed for in-person intervention between teachers and students, was developed before the coronavirus pandemic closed most in-building classes in March.

“There was a loss of one-on-one instructional time,” Rich Zigarovich, Lordstown Elementary’s principal, said. “It is a loss that cannot be made up.”

However, despite the interruptions caused by the pandemic, Zigarovich described students achieving some levels of growth.

He expects even more growth as most classes in the district have returned to five days per week in the school buildings.

Bill Bosheff, curriculum instruction supervisor at TCESC, taught a class to middle and high school teachers focused on building understanding vocabulary and root words, as well as giving them a common language in their instructions.

“It’s not about teaching students certain words or how to read; it’s about recognizing the importance of literacy in every aspect of their education, building upon the skills our students already have,” Bosheff said.

Jenna Barvitski, a music teacher, expressed interest in learning how to use the English language skills in helping her teach music.

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