Barnegat Elementary Students Improve Reading Skills In Pandemic

BARNEGAT, NJ — Despite the challenges schools faced during the coronavirus pandemic, kindergarten and first grade students in the Barnegat Township School District improved their reading skills throughout the school year.

According to the STAR reading assessment, which is used to determine a student’s overall reading level, 65 percent of kindergarten students and 72 percent of first grade students in the Cecil S. Collins School and the Lillian M. Dunfee School were at or above grade level at the end of the third marking period.

These students progressed from the end of the first marking period when 49 percent of kindergarten students and 58 percent of first graders were at that same benchmark.

The STAR reading assessment also identifies individual strengths and weaknesses, which helps teachers know where students need more direction and guidance.

Under the leadership of Principal Josh Toddings, Master Teacher Sue Mayo and Response to Intervention (RTI) data coach Nora Green worked directly with Collins School teachers to address the needs of their students.

Rime Magic, an innovative word-recognition system that builds reading confidence was implemented in the classrooms. Teachers were provided with training along with follow up observations and suggestions, which helped with overall student learning.

“I’m so proud of our students and how hard they’ve worked this year,” said Toddings. “I’m also extremely proud of our teachers who went above and beyond to keep their students engaged during a difficult year. To make these kinds of improvements over such a short period of time shows just how hard everyone is working to not just stay on track, but to advance.”

Pre-K students at the Lillian M. Dunfee School have made improvements this year in both English Language Arts and Math, according to readiness Assessments through Educational Software for Guiding Instruction (ESGI). ESGI is a one-on-one online assessment platform that will also be taken by the same students when they enter kindergarten in September.

The assessment shows that students were able to identify letters of the alphabet with 76 percent accuracy in the third marking period, as opposed to 67 percent in the second marking period. Recognizing a rhyme increased to 85 percent accuracy from 72 percent.

Students could recognize numbers one through 10 with 85 percent accuracy in the third marking period compared to 78 percent in the second, indicating improvement and growth.

“It’s been a core focus to improve test scores across the district,” said Superintendent Dr. Brian Latwis. “We’ve pulled out all the stops to support our students and our teachers as much as possible in this mission, and to see these numbers make such a drastic jump in such a short period of time is exciting. I’m exceptionally proud and applaud our teachers and students.”

Testing data for all six of Barnegat Township schools will be presented during the June 15 Board of Education meeting that will be held in the Barnegat High School gym at 5:30 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend.

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