Written Public Comment Submission Detail

Public Comment Details

Meeting
Commission Meeting - February 2022

Agenda Item
3C: Assessing Literacy Instruction: Implementation of SB 488

Name
Victoria Debenham

Organization
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Comments
I cannot stress how important it is for future CA teachers to learn about evidence-based reading instruction. I was afforded this opportunity in my credentialing program at CSUS in the 1990s but I do not always see adequate evidence of that in my teaching peers.
I recently wrote the below proposal and goals and submitted them to my school district's Director of Curriculum and Instruction because I am not convinced the K-5 reading program in my district is effective enough.
California’s children will continue to pay the price unless improvements are made in how we ready teachers for the critical job of teaching children to read.
OVERVIEW
Each year the special education team at my middle school conducts numerous initial IEP evaluations for students enrolled in our district during their elementary years. When these students qualify for special education services in middle school, it is more difficult to close the academic gap because of their advanced age and the toll school failure takes on their social/emotional achievement mindset. The overall goal of this proposal is to intervene earlier with research-based systematic instruction in reading and to document K-5 interventions more explicitly so the transition from elementary school to middle school is one of success and not a continued failure.
GOALS
1. Create an academic intervention pilot with the sixth-grade general education and intervention staff for the third trimester of the 2021-2022 school year.
2. Administer quick and easy academic screeners and diagnostic tools (Whole Class Fluency, Lexile, IXL Diagnostic Test) to establish the baseline reading and math skills of general education students.
3. Administer a brief normative screening tool to parents designed to measure the risk of reading disability (i.e. dyslexia) in school-age children.
4. Utilize the collected screening data to develop academic skill-specific and research-based targeted interventions administered by academic intervention staff. (i.e. SIPPS, IXL Skill Plans)
5. Collect frequent data throughout the intervention period to determine continued student intervention needs and/or referral for special education assessment.
6. Solicit help from community volunteers such as parents, high school students, and Intel PC Pals for weekly one-on-one in-person or virtual support with targeted students.
Please contact me for further information, if desired.
Victoria Debenham, M.A.
Resource Specialist
Marina Village Middle School
Rescue Union School District

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