A ‘tremendous honor’
Roosevelt awarded for early literacy achievements
Yuma School District One’s Roosevelt School was bestowed a “tremendous honor” by the Arizona State Board of Education (ASBE) on Monday, recognizing its successful strides in early literacy.
The school’s third-grade English Language Arts (ELA) literacy rate leapt from 9% passing in 2015 to 52% in 2018 – which was 8% higher than the state’s average that year.
According to Roosevelt Principal Sofia Ramirez, this was not an unfocused achievement. Roosevelt developed a formula to excel by focusing on small group instruction, examining data to determine what students’ needs were, implementing intervention programs and holding conversations on both a district and site level.
These approaches are highlighted in the case study “Third Grade Reading Success: Decoding
What Works.” Developed by the ASBE, Arizona Department of Education and Read On Arizona, the study casts Roosevelt as an example of a culture that empowers students by engaging every member of the school community inside and outside of the classroom.
“I’m grateful to all of our teachers, students and parents for their hard work,” Ramirez said. “Are we done? No, not at all. We’re continuing to look at data to see if students are ‘getting it’ and hoping to see scores continue to go up.”
To commend their achievement and the hard work that got them there, Read On Arizona’s literacy director Terri Clark presented a recognition award to Ramirez for her role in Roosevelt’s dramatic improvements in early literacy.
“There’s a quote by Margaret Mead that comes to mind, and it goes something like, ‘Never doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world – it’s the only thing that ever has,’” said Superintendent James Sheldahl. “And that’s what’s happened with our small group of committed teachers at Roosevelt.”