Reading results are falling in Southwest Florida

LEE COUNTY, Florida – The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are evident in student test results from Southwest Florida. The latest Florida Standards Assessments show that Lee County’s third grade reading scores dropped eight percent from 2019 to 2021.

The Lee County School District put together a plan when they saw the latest FSA results.

Now over 1,600 third graders are participating in the district’s expanded virtual learning summer program. The pupils also have access to individual help with teachers via Zoom and 400 third graders are in their reading room.

Lenora Clarke has worked as an educator in various parts of the United States for the past 27 years, spending most of her time in third grade classrooms – a crucial age that can determine a child’s academic success in the future.

“Third graders come and are in third grade and can’t read. But we expect them to master this curriculum, which is characterized by literacy, literature, comparisons and contrasts and all these different skills. You can’t handle it, ”she said.

As a Peer Collaborative Teacher at G. Weaver Hipps Elementary School in Lehigh Acres, she left her own classroom to teach teachers how to help their students become better readers.

“For the past five years, it has been my practice to work with third graders who have these holes and fill those gaps,” she said.

She will continue to do so to improve reading results for the next year.

Hendry County’s FSA reading scores for third graders decreased 10 percent.

School District Superintendent Michael Swindle recommended that the school board approve two reading coaches for the district to help with the growing population, and they did so on June 15.

The new trainers are financed from federal funds.

Clarke says if your child isn’t in summer school or you don’t have access to their curriculum, they can read around the house with something as simple as a cereal box. You can even get Alexa or YouTube to read them books.

See similar https://www.fox4now.com/news/local-news/reading-scores-decline-in-southwest-florida

The post Reading results are falling in Southwest Florida first appeared on Daily Florida Press.

from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/reading-results-are-falling-in-southwest-florida/