Literacy coaches train to track pupils’ reading progress

Grade Three teacher Heather Warde, Ministry of Education Transformation Education Officer and Literacy Lead Janelle Little and Minister of Education Transformation Chad Blackman looking at the new grapheme. (Photo By Lauryn Escamilla / Barbados TODAY) Literacy coaches are being trained to identify gaps in pupils’ reading and track their progress from term to term as the Ministry of Education Transformation works to strengthen literacy across Barbados, the ministry’s lead literacy officer Janelle Little said on Monday. Little was speaking during a visit by Minister Chad Blackman to Mount Tabor Primary School, where he observed pupils participating in their morning reading period and saw literacy interventions being used in the classroom. She explained that training in the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) reading assessment would help the ministry track pupils’ progress from term to term, allowing educators to identify gaps in learning and provide support where necessary. Little added: “Where we see gaps, we ensure that we place the intensive intervention to ensure that all of our students, regardless of their reading ability or learning ability, have the ability to receive the intervention and the necessary reading programmes that they need.” The literacy lead also highlighted the importance of the daily Strengthening Our Ability to Read (SOAR) period, which provides pupils with 35 minutes of dedicated reading instruction each day, using Snappy Sounds, a synthetic phonics and reading programme. She commended teachers for using the time to develop pupils’ skills, from recognising letters to reading with greater fluency and confidence. You Might Be Interested In “This morning, it was such a joy to see Ms. Warde as she delivered a Snappy Sounds lesson. And this is a lesson that is replicated, as the minister said, throughout the island every day.” Grade three teacher Heather Warde conducting a reading session. (LE) The visit also provided an opportunity to observe pupils engaging with reading material that reflected their Barbadian heritage. Encouraging the children to continue reading Bajan Anansi, she urged them to strengthen their vocabulary while learning more about local culture. “Even as you learn to read words that will teach you about the world, we also want you to know more about your Bajan culture as well,” she told the pupils. “I want to encourage you to continue reading Bajan Anansi to learn more about your culture. But I also want you, as somebody said, to grow your vocabulary and to learn more about the world.” The ministry was approximately 90 per cent of the way through providing teachers with age-appropriate reading programmes and materials for their respective grade levels, Little said. “We will continue that procurement as this school year continues to ensure that all of our teachers have access to all of our reading materials so that they can instruct the students in an equitable manner.” Blackman said visiting schools allowed the ministry to assess the effectiveness of its policies and identify areas requiring improvement. He explained that education transformation must extend beyond developing policies and reviewing reports, with officials placing greater emphasis on observing interventions as they happen in classrooms. He said: “Part of the transformation is, and I’m committed to it, is getting out of the office and going into the field, as it were, and being able to now see these interventions in practice.” He also reflected on the introduction of dedicated reading time, recalling that some people initially questioned the initiative but saying the results were now becoming evident: “At first… some persons [were] saying, ‘When are you going to do this?’ Now we are starting to see the results positively.” He said the ministry would continue its efforts until pupils across Barbados had the literacy and numeracy skills needed to succeed. The minister also said parents and communities must support teachers and schools, noting that children spend only part of their day in the classroom. He said the wider community must help reinforce learning outside school, as improving literacy requires cooperation between educators, families and the communities in which children grow. Blackman praised Little and her team for keeping literacy at the centre of the ministry’s work and commended Mount Tabor Primary School for the progress being made through the interventions. “You have demonstrated that you and your team in the ministry are up to par with respect to ensuring that literacy is front and centre,” he said. He added that the government remained committed to modernising an education system that had remained largely unchanged for decades, with strong literacy, numeracy and communication skills forming part of the foundation for preparing children for the 21st century. “Will we always get it right? No. But what I’ve seen and what I’m seeing tells me that we’re moving in the right direction and that the country can feel proud,” Blackman said. (LE)