Literacy problem revealed
Findings show scope of reading deficiencies in Berkeley, Dorchester 2
By Diette Courrégé
By the numbers
The following are the estimated percentages of next school year's rising freshmen who read at a fourth-grade level or worse in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester 2, according to eighth-graders' test scores from this fall. Charleston County Schools Superintendent Nancy McGinley considers those reading at fourth-grade or lower levels in the most serious need of intervention.
BERKELEY COUNTY
Berkeley High 36%
Cane Bay High 25%
Cross High 21%
Goose Creek High 26%
Hanahan High 15%
Stratford High 18%
Timberland High 17%
District 23%
CHARLESTON COUNTY
Academic Magnet 0%
Baptist Hill High 44%
Burke High 43%
Garrett Academy 32%
James Isl. Charter High 16%
Lincoln High 31%
Military Magnet Acad. 23%
North Charleston High 46%
School of the Arts 1%
St. John's High 19%
Stall High 39%
Wando High 11%
West Ashley High 21%
District 23%
DORCHESTER 2
Ashley Ridge High 13%
Fort Dorchester High 16%
Summerville High 15%
District 15%
Related story
Rating reading levels, published 06/21/09
An occasional series focusing on reading difficulties in the Lowcountry, where one in seven adults is functionally illiterate.
One out of every five Berkeley County rising ninth-graders can't read better than a fourth-grader, and one out of every seven Dorchester 2 rising ninth-graders have the same problem.
The results come nearly a month after Charleston County released an analysis prompted by The Post and Courier that showed one out of every five incoming freshmen can't read well enough to understand their books. The findings reveal the gravity of the reading difficulty facing local public school students, and the results are strong predictors of teenagers who will become dropouts.
Berkeley and Dorchester 2 school districts never had compiled student test scores in this way but did so at the newspaper's request. The analysis revealed that these typically higher-achieving suburban districts share in the illiteracy problem that plagues Charleston County, where literacy has become a top priority.
More than 1,100 of the incoming freshmen in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester 2 schools read at a fourth-grade level or worse. The newspaper has not examined Dorchester District 4 schools.
Some of the other findings from Berkeley and Dorchester 2 results include:
--More than one out of every three incoming freshmen at Berkeley High read at or below a fourth-grade level — the highest percentage of the two districts.
--The rising ninth-graders at the highest-poverty school, Cross High, had better results than the Berkeley district as a whole.
--One of out every seven incoming freshmen at Fort Dorchester High, among Dorchester 2's most affluent schools, read at or below a fourth-grade level.
Targeting literacy
Research suggests that third-grade reading scores are a good predictor of students' later academic success, and students who can't read well by the end of third grade often struggle later to understand the content in their science, English, math and social studies classes.
Charleston County schools Superintendent Nancy McGinley has said those reading at a fourth-grade level or worse are most in need of serious intervention.
When McGinley saw the district's results nearly a month ago, she pledged to focus on literacy and share the results with principals. She earmarked a majority of the district's stimulus money to go toward literacy initiatives, and she hopes to hire reading specialists for district high schools. The school board also plans to create a policy to make literacy its No. 1 goal.
Leaders' reactions
Dorchester 2 Superintendent Joe Pye said he was surprised to see the district's results and that it "slapped me one more time." The number of students reading below their grade level is too high, and the analysis helps to refocus the district on that and continue its effort to improve literacy, he said.
"I've been on top of this for a long time," he said. "I don't like being reminded that it's not the way I want it to be. As long as we have these kinds of gaps, we're not going to rest until we get better. This is deplorable. We've got to do better than this. ... We do a good job, but we can always be better."
Pye, whose district includes the highly regarded Summerville schools, has worked to address literacy for years by instituting computer-based reading programs and adding reading specialists in high schools, but he's always looking to improve.
He plans to become the district's academic chief next year and reorganize his staff so everyone is focused on supporting instruction. Officials will audit schools and develop action plans for improvement, and one of the areas that will be studied, especially in elementary grades, is how many students are reading on their grade level and what's being done to better their skills, he said.
Berkeley Superintendent Anthony Parker said he already had been studying students' reading ability by grade level before the newspaper requested that information, and he saw no significant difference between those results and what the district already had compiled. One of his top priorities is shrinking class size in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms so students can receive more individual attention, and that will help address literacy problems and implement the best practices.
"One of the most critical things is that we have to have our students reading and reading proficiently prior to the end of third grade," he said. "That's something we're going to zero in on real hard. ... I think the issue is reinforced that we've got to do everything within our power to ensure that the kids have those skills necessary to move forward, and the ability to read and understand what you've read is essential to future success."
'That's criminal'
Laurie Fritz, president of the Berkeley District 19 PTA that serves about half of Berkeley schools, had three children graduate from Berkeley schools and has grandchildren enrolled in the district. When she heard that 23 percent of the district's students read at or below a fourth-grade level, she said: "That's horrible."
Schools should ensure that students aren't promoted so far beyond their ability because that doesn't benefit children in the long run, she said. Children need to realize the importance of school, parents need to be more involved, and school district officials need to more readily identify children who aren't progressing and find ways to help them, Fritz said.
"That's criminal - a kid in high school at the fourth-grade reading level," she said. "It's not that the teachers aren't doing their jobs. It's that the kids are being pushed through the system and no one catches them. It's very hard to go back and try to reteach that. You've got to catch that when they're in elementary grades."
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Howard (anonymous) says...
This Issue Has Been Overlooked To Long
WHY??
Do Not Pass A Student If They Cannot Read
I Feel This Is The Teachers Fault
June 21, 2009 at 12:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Flipper (anonymous) says...
The literacy problem does not belong completely to the schools or the teachers of today it is a "Low-Country problem". The figures represent almost 28% of the Low Country youth!
I volunteer here and have in several other states for years. I am currently a student, mid-life career changer, attempting to help fight this battle but won't get to teach for another 15 months. I also have 2 children 13 and 15 in one of these districts. Here are some things I see from inside and out of the schools:
Lack of actual support the children receive from their own families (Many get it, but most don't). They arrive ill prepared for the start of school and are faced with a deficit from the on-set. My most recent student was an 11 year old fourth grader who told me the only help she could get was from her sister age 15.
Parent's are moving their children because of housing, discipline, or grade issues when their children are troubled preventing any form of intervention plan to be created, or implemented. Back up that discipline at home and support your teacher's. Make sure your child understands appropriate behavior in school.
Some children are in homes where the parents or grandparents can not read or write because they were passed along during their generation or never achieved much in school themselves. The homes with these individuals can not be expected to be much help to the children. - Go back now and learn it, even if it is with them. This will emphasis the importance of literacy and build a stronger community.
The schools can only help those who are working with them as a team. Families need to place an importance on the education for these children. All parents need to bear the burden of educating their children. Those without the means can utilize many free services within the schools and public libraries. But I fear that so many lack the time to invest in their child's future.
Take the time to give these children a good home life, consequences for their actions and let them learn. Let them have a voice to share their stories, and tell them yours. Read to them, and have them read to you. Practice the lesson or skill sent home from school with your child, do not just give it lip service. Teach them to write the things they say and how to read it back. This will build their literacy and their bond with you.
June 21, 2009 at 4:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
maeko (anonymous) says...
more than 1:3...! how often do you see those odds? a betting man would put his money on it, surely!
astounding!!! no words......
June 21, 2009 at 6:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
watchdog (anonymous) says...
This is a crime, we are robbing our future. Our leadership in this state should be charged and sentenced to life.
June 21, 2009 at 8:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Jagolet (anonymous) says...
I'm waaaay past school-aged children but what I see in other families is astounding. The children are sent home with homework for the parents to do! A little out of hand. Maybe if the parents didn't send the children to school to be 'day-cared and disciplined', the techers wouldn't send the homework to the parents!!!!!!! I hear of some staying up 'til 10-11pm to get it all completed. And unfortunately the grammar teachers are horendous. What's happening to our language? Is it the press '1' thing? Yes, I'm from the 'old school' but we learned properly. Kind of hard to live with all these changes, but I guess that's part of 'old age', huh? A historic concern!!!
June 21, 2009 at 8:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JoanneH (anonymous) says...
Technology is a large part of the problem. We have gone way past the "turn off the TV" reminder. I imagine many of the rising 9th graders can text, but that's about the extent of what they care to read or write.
If it's not on a TV screen, a movie screen or a computer screen, many aren't interested. Some will read high-interest books but would rather see the movie. They don't understand the beauty of words in a book because why read a description of a Thomas Hardy mid-England countryside when the movie makers can short-cut it by filming it instead?
And a reminder that English teachers aren't READING teachers. Reading specialist/teacher is a different degree altogether, and generally they are only hired at the elementary/middle school level. Parents would pull kids out of a high school reading teacher's class so that he or she could take band or an honors course.
I submit that rather than making swimming a requirement to graduate we make Reading a required course for all high school students. Good readers can become better, and poor readers can improve.
June 21, 2009 at 9:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
flamingo (anonymous) says...
Passing students on to the next grade is a decision that often has been approved by administration. Teachers have students in their classrooms that are 2 years older than the remaining students. That creates its own set of problems.
The intervention at High School is a good idea but too late. The intervention must begin with the language development of the child. That begins at HOME and continues with pre-school and the first years of school.
June 21, 2009 at 9:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
teacher2 (anonymous) says...
Does this data include the number of students who are currently receiving special education services and who have already been targeted by schools as reading below grade level?
June 21, 2009 at 9:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
moonpie (anonymous) says...
The results of dumbing down the schools to be politically correct. We would want to offend little Johnny or Shaniqua now would we? I know people that had their 1st graders in public school that removed them and put them in private school after they were told in the 6 week evaluation "your child can count to 20" they are way ahead of the group! People public schools have failed our children. But surely the lack of discipline at home has failed them also. Heard a good fathers day sermon this am on the tv that sort of lays it out there. Seems we are reaping what we have sown.
June 21, 2009 at 9:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realamerican (anonymous) says...
The republican party has to keep them stupid or they would stop getting voted into office.
Educated voters would realize that the republican party after more than a generation of being in the majority has done ZERO to advance the citizens of our states quality of life or to improve the education of its citizens.
June 21, 2009 at 9:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BreezinIAm (anonymous) says...
"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" President George W. Bush - Florence, S.C., January 11, 2000
June 21, 2009 at 10:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
newbattleaxe (anonymous) says...
"Parent's are moving their children..."
"...support your teacher's."
"...the homes with these individuals cannot be expected to be much..."
What is being moved by what in this sentence?
Support what that belongs to your teacher?
All anyone expects a home to be is shelter from the elements.
Flipper, you appear to be trying to relate your ideas in an erudite manner. However, you also appear to have missed a few days of class and some homework assignments during your own education.
Everyone, teachers and teacher wannabes can blame parents and guardians 'til the cows come home for students' miserable classroom performance and behavior. And, they do. They blame day and night, 24/7.
All these teachers, all this intelligence, solving half the equation. Have any of these Professionals or wannabe Professionals worked out how much contact time their students have with them vs. the students' parents/guardians?
And, while playing this blame game, do these professionals ever stop and think that the parents are sending their children to professionals for a reason? I wouldn't send my dog to a feed store to get her spayed any sooner than I would send my child to a convenience store to learn to read. Yet, my children have been taught ludicrous notions to outright lies by some professional educators. These same people have lied to me about what they have taught my children and their other students when I have asked.
And,the blame goes around and around. There seem to be more and more programs to help more and more children learn more and more. Our children seem to get less and less of an education while in school. "Stop the World! I wanna get off!"
June 21, 2009 at 10:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
voxpopuli (anonymous) says...
now that the truth is revealed about DD2 and Berkeley County it is a crisis.
June 21, 2009 at 10:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jdargonaut (anonymous) says...
This isn't a dumbacrat or republicant thing. This is not necessarily a school thing. This is due more in part to schools and parents having control over their kids. I remember what would have happened to me had I not gotten descent grades. My parents pushed me and yes they punished me. I think I turned out ok.
Parents need to get involved and ensure that their kids are doing the right thing and getting their homework done. My last one graduated from high school a couple of years ago and now has a very good scholarship at CSU with minimal out of pocket expense or loans to contend with. All my wife and I did was just make sure that we were involved and always asked about her grades, upcoming tests and if she needed help.
I remember when she asked me for some help with her math in 10th or 11th grade and I didn't remember how to do. Guess what... I looked over the material and then was able to help her get it. I didn't do the homework for her, I helped her.
Parents need to get involved and expect the government and schools to fix the problem and educate their kids.
THERE IS NO EXCUSE, GET OFF THE COUCH AND COMPUTER AND HELP YOUR KIDS AND GET INVOLVED WITH THEIR LIVES.
When you point your finger, just remember that more fingers on your hand are pointing back at yourself.
JDA
June 21, 2009 at 11:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
charlestonnative1963 (anonymous) says...
What are you going to do. Parents today will spend $1000's of bucks n a video game or dirt bike or boat or whatever the kid wants, but to hell with a book. I have seen first hand parents who ask for doctors excuses for their child because they wanted to take them to Disney World when the crowds were low -I'm talking well to do parents here, not to mention the others who just stay at home at will. IN my day you had to be on death's doorstep before my mother would let you miss school, and even as a senior in high school I had to show my homework to them. If I did not have any I was told to read for an hour. A grade lower than a B meant my behind would feel the strips from a belt. I do not blame teachers-poverty-school systems- etc. I see and I hear what goes down today. The sad part is the kids being raised today will have little monsters of their own in a few years and the cycle starts all over again. Perhaps an early lesson in colonial history at this point: New England had mandatory education for any town with 50 or more people. Southern colonies had NO educational system with the exception of private tutors for the rich. Is this ever going to change.
June 21, 2009 at 12:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
omarro1974 (anonymous) says...
Posted by voxpopuli on June 21, 2009 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
now that the truth is revealed about DD2 and Berkeley County it is a crisis
_______________________________________________________________________________
Exactly. No one gives a damn when it is just Charleston. But if you tell them it Summerville and Berkeley, it is of high importance.
June 21, 2009 at 1:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
statusquo (anonymous) says...
The post here are excellent, unfortunately, the people who read here are not the ones who need to hear this information more than likely. By the way Moonpie I am black and both myself and my wife are educated and have children that are doing very well in school so your comments about " We wouldn't want to offend little Johnny or Shaniqua now would we?" are off based, however you do have a point "my race as a whole need to get off the pot and do better a better job of educating our children" Period. I cannnot and will not dispute that fact but this issue affects us all. Try not to put everyone into a box, By the way I don't have any children named Johnny, Shaniqua, Escalade, or Diamante. Good point nevertheless.
June 21, 2009 at 3:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hadenuff (anonymous) says...
Here's the problem not only in Low Country schools but across the nation.
America, this is YOUR future.
June 21, 2009 at 4:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
glory493 (anonymous) says...
Just proves what I have always thought. Americans are getting stupider every day. I rarely see young people reading these days. They are glued to their cell phones and other electronic gear. High school and college kids read cliff notes, not the actual assigned books, or they google it to get a review.
The quality of books provided have declined (Twilight). I loved reading as a child and still do. In that, I was unusual. My reading skills were far beyond most of the people I knew. Some could not read at all. I remember being told I would go crazy because I read too much amd that I thought I was white.
We need to place more value on getting a quality education instead of being entertainers and sports stars. There is nothing wrong with being those things, but education should be a priority. By the way, my name is not Shaniqua.
June 21, 2009 at 5:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justafan (anonymous) says...
How can anybody be surprised?
1. Our teachers are the lowest paid in the country. The best teachers train here and then go elsewhere to get paid.
2. Our administration is top heavy. Our high school has 9 assistant principals and don't get me started on the castle downtown.
3. Our school taxes are among the lowest in the country and it shows.
4. Our answer to a budget shortage is to close under performing schools and then take those under performing teachers and replace excellent teachers in excellent schools based on seniority. Thus bumping out teachers who have worked their butts off to be the best.
5. Our busing system is a joke.
6. Our answer to people who have come from successful systems is, "if you liked it so much there then go back".
7. Our teachers and administration are terrified of being sued. The kids come with representation.
8. "No child left behind" is not a bad idea...just poorly implemented. Help the kids with transportation before and after school so the teachers can help.
9. Let the kids go to summer school to catch up or get ahead.
10. How can the #49 system in the country allow kids early out and late ins? If you can graduate a year early without going to summer school the system is too easy.
11. We build new schools that are too small to hold the first group of kids. it's a good example of the poor leadership we keep employed.
June 21, 2009 at 7:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coachowens (anonymous) says...
I hate to say that history repeats itself but it does.
I want to see more than lip service.
Where are the activists now ?
This is the real war America!
That is why my wife and I are on the front line every day trying to give the children we teach not only what they deserve in school, but at home as well!
Wake up America! It is not just Black children - it's children of all colors! It has more to do with low socio-economics than anything else. Cliche as it is, "It takes an entire village to raise a child!" When are you going to reach out and offer to tutor the child you cross the street to avoid?
Don't get me wrong here! There are plenty of good folks in the business community, churches, civic organizations, fraternal organizations, etc ... who are going the extra mile or more to make a difference. The problem is that there is not enough of them.
My mother used to say "you take one step to God and He will take two to you." Bottom line - you have to do something other than complain about the problem!
Get involved, teach a child to read! "A mind is a terrible thing to waste!"
Oh, one more thing that I did not see in the article. What are the reading scores of the graduating seniors at these schools? Are they on or above grade level at graduation? What are their SAT / ACT scores? See you at the library.
June 21, 2009 at 8:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammer (anonymous) says...
the politicians have done a fantastic job of dummying us all down so we will ultimately HAVE to accept socialism merely because NO one will be able to fend for themselves...
it's just another step toward the ruin of our country, communism here we come...
send all of our work overseas and then make sure no one is smart enough to reverse it, in another generation we will be a nation of beggars completely dependant on our so called leaders
June 21, 2009 at 10:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lillycollette (anonymous) says...
Reading ability and comprehension goes up-governmentally sponsored white-collar fraud goes down.
(Ya can't catch em if ya can't figure out what they pulled on ya duh.)
June 22, 2009 at 7:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jaconnelly (anonymous) says...
Where are they getting the data? Are they using MAP scores or other test indicators?
June 22, 2009 at 9:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
aelee345 (anonymous) says...
I can't speak for every teacher in South Carolina, but I know that the teachers that I work with (including myself) work extremeley hard to help all of their students learn. The comment that eluded to the fact that teachers don't give "contact time" to their students is completely false. One on one time is given daily in my room. Keep in mind that there are only so many hours in a school day and that there are more than 2 students in our classrooms making it impossible to give individual "contact time" to the extent that could occur at home. The point raised in the same comment that parents send their children to teachers for a reason is obviously true. A teacher's job is to teach. However, the parent's job is to help in whatever way is needed for their child to be successful. Practice makes perfect and practice can't only occur in the classroom, it has to occur at home as well. I'm not sure who the "wanna be professionals" are that were mentioned in the posting, but I do know that every educator that I work with is a "real" professional.
In order for our students to be successful, we have to work together: teachers, parents, schools and communities. Until everyone gets on the same team we're doomed to repeat this situation year after year.
June 22, 2009 at 10:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eatmorecollards (anonymous) says...
In response to realamerican's post suggesting that republicans wish to keep the students illiterate to gain votes. I would wager that more of their parents are democrats than they are republicans.
June 22, 2009 at 1:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
memen99 (anonymous) says...
This is not a party or race problem. It's an American problem. We need smaller, community based schools so more volunteers can be encouraged and willing parents can participate. We need disticts and boards that hear the parents because when they do not - this is what happens. It is hard to work for a cause when you have no voice. No parent or community participation creates what we see. A failing system. This problem has to be fixed from the top to the bottom. STOP voting the fat cats into office that need heavy administrative staff and think closing schools is the answer to money problems. Oh, the CCSD budget shortfall was not 28M but 11M (did they lie or miscalculate?) Now they want to raise your taxes.
While you sit at your computer, send an email to your legislators. Our children need us. It's time to redesign the district office and trim some of their waste.
June 22, 2009 at 11:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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