A little after noon, Monday through Friday, a small group of second graders at Durham Elementary in Tigard head to the library armed with their iPads.
Each student grabs a pair of headphones and checks their microphone before logging onto a Zoom meeting with a tutor.
Before students get to reading, they check in with each tutor, filling them in on their weekend and talking about how they鈥檙e feeling that day. One student reads off of the screen, 鈥淚 am good enough, I am smart enough, I am always doing my best.鈥�
Then, the tutoring starts. Students move through the 15-minute session, each at their own pace. Every screen shows something different. A list of words students are reading through, a blank page to practice writing words or a couple of sentences to read. In the corner of the screen, there鈥檚 a student in one box and a tutor in another.
By 12:30 p.m., the students are gone, back in their classrooms.
This year, 16 Durham second graders are part of a pilot for a virtual tutoring program called Ignite! Reading. Now in its second year, the program has grown its pilot to more than 20 schools and districts across the country, including in Durham and seven schools in Eastern Oregon.
As state and national data show the severe impact of the pandemic on students鈥� reading and math, programs like Ignite! Reading represent targeted efforts to help students catch up on reading using differentiated, one-on-one instruction.
Durham principal Cleann Brewer helped bring the program to her school this year. She likes the one-on-one aspect of the tutoring, something she wouldn鈥檛 be able to otherwise offer students.
鈥淚鈥檝e never had the opportunity to have 鈥� one-on-one, folks reading with kids that are guided by a team of folks making sure they鈥檙e teaching kids how to read in a way that is research-based and impactful,鈥� Brewer said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never had the opportunity to do one-on-one tutoring, and I really believe in it.鈥�
At Durham, students are behind in reading, Brewer said. Some of the second graders are starting at a kindergarten level, others are reading at a first-grade level. The goal of the program is to get students to where they need to be in second grade, making progress in learning to read by third grade, a pivotal year for students. That鈥檚 when students start reading to learn new things.
and assessments have shown students are behind in math and reading, but federal funding has been allocated to make improvements. With the Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund III, Oregon received $1.1 billion. At least 20% of district spending of those dollars has to be on .
Tigard-Tualatin is funding the Ignite! pilot with district funds, but not specifically from ESSER.
Eastern Oregon University has to help train and provide tutors for students. Most of the program鈥檚 tutors are college students, who are trained and paid.
Earlier this month, Ignite! hosted a presentation of the program at Durham Elementary, with presentations from founder Sliwerski.
The program works to build students鈥� word recognition skills through phonological awareness, helping students break down words. Sliwerski, a former teacher and founder of Ignite!, said the skills students need to learn are foundational for their education.
鈥淚t鈥檚 bigger than reading. It鈥檚 also mathematics, it鈥檚 also science, it鈥檚 also social studies,鈥� Sliwerski said. 鈥淩eading is the operating system of a school, and if you cannot read, you cannot learn.鈥�
Both elementary and middle schools are a part of the program鈥檚 expansion this school year, serving more than 1,000 students. A on progress for 551 students participating last year found students made 2.4 weeks of progress in reading for every week they were in the program.
In Tigard, Brewer saw the program as one 鈥渃hange idea鈥� to help close gaps for readers. It鈥檚 just one part of a concerted effort to improve reading among her students.
The program has been at Durham since the beginning of October. Brewer said there have been 鈥減retty significant gains鈥� for at least 10 of the 16 students in the pilot. She said other students have been absent and their progress is still being monitored.
鈥淔our weeks in, we are seeing positive impact,鈥� Brewer said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e hoping that that only grows across time, and we have successful readers in classrooms.鈥�
She plans to expand the program to third graders that need to catch up later this year.
At first, Brewer wasn鈥檛 sure about giving students more 鈥渟creen time鈥� during the day, or after months of Zoom during distance learning.
鈥淚 would prefer face-to-face,鈥� she said. 鈥淗owever, what I鈥檓 realizing is that the digital world is something that is part of our norm now with kids, and I鈥檓 seeing kids just get really focused in with their tutors online. And it鈥檚 just like a normal everyday experience.鈥�
She wasn鈥檛 sure whether students would engage at first, but with the individualized attention and focus, they have. She said students in the program are developing self-esteem in their reading.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not giving up right away, they鈥檙e trying to do really hard things, and they鈥檙e persisting. We鈥檙e there to just see them build those confidence skills that are leading to increasing reading,鈥� Brewer said.
Districtwide, Tigard-Tualatin assistant superintendent Lisa McCall said she鈥檒l be monitoring the pilot to see whether the students become confident readers and make up 1.5 years of reading growth.
鈥淲e have not yet discussed scaling out to other elementary schools. However, other TTSD schools will have an opportunity to explore what Ignite could do for them.鈥� McCall said in a message to OPB.
Brewer said she鈥檚 grateful for district funds to try something new and learn from it.
鈥淲hat a wonderful opportunity it is for leadership to see if this is something that is really going to impact our kids at Durham,鈥� Brewer said.
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