By Dr. Karyn Chiapella
Curriculum Coordinate/RTI Coach
The ND Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant was a 2021 federal grant that aimed to improve the literacy skills of all students from Birth through Grade 12.
North Dakota Department of Public Construction (NDDPI) assured its goals and objectives would lead to sustainability, system building, and literacy gains. The ND PK-12 Strategic Vision addresses the following:
- Enter kindergarten prepared to learn.
- Demonstrate reading proficiency.
- Meet expected learning gains each year.
- Engage in learning.
- Graduate choice ready.
- Achieve regardless of background or economic level.
NDDPI has designed a rigorous, high-quality, competitive process for reviewing and awarding applicants according to CLSD guidelines. Dickinson High School was one of the recipients of this award. Once the award was granted, schools needed to identify literacy-based goals as an accountability measure for the grant.
Dickinson High School chose Improving Literacy across all content areas.
- Focus 1: Implement Disciplinary Literacy PD for all teachers 9-12
- Focus 2: Improve Academic and content vocabulary
- Focus 3: Improve instructional practices via:
- Multilingual Learner Strategies
- Backpack PD
- RTI at Work
- Authentic Literacy in all English classrooms
Educators and administrators from Bismarck, Bottineau, and Watford City High schools came to DHS last Thursday, Feb 22nd, for the site visit.
Feedback from visitors:
- The #1 thing our visitors noticed was the Climate and Culture of our building. Visitors noted how engaged students were, that there was minimal lecturing/ more student discourse, and that students were very respectful in classes and during passing time.
- Impressed by how many classrooms they saw implementing disciplinary literacy:
- Use of a variety of media (print, visual, audio, videos, etc.)
- Sentence starters
- Common language across contents
- Consistency across contents
- Academic Vocab schoolwide
- Intervention/ focus
- Multi-Lingual Learners
- All students (Tier 1)
- Select Students (T2/ Enriching Students process)
- Focused remediation (T3)
- Common formatives and summatives that aligned to standards (Tier 2)
- Clear Expectations on behavior (Tier 1)
- Backpack PD- visitors loved that teachers had a choice in what they focused their PD on.
Classes observed:
Tiffany Aman; ENG 9
Kathy Mavity; ENG 10
Trevor Conrad; Everyday Millionaire
Elisa Kensinger; Physics
Susan Moberg; Communications
Marilyn Pilalis; ENG 11
Naomi Thorson; ENG 11
Bridget Jacob; Phys Sci
Dena Venneman; Biology
Brian Ham; US History
Haley Potter; Early Civilizations
Sheila Hlibichuk; Tier 3 Reading Intervention
Growth Data:
Reading Overall Achievement Based on NWEA (General population):
Grade 9- Fall 2023 Percentile Score: 73% (of students are average and above)
Grade 9- Winter 2024 Percentile Score: 79% (of students are average and above)
Grade 10- Fall 2023 Percentile Score: 64% (of students are average and above)
Grade 10- Winter 2024 Percentile Score: 62% (of students are average and above)
Reading Overall Achievement Based on NWEA (Minorities)
Grade 9- Fall 2023 Percentile Score: 55% (of students are average and above)
Grade 9- Winter 2024 Percentile Score: 59% (of students are average and above)
Grade 10- Fall 2023 Percentile Score: 37% (of students are average and above)
Grade 10- Winter 2024 Percentile Score: 39% (of students are average and above)