Lac Courte Oreilles, Wisconsin (Akiing)

Students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade at Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School are continuing to demonstrate substantial progress in learning to read during the 2005-2006 school year. The concerted effort of students, staff, and parents is making a difference in working towards the Reading First program goal of having all students reading on grade level by the end of third grade.

Progress is measured in part by the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy (DIBELS) assessments, given three times each school year. As a result of each round of testing, students are identified as being at one of three levels, related to their current and predicted future reading success – “on target,” “needing help,” or “needing substantial help.” The tests assist staff in measuring student progress, assessing reading program effectiveness at each grade level, and determining how to individualize/adjust instruction to fit the needs of each child.

Last September, approximately half of the K-3 students were on target for reading success, while a third were needing help to get there. Through the hard work and persistence of students, staff, and parents in the first half of this school year, now over three-fourths of the students are on target and the number needing help has been cut in half. Another area of substantial improvement is the number of students needing significant help to achieve reading success being reduced by two-thirds (15 percent to 5 percent).

The LCO K-3rd grade staff is in their second year of implementation of the Reading First Grant program administered through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Figures released by the BIA concerning last school year’s progress (2004-2005) showed that 77 percent of the LCO K-3rd graders made adequate progress, compared with the national average of 62 percent for all Reading First schools nationwide.

The report stated in part, “LCO is the top ranked program,” (out of the BIA Reading First schools).