Newcastle, a small coal-mining town in Wyoming, is home to Newcastle Elementary. Weston County School District 1 (WCSD 1) encompasses about 800 students in elementary, middle, and high schools. Of those 800 students, about 30% come from low-income households.
Nearly 60% of Wyoming’s fourth grade students are below proficient in reading, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (AKA the Nation’s Report Card.
To address this issue in Newcastle, educators agreed the first step was to educate staff (teachers and paraprofessionals) in the science of reading, the basic tenet of Lexia® LETRS® (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling). The district hired Dr. Carol Tolman, co-author of LETRS (along with Dr. Louisa Moats). Dr. Tolman showed the Newcastle staff the latest neuroscience revealing not only how young students learn to read, but also how educators should effectively teach reading.
At this same time, the district hired a literacy instructional facilitator with the understanding that the initial focus would be at the elementary level. As some of the teachers and paraprofessionals who became teachers later moved to other grade levels, the district started to see improvements across several grade levels.
Weston County educators are convinced the LETRS professional learning training has dramatically helped everyone understand how the brain learns to read, spell, and write.
The results? The beginning-of-year assessment for the 2020–2021 school year showed remarkable progress for sixth grade students. A good 86% of students were proficient overall, meaning they were at or above benchmark. But the educators won't be satisfied until that number is above 95%—a goal that is within reach.
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