GNS 240923 The Science of Reading

École Westhaven School (EWS) Principal Debra Boos and teachers Ms. Von Breen and Mrs. Rutley attended the September Public Board Meeting to show the Board of Trustees one of the school’s strategies to develop strong reading foundations that being student understanding of phonics.

Mrs. Rutley’s demonstration with a group of her grade 3 and 4 students illustrated EWS’ implementation of the UFLI program developed at the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI). The UFLI program builds on the Science of Reading which is a collection of research that studies various methods that confirm or disconfirm on how children best learn to read including comprehension, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary.

Using the principles of the UFLI program, Principal Boos was proud to announce its successful implementation and outstanding results from last year. For example, at the beginning of the year, only 15 percent of their Grade Two English students read at grade level. This number rose to 58 percent by the end of the year. In addition, students grew an average of 5.3 reading levels throughout the year whereas they typically develop only up to four levels in one year. The entire staff is committed to EWS’ three-year vision: 100 percent of their students will be reading at or above grade level before the end of Grade 5.

Each of the nine students received a new book from the Board.

GNS The Science of Reading