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Kansas tries a new tactic for helping children to read

Ohanian Comment: Of
course there's nothing new at all about the
book lists promoted by Accelerated Reader,
whose parent company is Renaissance Learning. I
can tell parents quite about about their loopy
reading lists. When you judge a book strictly
by its syllable count and such formulas, you
get odd results, such as books with explicit
sex pegged at grade 4.

And more.

It is a real shame to send the message to
parents that they need to worry about some
critical difference between a book pegged at
3.5 and one pegged at 2.7. Reading level is an
entirely artificial construct.


By Jim Sullinger

Kansas parents now have a powerful new tool to
improve their children’s reading ability.

It’s called Kansas Book Connect, a Web site
that lists books that fit the reading level and
interests of each Kansas student.

Kansas is the first state to deploy it,
according to officials at Renaissance Learning,
a Wisconsin company working with the state’s
Department of Education to offer the service.

Reading specialists agree that most parents
don’t know their children’s reading levels,
which makes it difficult to know what books to
obtain to make them better independent readers.

Using annual state reading assessments given
each spring and other student data, Renaissance
Learning is determining the reading level of
each student in Kansas. That information will
be communicated to schools within the next
couple of months and will be available to
parents.

Meanwhile, the site is working for those
parents who can learn their child’s reading
level from the teacher.

A third-grade student might be given a level of
3.5, a designation for the fifth month of third
grade. A level of 2.7 would mean that this
third grader is reading below grade level and
might need help from mom and dad.

“Parent involvement is huge,” said Tracy
Stokes, a reading specialist at Comanche
Elementary School in Overland Park. “Students
with support at home have a much better chance
of success even when they’re a struggling
reader.”

How will parents know what books to obtain?

They will be able to go to the Web site,
www.kansas.bookconnect.com, enter their
children’s reading level, designate an interest
area and a book list will be generated.

A third-grade student might be intrigued by
dinosaurs. Plugging in a reading level of 3.5
would generate a list of books that include
Raptors! by author Lisa McCourt and Skippyjon
Jones and the Big Bones by Judy Schachner.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K.
Rowling’s first book, carries a reading level
of 5.5 in Book Connect.

The site offers more than 120,000 titles for
readers of all abilities, and the lists are
provided in English and Spanish.

Kansas gives state reading assessments each
year starting in the third grade. Renaissance
Learning won’t assign a reading level to
younger children.

However, Jeannette Nobo, assistant director of
standards and assessment for the Kansas
Department of Education, said those parents can
still use Book Connect. She said most
elementary teachers know the reading ability of
their students and can advise parents what
grade level to use.

Reading teachers said it’s important to find
books that a child is interested in reading.

“When students get to pick their own materials,
they have a purpose for reading,” Stokes said.

Amy Farthing, a reading specialist with the
Blue Valley School District, said Book Connect
is a good resource but shouldn’t be a
substitute for consulting a teacher about a
child’s reading skills.

“We’re in an age where teachers have that
information at their fingertips,” she said.

But she predicted that parents won’t be the
only ones using the Web site.

“I think a lot of teachers will find it a
useful resource as well,” she said

— Jim Sullinger
The Kansas City Star
2008-12-09
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/928504.html

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