Fairfield Local Schools State Route 771 Leesburg, Ohio (937)

Background of Fairfield Local Schools  Small, rural district of about 900 students  District-wide population of students with special needs is  AYP

Why FLS Started Project MORE  As a district, we were not meeting AYP for students with special needs  Mrs. Boston, FES principal, attended Title conference and the description of Project MORE caught her attention

The Beginning  We started our program with 23 students with special needs  Every student that had a reading goal on the IEP was included

Project MORE Now  Right now we are serving 53 students with special needs and at risk for reading failure  Those students are seen at least 4 days per week  Our mentor base consists of aides, a board member, grandparents, community members, parents, and high school, middle school, and 6 th grade students

How Does It Look?  Intervention time is built into our schedule (40-45 minutes)  Students do Project MORE for 30 minutes, then switch to math intervention with the mentor  Start at 8:30 and run until 3:25

Materials and Set Up  Each student has a binder with sections labeled: attendance, progress, fluency, current lesson, and previous lessons  Books are placed in leveled baskets, mentor boxes are placed at tables  Copied lessons are filed

Our Successes  Colored data sheet shows majority of students in Project MORE increased levels  Practice OAA results (13 of 20 original students)  3 rd Grade: 36 P to 42 Ac, 31 B to 34 P, 8 L to 26 B, 16 L to 25 L  4 th Grade: 21 B to 29 P, 17 L to 33 P, 9 L to 17 L, 23 B to 24 P  5 th Grade:18 B to 29 P, 22 B to 28 P, 15 L to 33 P  6 th Grade: 21 B to 38 P, 32 B to 35 P

Our Hurdles  Mentors  6 th graders as mentors  Schedules  Getting everyone on board

Parent Comments and Stories  “I don’t know what you are doing, but it is working. She is reading better than she ever has and feels successful.” This comment was from Emily’s mom. Emily is a fifth grader with a history of reading struggles to this point. She had shown minimal success in previous interventions including: Title, small group, and resource room assistance.  “Project MORE is making such a difference for my child! Her confidence and abilities are improving.” This comment came from a first grade parent whose child started Project MORE mid year due to not meeting DIBELS benchmarks. Each week, this parent sends us notes of praise and thanks for helping to get her daughter motivated and excited about reading. She is so thankful for the confidence this program creates.

Our Vision for Project MORE at FES  Project MORE as an “at home” program for parents wanting to help with intervention  Summer reading program – Our goal is to serve every student not meeting benchmark. Parents would be given weekly packets to complete, then return to the school the following week for a new lesson packet.  One possibility is to return our Title 1 teacher back to the classroom and service Tier 2 intervention using Project MORE for those not meeting benchmark

Questions and Contact Info  Staci Bales – Coordinator 2.oh.us 2.oh.us  Amy Boston – Principal k12.oh.us k12.oh.us  Questions or Comments?