York Co. schools teach through summer to help kids read better

In the second year of South Carolina’s Read to Succeed program, more than 250 York County elementary school children are attending summer camps to help them read.

The children, mostly third-graders, were invited to summer camps offered by the Rock Hill, Fort Mill, York and Clover school districts because tests show they are reading below grade level.

The camps are paid for by the state, as part of its 2014 Read to Succeed legislation, a move to improve literacy. The camps, which include breakfast, lunch and school bus transportation, were first funded by the state in summer 2015 on a smaller scale.

“It’s wonderful that the state is funding this,” said Harriet Jaworowski, an associate superintendent in Rock Hill schools. “This is something that we would not be able to fund locally.”

Under the state legislation, third-grade students who “fail to demonstrate reading proficiency” by the end of a 2018 summer reading camp will not be promoted to the fourth grade. The law allows some exemptions to be made by district superintendents.

Children who will be in second grade in August are the first group who will be affected by the portion of the Read to Succeed law that requires schools to retain children who don’t make enough reading progress by the end of third grade.

Jaworowski said statistics show that children not reading on grade level by the end of third grade have a greater risk of dropping out of school and getting in trouble with the law.

“It’s not a good thing if they are not reading on grade level by the end of third grade,” Jaworowski said. “So we do everything we can to promote that. One of the best things that parents can do is just read with their children in the summer.”

Jaworowski said Rock Hill children are not usually retained in third grade if they don’t make sufficient reading progress. She said research shows that retention “does not improve their learning, or their outcomes. It’s better that we address their needs than retain them.”

In Rock Hill schools, about 130 second- and third-grade students from all 17 elementary schools have been working on reading and writing at Sunset Park Elementary since June 13. The Rock Hill camp, funded by $167,520 from the state, ends Thursday.

In Clover schools, 26 third-grade students attended a summer reading camp at Kinard Elementary for six hours a day June 6 to 24, said spokesman Bryan Dillon.

York schools have a reading camp June 6 to July 21, with a vacation week July 4 to 7, said Assistant Superintendent Beverley Bowman. She said 86 children qualified for the camp, but there was only enough space for 53 students.

Bowman said the York camp includes morning reading instruction and afternoon hands-on enrichment activities and field trips to sites such as Kings Mountain National Military Park and the Museum of York County. It was funded by a combination of Read to Succeed money and a state partnership grant, she said.

Bowman said York chose to add enrichment activities, which include things like canoeing and fishing, to the camp because “it was an opportunity for these students to be exposed to some things that they might not have done in the past.”

Fort Mill hosted 45 third-grade students for a four-week reading camp in June at Riverview, Sugar Creek and Fort Mill elementary schools, said Ann Bogan, executive director of elementary education.

Bowman, who is serving on a state task force that is making recommendations on the student retention portion of the law, said the committee has asked the state for clarification on what would be necessary to retain children in third grade.

The Rock Hill program, offers six hours daily four days a week from June 13 to July 14, has used small group reading and writing workshops. But it also has incorporated arts and theater programs into literacy.

Assistant principals Jaime Cochrane and Brian Hammond, co-directors of the Rock Hill camp, said summer programs were directed by the state to focus on children reading just below grade level.

“Our teachers have reported really good growth with our students,” Cochrane said. “They are seeing that they are building fluency and expression while they are reading, and that they are able to make better connections.”

Art teacher Diane Brown created an art and literacy program around the theme of loggerhead turtles. Children read books about the turtles, and then each student writes his or her own book on the subject, complete with their own illustrations.

“It helps them with everything,” Brown said. “It increases their excitement and motivation for literacy, for reading, for writing, for looking for picture clues.”

Hammond said another element of the Rock Hill reading camp is a theater workshop where children read and practice assigned roles and present a production.

“We are trying to find ways that will be not only rigorous, but engaging for our kids,” said Hammond, who said long stretches of guided reading are not recommended for young children.

Bowman, in York schools, believes reading camps make a huge difference.

“It’s much more intensive, much more time where the teacher is working one-on-one with the children or with a group of one to three or one to four,” Bowman said. “When you have that kind of attention, you’re going to make some gains.”

Bowman said York schools, which began offering summer reading camps three years ago, saw a children jump a full grade level of reading proficiency last summer during the camp.

Said Bowman: “Those can be some miracles for kids.”

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "York Co. schools teach through summer to help kids read better."