Read Naturally Case Studies
Case 8: Improved TAAS Scores, San Antonio, Tex.
Sharon Rodriguez, a teacher in San Antonio, Tex., has seen remarkable improvement in her students since introducing the Read Naturally strategy into her curriculum. In addition to the proof of improvement she sees every day as she listens to the students read, she has seen evidence of success in the students’ scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS).
For a number of years before introducing Read Naturally, the TAAS scores at Mrs. Rodriguez’s school remained at 68% passing. After a year and a half of using Read Naturally, the score on the reading portion of the TAAS jumped to 79%.
Mrs. Rodriguez noted that over a two-year period, students who were in her Read Naturally program gained, on average, two years of reading proficiency each year they were in the program, based on the students’ TAAS scores.
The following table shows the average point gains of the students based on their TAAS scores. A gain of 10 points is considered to a gain of two years in one year’s time, since a score that remains the same from one year to the next indicates a student had the expected one year’s growth over the course of the school year.
1999–2000 |
2000–20001 |
|
|
Grade 6 |
12 points |
14 points |
| Grade 7 | 5 points |
10 points |
| Grade 8 | 13 points |
12 points |
The following chart shows the distribution of the students’ point gains, from less than 10 points (four students) to over 60 points (one student).
Distribution of Points Gained
