Middle schools turn to reading
Programs will help kids meet state standard

By Dave Weber, Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted July 5, 2004

Numbers of students behind in readingJul 5, 2004

Number of middle-school students in Central Florida who cannot read on grade level:

Brevard -- 5,819
Lake -- 3,688
Orange -- 19,977
Osceola -- 5,969
Polk -- 10,318
Seminole -- 5,648
Volusia -- 6,609
Statewide -- 294,989

Only 18 middle schools in Florida meet tough new standards for reading, leaving hundreds of others scrambling to organize crash reading programs before classes resume next month.

Schools where less than 75 percent of students in sixth, seventh or eighth grades are reading on grade level must make reading their top priority under the Middle Grades Reform Act, which Gov. Jeb Bush pushed and the Legislature adopted during the spring.

"We are focusing the schools on what they have to do to get these kids reading," said Mary Laura Openshaw, who is in charge of reading programs for the Florida Department of Education.

In Central Florida, only two schools -- Windy Ridge in west Orange County and Lawton Chiles in Polk County -- had enough good readers in each of the three middle grades to escape the list of schools that must cram to implement the "rigorous reading requirement" included in the law.

Principal Maria Vazquez said Windy Ridge, which has students in kindergarten through eighth grade, benefits from being small, having a more affluent and stable student body than many Orange County schools and concentrating on reading. About 85 percent of its students read on grade level.

But more than 50,000 middle-school students in the seven-county area who don't read nearly as well could be placed in special classes for poor readers this fall. Officials are wrestling with projections, including fifth-graders who moved up to middle school despite bad reading scores and eighth-graders who were retained.

Statewide, the total could run to more than 250,000 students in about 460 middle schools, plus a few elementary schools that include sixth grade.

"It is pretty obvious what we have to do. You can see it from our reading scores," said John Edwards, associate superintendent of Orange County schools.

Statewide, only 54 percent of sixth-graders could read on grade level last spring, according to results of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. That fell to 53 percent for seventh-graders and 45 percent for eighth-graders.

By 10th grade only 34 percent of students could score well enough on the state reading test to master tough high-school course work.

High-school grades slipped across the state. In Orange County, low FCAT scores resulted in Jones, Evans and Oak Ridge high schools earning F's last month when the state handed out its annual letter grades. Four other Orange high schools earned D's.

The new law aims to bolster middle-school reading, with the payoff in high school in a few years.

A concentrated push to improve reading among elementary-school students is showing signs of success, with 70 percent of fourth-graders reading on level this year. Officials say it is time to move on to middle schools.

Milwee Middle in Longwood is among those on the state's list of middle schools where reading is deficient. Just over half of Milwee students read on grade level.

"Reading has always been a problem," said Lois Chavis, principal of Milwee. "Now there is a tremendous focus on getting these kids up to grade level in reading."

Milwee instituted special reading classes for low-performing students a couple of years ago. Those will continue. Schools that don't have such courses must start them.

Middle schools also must design a "personal success plan" for each sixth-grader who reads poorly. The plan must outline how individual students will improve in reading and other subjects.

School officials are required to report every nine weeks on progress of students' reading skills. Improved performance of students will figure in annual evaluations of teachers and principals, under the law.

The law is designed to assure that all of the poor readers are getting reading instruction. Middle-school reading courses are spotty across Florida.

In Volusia County, every middle-school student takes a reading course as well as a language-arts course each year. In other districts, reading classes vary from school to school and, if offered, often are reserved for only the worst readers.

In Osceola County, only Kissimmee Middle requires students to take a reading class each year.

"But that's a direction that many of our schools are headed," said Annalee Meadows, Osceola's director of secondary education.

In conjunction with the new law, the state has handed out $13 million for middle schools to hire reading coaches. They will work with students or show teachers how to help students learn to read.

Orange County's share of the state money is just over $1 million and will go for coaches at 16 middle schools. The district plans to use other funds to pay for coaches in the other 11 middle schools.

Brevard, Lake, Osceola, Polk, Seminole and Volusia county school systems received money for coaches as well.

Dave Weber can be reached at dweber@orlandosentinel.com or

407-320-0915.