Tutors 'filling in the gaps,' boosting reading scores at Lansing's Willow Elementary

LANSING — A Lansing elementary school is celebrating better reading scores among students and the tutoring program making them happen.

Willow Elementary students, now currently housed at Riddle Elementary School due to demolition and planned reconstruction of the old Willow school building, now have access to additional support from the Michigan Education Corps' Reading Corps.

Willow, on the city's north side, is one of 120 schools across Michigan that the Reading Corps interventionists work with. Willow is the only elementary school in the Lansing School District that have brought in the Reading Corps.

Holly Windram, executive director of the Michigan Education Corps, visited Riddle Monday and, while describing the Willow program, said she'd like to expand the program into other Lansing schools, but she didn't want to introduce the interventionists suddenly into a school without working with the administrators and making sure a school had the resources.

"I know that we've had conversations about the opportunity to partner with other schools," Windram said. "Again, it's about the school resources... One of the things that we work really hard at is when we partner with a school it really is about getting to know that school and a relationship with that school. We don't want to just show up and put people in place."

The interventionists are directly focusing on "Tier 2" students, which Bena Hartman, Willow's literacy director, describes as the students who are not getting the lowest scores but aren't getting the highest either.

"We need those students to be bumped up, so they can be bumped up so they can be at the top and maintain that," Hartman said.

Of all the 235 students who have been a part of the program from 2013 to 2022, 70% of them were able to meet or exceed grade level.

In 2018, 65% of Willow's third graders were not meeting proficiency for reading. In 2022, that number has dropped to 35%, according to MISchoolData.

This high-impact tutoring is funded through the MI Kids Back on Track, which provides funding for schools to "get students to grade-level academic standards, provide additional academic assistance to students at risk of falling behind their peers, or help high school students prepare for postsecondary education."

Nearly half of the current fourth graders in Willow's Reading Corps program scored at grade level when tested this winter. These children are especially important to Hartman, because these are children who learned how to read online during the pandemic.

The Reading Corps interventionists spend 20 minutes with a student 5 times a week, every week. Students read out loud to an interventionist, who tracks how many words they read per minute, along with accuracy and understanding of the text.

The students read and reread a highlighted portion of the text a few times, and if they're able to read it with no errors, they can move on to the next portion of the text. Hartman said re-reading helps children feel comfortable with the text and helps them identify words when they see them again.

Serena Chaffee, a second grader, works with interventionist Katherine Taylor, who said Serena had been on the "lower end of Tier 2" but was now at the higher end and meeting expectations for her grade level.

"I like reading with her," Serena said. "If I don't know the words, she tells me what the word is."

Serena's favorite book right now is Dr. Seuss' "The Cat in the Hat."

Reading time counts

Nicole Beard, principal of Willow Elementary, said that the school has seen clear improvements in reading levels for students who were a part of Reading Corps.

"The children are doing better, and they're one step closer to expectations," she said. "We can see in our trends the difference between children who weren't able to be a part of this program and the ones who are."

Beard also suggests that parents' showing interest in their children's learning can make a difference.

"It can be 5 minutes, reading in the car on the way to school ... encouraging them to read a book on the bus." Beard said. "If they're in the kitchen helping to prepare a meal, 'What does the packet say?' Just exposing them to reading in any way possible.

"The kids need to see the parents reading."

Beard said that the school does want their parents to come in and ask questions, and that teachers and staff can help parents learn the best ways to encourage their children to read.

Hartman hosted a family literacy center, where interested parents were able to come in and learn ways reading is taught. Some of these parent volunteers came in and worked with groups of students for half a day.

"(The parents) see what we do in school with the children they say 'Oh I can have this?' 'Can I take this home?' Because parents really don't know how to help their children at home learn how to read, and we have to help them." Hartman said.

Windram said that the students who have these supports to ensure they can read at grade level or higher have a greater chance of completing high school and having some form of post-secondary education.

"We're filling in the gaps so these students can keep up," she said.

Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @sarahmatwood.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Tutors 'filling in the gaps,' boosting reading scores at Lansing's Willow Elementary