THE SOLUTION In her ongoing search for supplemental literacy resources that might meet the district’s needs, McGilloway reviewed Storyworks and Scope magazines and shared samples with several experienced teachers for their feedback. She became convinced that these programs were “what we needed.” Mansion Avenue Elementary was using lots of novels and longer narrative texts, but Storyworks and Scope provided a library of exemplary shorter texts, especially informational texts, needed “to teach the standards thoroughly and deeply.” Quality authors write authentic articles on topics of high interest to children in an engaging, age-appropriate style. The program’s online system enables teachers to search for articles according to the standard or skill they plan to teach. The system was also designed for seamless integration with Google Classroom, making it easy for teachers to disseminate the texts and other instructional resources. McGilloway shared Storyworks and Scope with Mansion Avenue Elementary’s principal, Bonnie Smeltzer, and Director Burke, and together they decided to implement the programs schoolwide. Since then, over the many years of integrating these Scholastic magazines into the ELA curriculum, the district’s literacy program has demonstrated solid performance gains on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment, especially compared to the state’s demographically similar districts. And this year, Audubon was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School, a reward honoring high-performing schools and schools that are making great strides in closing achievement gaps. Spring 2024 results showed:
• 79% of students met or exceeded the state average for Grade 6. The district scored 25% higher than the state average of 53.2%. • 78% of students met or exceeded the state average for Grade 5. The district scored 25% higher than the state average of 52.2%. • 68% of students met or exceeded the state average for Grade 4. The district scored 17% higher than the state average of 50.8%. • 64% of students met or exceeded the state average for Grade 3. The district scored 20% higher than the state average of 43.6%.
SCHOLASTIC STORYWORKS AND SCOPE SUCCESS STORY: AUDUBON, NEW JERSEY, SCHOOL DISTRICT 3
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