Lake Forest teachers invent reading curriculum, raise ACT scores

I really had fun reporting this story. Education stories fascinated me even before I became a parent, and now I am even more intrigued by how and what we teach our children.

These two teachers are passionate about their work. I could hear it in their voices as they spoke about this project. They put in long hours and extra time to help these students succeed. They're being innovative and doing something no one's done before.

And, as a writer and avid reader, I know exactly how valuable it will be for students to have a higher comprehension level.

Meet two Lake Forest teachers who are changing the world, one student at a time:

By Tara May Tesimu
Published in Chicago Tribune's TribLocal

Two Lake Forest teachers are inventing the curriculum for a course to help high school students become better readers—and raising ACT scores while they’re at it.

Lake Forest High School teachers Becky Mueller and Linda Rich co-teach a one-semester elective class called strategic reading, in which they teach students how to become better readers through different reading strategies and three main components: vocabulary building, comprehension and fluency.

"The idea usually is that you learn to read until you're in 3rd grade, and then you read to learn after that," Mueller said. "It's a paradigm shift. Teachers are not used to teaching reading in high school. We teach students that reading is an active process as opposed to just sitting there absorbing information."

The class is considered tier two intervention, the teachers said, which means that it is designed for students who need some help improving their reading abilities but is not considered intense intervention.

And it's also come with an unexpected bonus. The class began in the 2007-08 and testing has shown that many students who take the class see a rise in their ACT scores—from 1 to 7 points, or from a 13 score to a 20 on the reading portion of the standardized test. The information shows that 63 percent of the students who take the class have seen a rise in their ACT reading score.

"That's not our main goal," Mueller said. "We're thrilled that the kids are getting something so tangible out of it, and that motivates them, but to us, it's just an extra—a great way to hook their interest."

...Read more. The full story is on Triblocal.