The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) is a single public ... · PDF filestudents by one...
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
BUDGET INFORMATION
NON-CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMS
OMB Control Number: 1894-0008
Expiration Date: 04/30/2014
Name of Institution/Organization
Guam Department of Education
Applicants requesting funding for only one year should complete the column under
"Project Year 1." Applicants requesting funding for multi-year grants should complete all
applicable columns. Please read all instructions before completing form.
SECTION A - BUDGET SUMMARY
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FUNDS
Budget Categories Project Year 1
(a)
Project Year 2
(b)
Project Year 3
(c)
Project Year 4
(d)
Project Year 5
(e)
Total
(f)
1. Personnel 49,897.00 49,897.00
2. Fringe Benefits 18,576.01 18,576.01
3. Travel
4. Equipment 42,800.00 42,800.00
5. Supplies 118,992.50 118,992.50
6. Contractual 81,000.00 81,000.00
7. Construction
8. Other
9. Total Direct Costs (lines 1-8) 311,265.51 311,265.51
10. Indirect Costs* 1,701.49 1,701.49
11. Training Stipends
12. Total Costs (lines 9-11) $312,967.00 $312,967.00
*Indirect Cost Information (To Be Completed by Your Business Office):
If you are requesting reimbursement for indirect costs on line 10, please answer the following questions:
(1) Do you have an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement approved by the Federal government? _X___Yes ____ No
(2) If yes, please provide the following information:
Period Covered by the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement: From: _10/01/2008__ To: _09/30/2009__ (mm/dd/yyyy)
Approving Federal agency: ____ ED ____ Other (please specify): __________________________ The Indirect Cost Rate is __3.4____%
(3) For Restricted Rate Programs (check one) -- Are you using a restricted indirect cost rate that:
___ Is included in your approved Indirect Cost Rate Agreement? or ___ Complies with 34 CFR 76.564(c)(2)? The Restricted Indirect Cost Rate is _________%
ED 524
Part I. PROJECT ABSTRACT
The Guam Department of Education‘s (GDOE) Project "Na'fang gai Tiningo"
(indigenous Chamorro word meaning "To give knowledge, to enlighten, to learn") will focus on
the following three (3) goals:
1. To improve reading comprehension skills of all participating elementary and secondary
students by one grade level annually by providing them with additional interventions
and support through the district‘s current language literacy programs, the Home
Literacy Program, and Literacy Labs, paying particular attention to historically
underachieving student groups such as the socioeconomically disadvantaged, English
Language learners, and students with disabilities. GDOE will increase the cohort
graduation rate by at least 2% annually; and will reduce the proportion of students who
drop-out by at least 1% annually.
2. To provide a system of effective instruction and learning through comprehensive
professional development opportunities and training to; a) teachers in differentiated
instruction and best practices at all levels with an emphasis on students‘ instructional
needs and levels of language proficiency; b) Administrators to ensure that they have the
skills and knowledge necessary to support, monitor, and assess stated activities.
3. To provide support to ensure a seamless transition from one level of schooling to
another, the district will identify and assess the literacy skills of students transitioning
from one level of schooling to the next, specifically, students transitioning from Pre-K
to Kindergarten; Elementary (5th grade) to Middle (6th grade); Middle (8th grade) to
High School (9th grade) and 12th
grade students as they prepare to transition into post-
secondary education and/or careers. Historically underachieving students such as
socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, English Language learners, and
students with disabilities will be monitored closely.
The immediate outcomes include the following: Increased reading, writing, and
comprehension skills for all students so to prepare all children for academic success; To prepare
secondary students with the tools necessary to succeed in college, careers, and in life; Increase
graduation rates; Decrease drop-out rates; To enhance and assess growth of teachers and students
appropriately throughout the process, To insure that methodologies, strategies and resources are
appropriate and meet the District‘s goals; to develop an instructional cohort program within
scheduled timelines, to collect appropriate data and information from various sources, and to
evaluate the programs regularly by having reliable tools and instruments. To use assessment
data and results to make informed decisions regarding the effectiveness of current literacy
program approaches and professional development strategies, and to identify and assess success
or challenges of transitioning students to ensure students are prepared for the next level of
schooling.
The GDOE employs a large number of professionals with varied educational
backgrounds and experience. This includes over 2,000 teachers and administrators in 41 schools.
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The GDOE serves a student body with more than thirty-one thousand (31,000) students.
The need for professional development projects is necessary as turn-over rates for all content
area teachers are significantly high. Additionally, the limited pool of certified administrators and
teachers, low SAT10 scores, non-attainment of required academic skill levels and knowledge by
students, and high dropout rates are a few of the indicators driving the need for the GDOE‘s
proposed goals.
Although the GDOE‘s District Action Plan (DAP) continues to provide the necessary
assistance to improve, develop and sustain many GDOE programs, high levels of achievement in
the core academic subjects of literature are still areas of needed growth. The DAP will continue
to support students in meeting the challenges of standards and curriculum development.
The road to success for Reading and Language Arts teachers and parents alike are riddled
with many obstacles. Some of these are attributed to external forces, specifically a shortage of
monetary funding for textbooks and instructional resources, certified teachers or teachers without
strong content knowledge, and inadequate central office support.
Linda Darling-Hammond states, ―At effective schools, students are expected to meet
similar academic expectations and learn similar habits of mind in each class they take, and the
school community as a whole has a solid sense of what students should know and be able to do
by the time they graduate. Joint curricular planning also enables the curriculum to ―add up‖ – to
build ideas from one course to another and from one year to the next. This also enables more
powerful learning than can be achieved with a fragmented, disconnected course of study that
leaves students with gaps, holes, and misunderstandings as they try to put the pieces together by
themselves.‖ (2002)
In the same token, this grant will help in continuing to bridge the gap between student
learning, teacher quality training, and pedagogy, and using data to drive decisions within the
district. Thus, allowing the school community as a whole to envision a school district with high
quality academic achievement standards and expectations, and aggressive goals and objectives
that meet the needs of all Guam public school students for decades to come.
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Part II. PROJECT NARRATIVE
A. Project Need
Guam History and Facts
Guam is an unincorporated territory governed through the Organic Act of Guam, which
the United States (U.S.) Congress passed in 1950 as its governing instrument and as federal law.
After the passage of the Organic Act of Guam, people living on Guam at the time (including
indigenous Chamorros living abroad) were automatically given United States citizenship. Those
who came afterward and continue to immigrate to Guam (foreigners from other countries) are
required to earn their residency status through rigorous U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
processes and procedures. Guamanian and Indigenous Chamorro Americans living on Guam
have a non-voting representative in the US Congress. However, Guamanian Americans are
unable to vote for president and do not pay federal income taxes as residents of Guam.
Guam is located in the Western Pacific between Hawaii and Asia, and is the westernmost
territory of the United States. Although 212 square miles in size, Guam is nonetheless
considered to be the trade and communications hub of the Western Pacific. Guam is seven hours
travel time by plane to Hawaii and approximately three hours southeast to Japan.
Since the first Compact of Free Association (CFA) between the US and the Federated
States of Micronesia (FSM) in 1986, Guam has welcomed a significant number of citizens from
the Freely Associated States (FAS), specifically from the Micronesian islands of Chuuk,
Pohnpei, Yap, Kosrae, and the Marshalls.
The CFA has had a tremendous impact on Guam‘s educational, social, and economic
conditions in terms of the expenditure of government resources and assistance. The high influx
of FSM citizens to Guam has posed financial challenges throughout the Government of Guam,
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particularly on public education. This is readily seen in the rapid and steady growth of identified
English as a Second Language (ESL) students, of which FSM English Language Learners
(ELLs) make up 96%. Many FSM citizens continue to benefit from higher standards of living,
education and training, and have contributed greatly to the needed workforce on Guam.
The total population of Guam as stated in the U.S. Census Report taken in 2000 is
approximately 154,000 people, from various multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural
communities. Guam‘s demographic community is comprised of 37% indigenous Chamorro,
26% Filipino, 7% representing the Freely Associated States (Federated States of Micronesia,
Republic of Palau, and the Republic of Marshall Islands), 6% representing nearby Asian
countries, 10% other ethnic backgrounds and 14% representing two or more ethnic groups. In
addition, the 2000 U.S. Census reports that 15% of Guam‘s population speaks a primary
language other than English, and that 64% speak primarily English and another language at
home.
Guam’s Educational System
The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) is a single public school district in its
region serving as the State Education Agency (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA).
GDOE is responsible for the education of approximately 31,000 students from Early
Intervention, Special Education Preschool, Gifted and Talented preschool, and Head Start
through the 12th
grade in 27 elementary schools, 8 middle schools, 5 high schools, and 1
secondary alternative program. GDOE is the largest school district in the Western Pacific and
has, in many respects, served as a model for other school districts within the region despite its
remote location. The following Tables reflect the populations for the GDOE as well as special
program populations, including Preschool (Early intervention, Special Education Preschool, and
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Gifted and Talented preschool, Head Start), English as a Second Language, and Special
Education programs for SY 2007-2008, SY 2008-2009 and SY 2009-2010.
Table 1
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
Table 2
(Source: Guam English as a Second Language Program)
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
Elementary Middle High Alternative School
13851
6845
9633
341
13633
6884
9671
361
13851
6845
9633
341
GDOE Student Enrollment
SY08-09 SY09-10 SY10-11
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
Elementary Middle High
6363
3270
4186
5702
2912
4000
5745
2675 2606
English as a Second Language (ESL) Enrollment
SY08-09 SY10-11 SY09-10
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Table 3
(Source: Guam Special Education Division)
Table 4
(Source: Guam Head Start Division and the Special Education Division)
There are approximately 13,800 students in K-5th
(44.5%), 16,660 students in grades 6th
through 12th
(53.7%), and 500 students in the Head Start program (1.7%). The eligibility
criterion for Head Start enrollment includes age and incomer (below poverty guidelines) and
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Elementary Middle High
SY08-09
723
SY08-09
511
SY08-09
955
SY09-10
696
SY09-10
464
SY09-10
754
SY10-11
827
SY10-11
487
SY10-11
648
Special Education (SpEd) Enrollment
201 182 165 167 160 171
126 126 126
500 500 534
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
SY08-09 SY09-10 SY10-11
Pre-School Population
Ages 3-5 GEIS Pre-School GATE Head Start
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additional selective factors such as a history of family violence and child abuse, substance abuse
and homelessness. As of February 1, 2011, there are 75 children ages 3 – 5 with a certified
disability, of which currently 54 children (85%) are attending Head Start. Currently, 43 of the
above 75 children are age eligible for next year‘s Head Start Program.
The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) granted accreditation status
to all five of Guam‘s public high schools, and many of the middle and elementary public schools.
In spite of their progressive accreditation standing, GDOE remains challenged by low student
achievement scores, high dropout rates, low graduation rates, and ineffective recruiting,
development, and retention of high quality teachers and school administrators. These challenges,
however, do not appear to be unique on Guam and exist throughout the continental United
States. Nonetheless, given Guam‘s remote geographic location and limited funding sources,
reaching national standards expected for all Americans has been more difficult and challenging
for Guam students, teachers, and parents.
In March 2008, the Guam Education Policy Board (GEPB) adopted the District Action
Plan (DAP) to improve student achievement in Reading, Language Arts, and Mathematics. The
DAP addresses specific target areas of development including Standards and Assessments and
Personnel Quality and Accountability. The goal of increasing student achievement as articulated
in the DAP is monitored and adjusted annually by GDOE. The GEPB works closely with GDOE
administrators to evaluate a number of school performance indicators. The performance
indicators are reported annually in the Superintendent‘s State of Education Report, in the District
Report Card, and the Individual School Report Card for each of GDOE‘ public schools.
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State Assessment Data
Of the performance indicators specifically required by Public Law 26-26, approximately
70% consist of student achievement performance indicators in Reading, Language Arts, and
Mathematics. Student achievement is measured by the district‘s state-wide assessment tool, the
Stanford Achievement Test 10th
Edition (SAT10). Student scores are reported as SAT10
performance levels (Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced), SAT10 percentile scores,
and SAT10 mean scaled scores. This test is given annually in the spring to grades 1st through 12
th
and assesses students‘ achievement in a wide range of content knowledge in the areas of
Language Arts, Reading, Math, Science, Social Science and Spelling. Student scores are then
compared to a nationally sampled group of students called a ―norm group‖ that is representative
of the country and who took the test at the same time of the year.
The SAT10 provides the District with diverse scores for different interpretive purposes.
However, the primary score that is used by the Department is the Students‘ Performance Level
which classifies a student as scoring in the Below Basic (Level 1), Basic (Level 2), Proficient
(Level 3) or Advanced (Level 4) categories. Our goals are to increase the number, as denoted by
a percentage, of students who score in the Proficient (3) and Advanced (4) categories. These
categories indicate a solid mastery of the content material and indicate that the student is
prepared for the next grade.
Over the last three years at the three main levels of schooling, elementary, middle and
high, our district has only had a small number of students perform at the Proficient and
Advanced levels of the SAT10. Though the data show some increases in the number of students
achieving at these categories at different times, the percentage of students remains low in the
areas of Reading, Language Arts and Math. The following tables reflects the percentage of
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students in each grade, that scored in Below Basic (1), Basic (2)Proficient (3) and Advanced (4)
categories for SY 2007-2008, SY 2008-2009 and SY 2009-2010 in the areas of Reading and
Language Arts.
Table 5
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
Table 6
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
41
80 82 81
89
48
81 86 83
90
44
87 89 83
92
59
20 18 19 11
52
19 14 17
10
56
13 11 17
8 0
20
40
60
80
100
Grades: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Reading Levels 1st to 5th
Level 1/2, SY 07-08 Levels 1/2, SY 08-09 Level 1/2, SY 09-10
Level 3/4, SY 07-08 Level 3/4, SY 08-09 Level 3/4, SY 09-10%
91 97
89 84 87
92 97
90 86 87
73
93 89 89 90
9 3
11 16 13
8 3
10 14 13
27
7 11 11 10
0
20
40
60
80
100
Grades: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Language Levels: 1st to 5th
Level 1/2, SY 07-08 Level 1/2, SY 08-09 Level 1/2, SY 09-10
Level 3/4, SY 07-08 Level 3/4, SY 08-09 Level 3/4, SY 09-10%
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Table 5 reflects the Reading levels for the elementary grades, within the last three years,
over half of our students in the 1st grade perform at the proficient and advanced levels in Reading
with a high of 59% during SY 2007-2008 but experience a sharp drop to as low as 13% in the
second grade during SY 2009-2010. The percentage of students remain low throughout the
elementary years with the highest percentage being 20% in the second grade in SY 2007-2008
and the lowest being 8% in the fifth grade during SY 2009-2010.
Table 6 reflects the Language Arts levels in the elementary grades; numbers start off low
during first grade with the exception of SY 2009-2010 where 27% of our students met the
standard (proficient and advanced). All other years, all of the other elementary grades remained
low with the highest percentage peaking at 16% and the lowest percentage being 3% in the
second grade during SY 2007-2008 and SY 2008-2009.
Table 7
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
89
88
83
91
93
90
87
87
87
84
91
91
93
86
87
86
82
85
89
88
88
11 12 17
9 7 10 13 13 13 16
9 9 7 14 13 14 18
15 11 12 12
0
20
40
60
80
100
Grades: 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Reading Levels: 6th to 12th
Level 1/2, SY 07-08 Level 1/2, SY 08-09 Level 1/2, SY 09-10
Level 3/4, SY 07-08 Level 3/4, SY 08-09 Level 3/4, SY 09-10
%
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Table 8
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
Table 7 reflects the data for the middle grades in both Reading and Language Arts, the
percentage of students meeting the standards of proficient and advanced remain in range of 11%
to 18% in all grades for the last three years. This indicates that only a small percentage of our
students are consistently prepared for the next grade as measured by the SAT10.
Table 8 reflects the data for the high schools; the percentages of students decrease further
for both reading and language arts with the range for all grades being consistently high at15%
and a low of 3%. In the 12th
grade, though there is an obvious increase in the percentage of
students who meet the standard with jumps to double digits in all three years, in many
discussions, this increase has been attributed to the sharp decrease in the student population at
the 11th
and 12th
grades as well as in the percentage of students who take the test. On Guam, the
legal age to drop out is 16.
It is important to note that multiple factors contribute to low student achievement. The
data further supports the need for effective instructional literacy approaches and strategies, and
89
88
87
95
97
96
84
87
88
86
95
95
96
93
89
85
85
92
96
91
90
11 12 13 5 3 4 16 13 12 14 5 5 4 7 11 15 15 8 4 9 10 0
20
40
60
80
100
Grades: 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Language Levels: 6th to 12th
Level 1/2, SY 07-08 Level 1/2, SY 08-09 Level 1/2, SY 09-10
Level 3/4, SY 07-08 Level 3/4, SY 08-09 Level 3/4, SY 09-10%
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valid and reliable classroom assessment instruments that teachers can use throughout the school
year. There is also a great need to providing professional development for collecting and using
data to improve learning.
Literacy Program Specific Assessment Data
Direct Instruction: Reading and Language Benchmarks
The Direct Instruction (DI) program reports student progress through the student
benchmark report which identifies the percentage of students who reach or achieve a certain
standard through the course of the year. Table 9 below shows the benchmark information for all
students in the DI program for the first and fourth quarters of SY 2008-2009 and SY 2009-2010
for both Reading and Language Arts for 11 participating schools. Though in every grade level
between the first and fourth quarters there are notable gains in the percentage of students
reaching benchmark.
Table 9
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
With Language Arts, though we start off in Kindergarten with a high percentage of
students at program benchmarks, we see a sharp decline in those numbers during first, then
Kinder 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total
SY08-09 Reading 1st Qt. 19% 34% 33% 33% 33% 33% 31%
SY08-09 Reading 4th Qt. 29% 27% 25% 25% 33% 34% 29%
SY09-10 Reading 1st Qt. 34% 29% 26% 29% 38% 48% 34%
SY09-10 Reading 4th Qt. 47% 39% 43% 37% 46% 50% 44%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Per
cen
tag
e
Direct Instruction
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second and then finally with third, fourth and fifth grades having no students reaching
benchmarks. This shows that we have serious problems with being able to keep students
progressing at the required pace to maintain the benchmark status that was achieved in their early
years.
Success for All: Reading and Language Assessment
For SY 2009-2010, the Success for All Program focused its data collection efforts on
student reading levels and tracked the percentage of students who were reading at or above grade
level for each quarter. Table 10 below denotes the percentage of student reading at or above
grade level for each quarter by grade. As you will see, in a comparison between students‘ initial
performance on their reading assessment and their performance during their 4th
quarter each
grade level showed a substantial increase in the percentage of students reading at grade level.
The biggest gains were in the first grade which began the year with 42% of their students and
ended with 62%. The second biggest gain was in third grade which started at 28% of their
students reading at grade level and ending with 46%.
Table 10
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
Initial 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
1st Grade 42% 58% 56% 57% 62%
2nd Grade 35% 57% 48% 58% 44%
3rd Grade 28% 44% 38% 55% 46%
4th Grade 35% 45% 43% 49% 47%
5th Grade 45% 56% 53% 65% 58%
Total Overall 36% 52% 47% 57% 51%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%
Per
cen
tag
e
Success for All
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Student Behavior Data
GDOE is also mandated to report dropout rates annually. GDOE‘s dropout rate fluctuated
over the last three years; the table below reflects the trend. In SY 2007-2008, the dropout rates
was reported at 7%, a decrease to 6.1% in SY 2008-2009, and slight increase of 6.4%in SY
2009-2010. However, in comparison to the national average, specifically with districts of the
same population, dropout rates range from a low of 2.3% to a high of 10.9%, Guam‘s dropout
rate is significantly high.
Table 11
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
Table 12
(Source: Guam Department of Education Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division)
7.0% 6.1% 6.4%
0.0%
10.0%
Percentage %
Annual Drop Out Rates
SY 07-08
SY 08-09
SY 09-10
64.8% 67.6% 76.7%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Percentage %
Cohort Graduation Rates
SY 07-08
SY 08-09
SY 09-10
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Over the past three years, the graduation rate has increased from 64.8% in SY 2007-2008
to 76.7% in SY 2009-2010. However, the cohort graduation rate is significantly affected by the
dropout rate. The table below reflects the trend; in SY 2007-2008, the dropout rate was 72%, in
SY 2008-2009, it was recorded at 68%, and 61% in SY 2009-2010. Results support the need to
focus on increasing instructional support and improving instructional strategies in the secondary
grades to further decrease dropout rates and increase graduation rates.
B. Literacy Programs
The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) is currently implementing two
scientifically-based research literacy programs, in the elementary schools; 10 elementary schools
that will be utilizing the Success for All (SFA), and 11 will be utilizing the Direct Instruction
(DI) programs. The historically low student performance as indicated by SAT10 scores and low
graduation rates have prompted GDOE to implement these alternate literacy programs for the
next five years beginning in SY 2009-2010 and ending in SY 2013-2014.
The rationale behind the district‘s decision to provide schools, teachers, students, and
parents with literacy program options is in response to a public outcry that certain programs
work best within specific communities and around certain teaching styles and philosophies,
shifting away from the idea of ―one size fits all‖ and that blanket curriculums are best; and as a
result of persistent failure of students meeting high standards for learning when compared to the
national average. As a result of the diverse cultural and educational characteristics within
Guam‘s public school, it is imperative that the three literacy program‘s methods and strategies
for student learning, teaching, and school management are founded on scientifically-based
research and effective practices, but have been replicated successfully in schools with diverse
characteristics.
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The DI program is presently in its 8th
year of implementation, and the SFA program is in
its 2nd
year of implementation across 10 participating schools. In an effort to address literacy
challenges in the secondary grades, increase student achievement, raise graduation rates, and
decrease dropout rates, a scientifically-based research literacy program, Johns Hopkins Talent
Development, will be piloted in 1 middle school and 1 high school in SY 2011-2012.
The intention behind the implementation of these scientifically research –based models
was to help schools to integrate programs while allowing flexibility and enhancing accountability
for student learning, and provides both a framework to enable schools to change their
organization and practices so all students can achieve high standards. Its unique aspect was the
expectation that schools would collaborate with expert partners to implement whole-school
reform models that had a strong research base and a successful replication record.
The DI, SFA, and JHTD literacy programs are highly structured, data driven,
scientifically validated programs shown to work through rigorous scientific experimentation.
Student performance is tracked, monitored, and assessed regularly to identify students falling
behind or need extra-help. The JHTD program also tracks student behaviors and provides the
schools with the tools needed to adequately address behavioral challenges.
The literacy programs will help to close the achievement gap between the lowest-
achieving students and their grade level classmates before that gap becomes too great to bridge
through a carefully designed and structured teaching and learning activities. Research shows that
phonemic awareness is the most powerful predictor of success in beginning reading, and for
most children, a necessary prerequisite for learning to read. In fact, children who do not develop
phonemic awareness do not go on to learn how to read. A balanced approach combining
language and literature-rich activities develops proficiency in reading. These programs turn
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frustrated, struggling children into confident readers who feel successful early in their school
lives.
Birth to Pre-School Programs
Early Intervention Program:
The Guam Part C (GEIS) and Part B (ECSE), we are required by the US Office of
Special Education Program to demonstrate improvements in the following developmental areas:
A. Positive social-emotional skill (including social relationships);
B. Acquisition and use of knowledge and skills (including early
language/communication and early literacy); and
C. Use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law ensuring services to
children with disabilities throughout the nation. IDEA governs how states and public agencies
provide early intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.5 million
eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.
Infants and toddlers with disabilities (birth-2) and their families receive early intervention
services under IDEA Part C. Children and youth (ages 3-21) receive special education and
related services under IDEA Part B.
Under the Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of
2004, GDOE receives funds to make early intervention services available for infants and toddlers
with disabilities, birth through two, and their families. The purpose of Part C is to enhance the
development of infants and toddlers with disabilities to minimize their potential for development
delays, and to recognize the significant brain development that occurs during the child‘s first 3
years of life; To reduce the education cost by minimizing the need for special education and
related services after infants and toddlers with disabilities reach school age and maximize the
potential to live independently in society.
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Other purposes of Part C is to enhance the capacity of families to meet the special needs
of their infants and toddlers with disabilities and to enhance the capacity of State and local
agencies and service providers to identify, evaluate and meet the needs of all children. The
Guam Early Intervention System supports the full inclusion of infants and toddlers with or at-risk
for development delays and their families.
Pre-School Gifted and Talented Education:
The literacy program we engulf is The Whole Literature Approach where stories that are
read are tied into the project or unit they are working on. Students have story time daily and
reading parties that allow the students to select story books and look and share with the other
students. The students also write their own stories by telling their instructors a story that the
instructor writes down as they tell it. Reading their stories back at them is always fun and often
becomes the center of attention. The only problem is getting enough books for our students.
They are eager to learn therefore we try to supply real life books such as animals and science.
Many of our students read already and this program helps them be able to expand their own
knowledge. Working on the computer is another way we promote literacy by allowing the
students to illustrate their stories in book form, and to research about subjects they are interested
in. Some preschool classes have created their own dictionaries for the classroom with words
they have learned throughout the year.
Head Start Programs:
The GDOE Head Start Program, the Special Education Preschool (Gifted and Talented
Pre-School) program, the military, and many private childcares utilize the scientifically evidence
based Creative Curriculum.
Head Start keeps current with training and implements new modules as they are updated.
To familiarize/ transition Head Start students with Kindergarten, the program includes time in a
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kindergarten classroom following a kindergarten reading lesson. In addition, the Head Start
program provides information well as discusses the Kindergarten curriculum with Head Start
parents to ensure a smooth transition into the next level of schooling. More importantly, Head
Start‘s curriculum aligns with the District‘s Kindergarten content standards and Guam‘s Early
Learning guidelines to ensure students are prepared for Kindergarten.
Head Start works with parents in the home as well as in the classroom and encourages
parents to volunteer in the classrooms Parents participate in parent groups and the Head Start
policy council, and make decisions on our budget and policies with joint decision making with
the board. During parent conferences, parents are provided Head Start mandated training that
includes child abuse, safety, and other relative transition and literacy activity information. In the
reporting of children‘s progress, there are 4 levels of developmental progress. Forerunner
identifies children who are not yet at the initial level of typical preschool development but show
the beginning evidence of developing the skill. Step I approximates a beginning level of typical
preschool development. Steps II and III represent higher levels in acquiring these skills.
Table 14
(Source: Guam Head Start Program)
Guam Head Start Program
Creative Curriculum
Overall Progress
SY 2009-2010
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The table above indicates that 21% of the students entered in the fall were in the
Forerunner stage of development, 64% at Step I, 14% at Step II, and 1% at Step III. However,
through the Creative Curriculum program these students exited the program at 3% for
Forerunner, 11% at Step I, 53% at Step II, and 33% at Step III. This indicates that the students
are able to exit the program with a significant increase in levels.
Elementary School – Kindergarten to 5th
Grade
Direct Instruction:
Implementation in the elementary schools consists of Reading for 90 minutes a day;
Language for 60 minutes a day; and Math for 60 minutes a day. The primary goal of DI is to
accelerate at-risk students' learning in the elementary grades and equip them to compete with
their more advantaged peers (Engelmann et al., 1988). Direct Instruction aims not only to
increase the amount of learning, but also its quality by systematically developing important
background knowledge and applying and linking it to new knowledge (Block, et al., 1995).
The DI method teaches children increasingly complex skills and strategies by breaking
them down into small component skills that are taught one by one. The skill is taught so that
students fully understand it. Each skill is then practiced until it is completely mastered. In this
way, students learn to generalize and apply strategies that have been taught. The result for
students is not only the ability to apply their information, skills, and strategies in real-life
situations, but greater confidence in their own ability to learn. DI is highly focused, and provides
efficient lessons that will bring all children--even the lowest performing--to the level of
mastering essential skills.
Organization of instruction centers on (a) instructional grouping (using flexible skill
grouping as compared to "tracking"); (b) instructional time (increasing academic learning time—
the time students are engaged with high success rates); and (c) continuous assessment (providing
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ongoing in-program assessments to inform instructional practice).
DI literacy program includes: Reading Mastery, Reading Mastery Plus; Writing includes
Basic Writing Skills, Expressive Writing, Reasoning and Writing, and Cursive Writing); Spelling
includes, Spelling Mastery; and Language includes Language for Learning, Language for
Thinking. In SY 2011-2012 the DI Spoken English (DISE) Program will be implemented within
the participating schools, this program will specifically target English Language learners with
limited English proficiency.
Guiding principles of DI include every child can learn if we teach him or her carefully
and all teachers can be successful when given effective programs and instructional delivery
techniques. Thus, ultimately it is the teacher who is responsible for student learning; students are
not blamed for their failure to learn (Marchand-Martella, N., et al., 2005).
The program structure and design requires close supervision of program implementation,
weekly testing and regrouping based on student progress by the DI School Site Reading
Coordinators, Peer Coaches. Regular analysis of individual student performance in the three
content areas of Reading, Math, and Language Arts, classroom observations, training, teacher
mentoring, and coaching needs are also elevated to ensure teacher and student mastery.
The alarming number of at-risk students (Level 1, Level 2, English Language Learners,
and Special Education students) within the schools requires close supervision of program
implementation. Results of weekly testing of students are used to determine if students are on-
track, are falling behind require regrouping and/or lesson modifications; this is necessary to
ensure that placement aligns with individual academic performance. The amount of program
intervention/instruction is dependent on the performance of the students. Regular analysis of
individual student performance in Reading and Language Arts, classroom observations, training,
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teacher mentoring, and coaching needs are also elevated to ensure teacher and student mastery.
It also allows Coordinators to identify needs areas for teachers so to address each appropriately.
The evaluation model of the DI program utilizes specific assessments that will be used to
track and inform teachers of student progress in terms of their achievement. The percentage of
student who are on benchmark is tracked along with student Lesson Progress which monitors
that pace at which lessons are completed and Student Mastery, which monitors the percentage of
students who master the skills for each lesson.
The school leadership designs professional development opportunities that would help
teachers meet student needs. For example, teachers are taught to routinely use student assessment
data to identify students who may be in need of remedial help and decide on an appropriate
intervention or strategy that could be used to help that student better comprehend the material.
Success for All:
The Success for All (SFA) program parallels the instructional minutes as stated in the
GDOE Board Policy 346: 600 weekly minutes for Language/Reading component and 250
weekly minutes for Math. Students are homogenously grouped based on Reading levels while
the Math and Language components will be done in the homeroom classrooms.
The SFA program uses a homogeneous grouping structure based on quarterly assessment
data to place students based at reading level, rather than at grade level. Each quarter Reading
Roots students (reading at a first grade level) take the Roots assessment which allows teachers to
evaluate progress toward specific grade-level targets. Reading Wings students (reading at a
second grade level and above) take another form of assessment that provides Lexile and grade
level reading data. Many SFA schools use the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI). Teachers are
provided results from the quarterly assessment summary, which provides teachers with a picture
of each student‘s progress, so students can be appropriately grouped based on the Reading levels.
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The SFA Writing program ensures student writing progress on specific measures through
the Writing Challenges built into each unit. Following a group of units centered on a type of
writing, students participate in a Writing Challenge where written timed response to a prompt as
practice for state assessments. Rubrics are provided to teachers and students, so all can prepare
for and review mastery of the Writing Challenge and target specific areas for improvement.
Additionally, each of these programs is based in the following instructional strategies,
thus creating consistency not only within the classroom but also across classrooms and
disciplines:
The effects of cooperative learning identify the following characteristics that students
will learn in cooperative settings:
Higher achievement
Increased retention of information
More positive heterogeneous relationships
Greater intrinsic motivation
Higher self-esteem
More on-task behavior
Improved attitudes toward teachers
Improved attitudes toward school
Because of the success of cooperative learning strategies on student motivation, engagement, and
achievement, every SFA curriculum depends upon student interaction to facilitate learning.
Through SFA‘s cooperative learning structures students work together to learn and are also
responsible for their teammates‘ learning.
The SFA Tutoring program is an integral part of the programs SFA overall
design. Teacher Assistants play a critical role in supporting program implementation in the
classroom. These tutors work to assist the teachers in the morning during the 90 minute reading
block often supervising small groups or assisting students who may need individual help. After
the reading block, the tutors work with approximately 7 to 8 students, on a one-to-one basis, who
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are not reading on grade level and are in need of special assistance to catch up with their peers.
Tutors are trained and work with the Site Facilitators to develop a tutoring plan for each student
under their care. Tutoring is done on a one-to-one basis throughout the day for approximately 20
minutes for each student. Student progress is monitored and interventions may be indentified and
incorporated into the tutoring sessions if necessary.
As a result of the high accountability expectations for schools, teachers, and program
personnel, the current intricate support structure is essential to ensure that teachers are teaching
the program effectively and efficiently, and more importantly, ensure expected levels of students
achievement is realized. Quarterly analysis of individual student performance in Reading and
Language Arts, classroom observations, teacher training are also elevated to ensure teachers and
students succeed.
The SFA program encourages parent engagement through the Read and Respond
Program (RRP) where parents will focus attention on helping children with their schoolwork and
encouraging reading at home.
Secondary School – 6th
to 12th
Grade
Johns Hopkins Talent Development:
Recognizing the critical need to support literacy interventions in the upper grades, in
SY2011-2012, 1 middle school and 1 high school will pilot the Johns Hopkins Talent
Development (JHTD) program. The JHTD program was specifically designed to target
instructional and behavioral support in the secondary grades. Providing scientifically research-
based literacy program in the secondary grades will help to foster reading, writing, speaking, and
critical thinking skills of secondary students, and will promote the district‘s goal to effectively
prepare students for success in college, careers, and life.
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The Talent Development Model has a proven track record of increasing student
achievement through teacher learning. For example, the National Staff Council, in their
forthcoming Consumer Guide, identifies Talent Development‘s Student Team Literature
Program as one of just seven staff development efforts in the area of language arts that has
demonstrably improved Teacher effectiveness and student achievement in the middle grades.
Through the implementation of the JHTD, participating schools will improve student
learning and instruction through an integrated set of standards-based instructional materials,
effective instructional practices, assessments, and performance standards along with focused and
sustained staff development and in-classroom implementation support for each subject area.
These changes will provide all students with a strong opportunity to learn.
The professional development offered in each of the major subject areas combined with
follow-up curriculum coaching and implementation support makes it possible for teachers to
become skilled in instructional approaches that focus on teaching for understanding, peer
assisted learning, explicit mechanisms for providing students with essential background
knowledge, developing meta-cognitive strategies, and strategies and materials which engage
students in an active way with questions that provoke higher order thinking skills. The TD
models provide the curriculum, professional development, coaching, implementation support,
capacity building, and structural and organizational reforms needed to spread excellence in
teaching to every class in every major subject at every grade level.
The Talent Development Middle Grades
The Talent Development Middle Grades core Reading/English/Language Arts (TD-
RELA) curriculum includes Student Team Literature, Talent Development Writing, plus an
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extra-help program called Computer-and Team-Assisted Reading Acceleration that provides
additional instruction and reading opportunities for struggling students.
The TD-RELA program represents a coherent research- and standards-based approach to
developing the literacy of older students. The program teaches effective reading strategies and
operations, extends reading comprehension skills, develops fluency in reading and writing,
systematically adds important words to students/ working vocabulary, and builds basic language
skills and higher-order thinking, literary analysis, and writing skills. One distinction of this
approach is its integrated nature. Skills are not taught in isolation. All objectives in
Reading/English/Language Arts are taught through reading, studying, discussing, and responding
to high-quality, high-interest books.
The TD-RELA program includes a wide variety of curricular materials that support
teachers‘ use of effective instructional practices, engaging and varied learning activities and
assessments, and students‘ use of effective peer assistance processes.
Students who need extra help in Reading attend a ten-week accelerated learning class (in
addition to their regular reading classes) that uses cooperative groups and computers (literacy
labs) to provide intensive learning experiences. Students needing extra help to meet high
standards have responded enthusiastically to these ―extra dose‖ classes even though the students
miss an elective class for ten weeks in order to participate. These extra-dose classes provide
students with the opportunity to master the material.
The Talent Development High School
The curriculum and other components of the Talent Development High School (TD-High
School) program selected include:
Ninth Grade Success Academy
Career Academies for the Upper Grades
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Common Core Curriculum
These components are implemented into the program at later dates after the program has
been stabilized and implemented with fidelity. These too are proven reform program activities
that have been shown to increase student achievement and create positive school climates.
Because ninth graders undergo difficult transition from middle school to high school,
schools need to ease the transition to high school. A strong Ninth Grade Success Academy
would provide this transition, preparing students academically and socially for the rigors of high
school and college. The Ninth Grade Success Academy is a self-contained school-within-a-
school organized around interdisciplinary teams designed to provide incoming ninth graders with
a smooth transition into high school. Courses ninth graders will be exposed to our Strategic
Reading, Student Team Literature and TD Writing, Transition to Advanced Mathematics, and
Freshman Seminar.
A significant number of adolescents enter high school with reading deficits that lead to
academic failure and emotional roadblocks. These challenges diminish the adolescent reader‘s
chances of becoming active learners. Many of these adolescents, who are not equipped to engage
with high school level reading and writing, lack motivation and at the same time, are struggling
to successfully complete increasingly complex core English requirements. There are a variety of
reasons why struggling readers experience difficulty with text-related activities. Typically, the
challenged adolescent reader can read the text but lacks the comprehension skills to understand
and interpret the complexities of secondary level school text.
The Accelerating Literacy for Adolescents (ALFA Lab) for 9th
grade facilitates student
motivation, engagement, strategy instruction, text comprehension, vocabulary development,
fluency and technology through a consistent rotating class structure and engaging curriculum.
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Students will be placed in teams where they will work individually and/or collaboratively to
complete activities requiring them to apply comprehension skills, word knowledge and writing
skills. The ongoing use of computers, high interest material, a listening post, collaborative
experiences and classroom-based assessment maximizes opportunities for ALFA students to
engage in relevant and meaningful classroom experiences.
As a component of the Talent Development Literacy Initiative, ALFA is an intensive
triple-dose course designed for ninth-grade readers functioning 4 or more years below grade
expectancy. The lab is facilitated by a teacher and a lab assistant with a maximum of twenty
students per class. During the ALFA sessions, the ALFA teacher is primarily responsible for
conducting the guided reading station while the lab assistant monitors and provides ongoing
feedback to the remaining teams. The overall purpose for the ALFA Lab is to improve reading
achievement and increase the independence of struggling adolescents to a degree that they can
successfully meet the literacy requirements of high school courses.
The ALFA Lab incorporates a variety of assessment techniques ranging from formative
to summative measures. The compilation of assessments along with a systematic approach for
examining the results yields a picture of each student that reflects their performance (strengths,
weaknesses, and growth and error patterns) throughout the semester. Since ongoing assessment
of student learning is an essential aspect of the ALFA Lab, informed decisions and adjustments
in instruction can be made to ensure that students are ―on track‖ for reaching the instructional
targets.
Although the TD-High School does not track students into college preparatory,
vocational, or general curricular tracks, GDOE closely monitors the students‘ progress to ensure
that they are adequately prepared for post-secondary education or career paths. All students will
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be required to take and pass a basic set of college preparatory academic courses. In addition to
the main components of the TD-High School model, students will move through research-based
curricula in advanced coursework in English and Language Arts. They will also have credit
recovery opportunities and receive extra help, as needed. There will also be professional staff
development systems in place designed to support implementation of the recommended reforms.
Parent and community involvement activities will take place that aim to encourage students‘
career and college development. These elements should be viewed as mechanisms that are
mutually reinforcing and that offer direct and concrete approaches to enhancing supports and
learning opportunities.
Many middle and high schools inadvertently manufacture the low achievement of many
students by offering high expectation instruction to only a subset of their students (sorting some
students into high-expectation instruction while relegating others to a lower track featuring a
lower-quality education). TD students are heterogeneously grouped in their core academic
classes. Heterogeneous grouping for core academic classes helps TD Schools reach high levels
of academic performance by eliminating lower track sections. To help teachers manage these
heterogeneous classes effectively and teach in ways that help students learn, TD staffs provide
focused and coherent professional development in the use of subject-specific cooperative
learning and teaching-for-understanding instructional methods and classroom management
techniques designed for diverse classrooms.
Talent Development schools participate in the National Network of Partnership Schools.
This network, established by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, brings together schools,
districts, and states that are committed to developing and maintaining a comprehensive program
of school-family-community partnerships. As part of the Network, TD Schools establish Action
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Teams that carry out school, parent, and community involvement activities in a focused and
coherent way. Research shows that students achieve more and at higher levels when their
families are involved in their school. JHTD encourages such involvement, as well as community
partners, especially through the National Network of Partnership Schools, which is also part of
the Center for Social Organization of Schools.
Building Local School Capacity
Embedded within each of the literacy programs being implemented are intensive
professional development opportunities for all teachers within the participating schools.
However, in addition to these three intervening literacy programs for students, GDOE realizes
the need to build capacity specifically among Reading and Language Arts teachers. Based on
student enrollment projections from the GDOE Research, Planning, and Evaluation Division
(RP&E), approximately 800 new teachers will be needed by the year 2013.
This increased estimate in teacher recruitment comes from assumptions about the
approaching U.S. military buildup that will begin in few years, where a large number of civilian
support personnel will eventually enroll their children within GDOE. In addition, new schools
must be built in order to accommodate this increase in population. These estimates also consider
the fact that Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) will actively recruit certified
teachers from within GDOE during the same period of time and beyond.
Guam is the only island within Micronesia that has an accredited university. The
University of Guam (UOG), the only state approved teacher certification program, produces
approximately 180 new teachers each year. The majority of these teachers are at the elementary
level. The School of Education and the UOG Yamashita Teacher Corps program have been
successful in graduating an adequate supply of elementary teachers through effective incentives
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and support. The Guam Community College is an accredited 2 year college which provides the
Preschool Early Childhood Education for the birth to kindergarten entry population.
When viewed in the long term, and with the US military build-up in mind, the quantity
of teachers graduating from UOG must increase at least two-fold in the coming years to fulfill
future demand.
By designing and providing comprehensive professional training and development
opportunities in differentiated instruction and best practices at all levels, teachers will be
provided the opportunity to acquire or further enhance their skills and knowledge necessary to
prepare students for the next level of learning. The goal is to develop the district‘s and school‘s
capacity to sustain programs and teaching and learning approaches and strategies proven to
show results in increasing student academic achievement in the area of Reading and Language
Arts for all students. Professional development is an important component in the development of
internal capacity to maintain the project initiatives independently.
C. Significance of Goals and Objectives
The goals and objectives of Project Na'fang gai Tiningo were created to support the No
Child Left Behind Initiative and President Obama‘s vision for diverse, but effective styles in
teaching and learning. These goals and objectives are in line with the Guam Department of
Education‘s District Action Plan, ensuring that all students are provided with high-quality
academic assessment, high-quality teachers, and high-quality school administrators.
The goals and objectives within Project Na'fang gai Tiningo will take into account
multiple factors; literacy program models, assessment methods and results, teacher professional
development database, and the progress and impact on transitioned students, paying particular
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attention to historically underachieving student populations such as the socioeconomically
disadvantaged, English Language learners, and students with disabilities.
Project "Na'fang gai Tiningo" goals are:
1. To improve reading comprehension skills of all participating elementary and secondary
students by one grade level annually by providing them with additional interventions
and support through the district‘s current language literacy programs, the Home
Literacy Program, and Literacy Labs, paying particular attention to historically
underachieving student groups such as the socioeconomically disadvantaged, English
Language learners, and students with disabilities. GDOE will increase the cohort
graduation rate by at least 2% annually; and will reduce the proportion of students who
drop-out by at least 1% annually.
2. To provide a system of effective instruction and learning through comprehensive
professional development opportunities and training to; a) teachers in differentiated
instruction and best practices at all levels with an emphasis on students‘ instructional
needs and levels of language proficiency; b) Administrators to ensure that they have the
skills and knowledge necessary to support, monitor, and assess stated activities.
3. To provide support to ensure a seamless transition from one level of schooling to
another, the district will identify and assess the literacy skills of students transitioning
from one level of schooling to the next, specifically, students transitioning from Pre-K
to Kindergarten; Elementary (5th grade) to Middle (6th grade); Middle (8th grade) to
High School (9th grade) and 12th
grade students as they prepare to transition into post-
secondary education and/or careers. Historically underachieving students such as
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socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, English Language learners, and
students with disabilities will be monitored closely.
GDOE has prioritized the implementation of three proven literacy programs to address
the low reading performance of Guam‘s public school students as indicated in SAT10 scores; 1)
Success For All (SFA), 2) Direct Instruction (DI), and 3) the Johns Hopkins Talent Development
(JHTD) programs has allowed for a literacy improvement plan for grades kindergarten through
12th grades, which have been supported and approved by teachers and administrators at their
respective schools. These programs deliver tightly sequenced, carefully planned lessons that
give struggling students the structure and practice necessary at becoming skilled fluent readers,
and better thinkers.
The proposed activities within Project Na'fang gai Tiningo include focusing on
increasing literacy skills of at-risk students; Project Na'fang gai Tiningo will implement the
Home Literacy Program (HLP) in the elementary and secondary grades. Through HLP, students
struggling with Reading and Language Arts will have the opportunity and resources to improve
reading skills at home. To further support literacy in the secondary grades, resources in
technology will be provided to support and pilot literacy lab within the JHTD program. These
activities will further support the GDOE‘s goals for increasing literacy skills at all grade levels.
Activities will also focus on analyzing the effectiveness of teaching and learning
strategies as outlined within the current literacy programs to identify the strengths and areas for
improvement. The project will provide schools, parents, and teachers with the resources and
tools necessary to make informed decisions pertaining to the effectiveness of these programs and
its impact on improving Reading and Language Arts skills within the elementary and secondary
grades, reducing dropout rates, and increasing graduation rates.
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In addition, the adopted District Action Plan speaks strongly for the need to improve
student achievement in Reading and Language Arts through a thorough review and improvement
of the district‘s standards and assessment programs, and development of GDOE‘s faculty at all
levels. The district seeks to ensure that the essential elements of a standards-based education
system are of high quality and fully aligned and implemented. Specifically, the district
continuously attempts to align curriculum standards, professional development standards, and
system-wide standards-based assessments. Professional development standards articulated in the
District Action Plan include teacher training programs that emphasize mastery of content,
instructional strategies, and the use of appropriate assessment tools in measuring the progress
students are making toward achieving the standards. Project Na'fang gai Tiningo’ directly
supports these important components of the District Action Plan.
The design for collecting data for Project Na'fang gai Tiningo’ is a long awaited
opportunity to provide an evidence-based data system for improvement and accountability for
the GDOE. GDOE will establish working models for educational innovations and a definitive
methodology for making decisions in regards to specific education programs, specifically in the
area of literacy. The design (discussed in Project Design) entails the collection of data related to
a target cohort of students specifically in Reading and Language Arts, use of technology to
enhance literacy skills in the secondary grades, teacher professional development, students
transitioning from one level of schooling to another, and students and teachers within specific
literacy programs as well as non-reform program schools.
D. Quality of Project Design
The project will implement the Home literacy Program (HLP)in the elementary and
secondary grades. This activity will promote parental involvement and support of student
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reading at home through parent workshops and access to supplemental reading materials. Focus
will be placed on at-risk students in grades Kindergarten 5th
within the schools participating in
the Direct Instruction and Success for All.
Workshops for parents will focus on goals and objectives of the appropriate reading
reform program at the school site, and effective teaching methodologies and practices. The
supplemental reading material corresponding to the appropriate reading reform program will be
loaned to parents in order to further reading skills at the home front. It is hoped that additional
opportunities for reading success are developed by the HLP program, and that it become
implemented strategically and permanently within the GDOE curriculum.
In the secondary schools participating in the Johns Hopkins Talent Development literacy
programs, students will be encouraged to actively participate in the HLP to supplement current
Reading curriculum.
The success of the HLP program in the elementary grades will depend almost entirely on
the participation of parents (and older siblings of the child) in workshops and their cooperation
with literacy program coordinators at the school site. The success in the secondary grades will
depend greatly on active student participation and cooperation with their teachers and literacy
program coordinators.
The HLP and Literacy Lab activities will supplement the current literacy program
(Direct Instruction, Success for All, and the Johns Hopkins Talent Development Programs)
activities currently being implemented in 23 participating schools. Immediate outcomes would
be increased Reading and Language Arts by one grade level at the end of SY 2011-2012.
Project Na'fang gai Tiningo’ will focus on identifying each assessment tool, student
progress within specific schools, successes and challenges of each literacy program, the HLP
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program, and the Literacy Lab programs, and how the data collected will help the district to
make informed decisions that impact all students, at all levels.
Although the selected literacy programs share the same goals, to improve student
academic achievement for all students and increase accountability, it is expected that the
methods, approaches, and outcomes will vary.
The fact that the elementary literacy programs, DI and SFA, have been implemented
concurrently over the last two years, with SY 2011-2012 being the third year of concurrent
implementation, it provides GDOE with the tools to conduct longitudinal assessments; to track,
compare, and assess performance within schools with and without literacy program
implementation over a three year period. With the longitudinal data, Project Na'fang gai
Tiningo will have three years of students‘ performance data including but not limited to literacy
programs specific data and SAT10 data, to conduct comprehensive analysis of data on multiple
levels.
Data results from the comprehensive analysis of behavior and student achievement
through the multiple assessment tools will be studied to determine changes over time in
demographics, perceptions, processes, and student achievement. Particular attention will be paid
to student reading below grade level, and historically underachieving student groups such as the
socioeconomically disadvantaged, English Language learners, and students with disabilities.
Teachers teaching within schools participating in the Direct Instruction and Success for
All literacy programs have received intensive professional development opportunities relative to
the specific literacy program being implemented. However, GDOE realizes the need to build
capacity specifically among Reading and Language Arts teachers through comprehensive
professional development opportunities especially in the secondary grades where teachers have
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not been provided the same level of intensive professional development opportunities as a result
of the lack of a literacy program.
Enhancing the knowledge and skills of new and experienced educators through high-
quality and continuous teacher professional development and training is essential to providing all
students with opportunities to be successful learners. To effectively plan professional
development and to select teachers for participation, project personnel along with school
administrators, will evaluate student data to systematically target educators‘ needs such as
knowing how to administer benchmark measures, using student data to inform instruction,
knowing how to identify and implement effective interventions to meet student needs, and how
to use student data to reflect on and improve the overall instruction and intervention provided to
students. Ongoing professional development is key to building capacity needed to improve and
sustain effective implementation over time.
A stand-alone workshop has less than a 5% chance of actually changing teacher practice
in the classroom. However, if you add on-going and embedded professional development,
provide professional learning communities where teachers interact with their colleagues, and
ensure on-going support from coaches and administrative staff, the chance of really affecting
teaching and learning increases dramatically -- to nearly 90% (Joyce and Showers, 2002).
Administrators will be provided professional development opportunities in the areas of
how to use student data to reflect on and improve the overall instruction and intervention
provided to students, how to use student achievement data to make informed decisions at the
school level.
One of Project Na'fang gai Tiningo’ goals are to conduct a comprehensive study on
specific groups of students who transition from one level of schooling to another. The passage of
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students from the middle grades to high school is the most difficult transition point for
adolescents. Their chances of failing in grade nine is three to five times higher than that of any
other grade. Transition initiatives involve cooperation and understanding between middle school
and high school administrators about the importance of preparing middle school students for
high school level learning. It also involves increased communication between middle school and
high school teachers about what middle school students need to know and be able to do in
reading, math, and language arts, in preparation for challenging high school courses.
The district will identify and assess the literacy skills of students transitioning from one
level of schooling to the next, specifically, students transitioning from Pre-K to Kindergarten;
Elementary (5th grade) to Middle (6th grade); Middle (8th grade) to High School (9th grade) and
12th
grade students as they prepare to transition into post-secondary education and/or careers.
Reading and Language Arts scores of a cohort set of students who move from specific
elementary school feeder bands into specific middle feeder bands into a specific high school will
be collected and assessed. More importantly, literacy program – schools as well as non-reform
program schools will be identified for this evaluation. The evaluation will include historically
underachieving students such as socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, English
Language learners, and students with disabilities will be monitored closely.
The Literacy Team will review, assess, and use the evaluation results to determine
current success and challenges within specific transitional phases; identify strategies to address
challenges, and maximize on successes. Literacy Team meetings provide a collaborative context
for analyzing school data, identifying problems, posing solutions, evaluating alternatives, and
making recommendations. The Literacy Team will meet regularly and as needed to review
student data and select appropriate interventions to address reading challenges of struggling
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readers at all levels. Progress monitoring, program evaluation, and school plans are critical
components for continuous school improvement.
Project Management
PROJECT Na'fang gai Tiningo’s goals and objectives:
GOAL1: To improve reading comprehension skills of all participating elementary and
secondary students by one grade level annually by providing them with additional interventions
and support through the district‘s current language literacy programs, the Home Literacy
Program, and Literacy Labs, paying particular attention to historically underachieving student
groups such as the socioeconomically disadvantaged, English Language learners, and students
with disabilities. GDOE will increase the cohort graduation rate by at least 2% annually; and
will reduce the proportion of students who drop-out by at least 1% annually.
Objective 1.1: Increase the reading scores of the students group every year by one grade level
as measured by the respective literacy programs, SAT10, and Head Start benchmarks through the
through the development and implementation of a student home reading program.
TASK 1.1.A: Identify at-risk students based on reading scores and other appropriate
criteria determined by program within identified schools.
TASK 1.1.B: Procure appropriate supplemental reading books,
TASK 1.1.C Give students books for the appropriate reform program to read at home
TASK 1.1.D Have students record reading activity on monitoring sheet
TASK 1.1.E Teacher, Parent and/or Consultant will follow up on reading activity
MEASURE: 1.1.A-E: 1. List of students participating
2. Inventory of books purchased
3. Reading Monitor Sheets
4. Report on Monitoring Activities done
5. Analysis of reading scores
TASK 1.1.F: Monitor, track, and assess students' reading skills utilizing the respective
literacy program and Head Start assessment Creative Curriculum progress report each
quarter and at the end of the school year, and use information to modify or improve
program activity.
MEASURE: 1.1.F:
1. Report and analyze student assessment results.
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TASK 1.1.G: Monitor, track, and assess students' SAT10 reading scores and Head Start
assessment Creative Curriculum progress report and compare to prior year assessment
results, and use information to modify or improve program activity.
MEASURE: 1.1.G:
1. Report and analyze results.
TASK 1.1.H: Analyze results of reading scores, using respective literacy assessment
results and SAT10 scores at the end of the year and identify successes and challenges,
and use results to modify and/or improve processes, activities, lessons, and professional
development strategies accordingly.
MEASURE: 1.1.H:
1. Report on progress results, successes, challenges, and identified solutions.
TASK 1.1.I Design and develop Community Partnership Programs and Activities with
the private and public sectors, include the Guam Public Library, University of Guam and
the Guam Community College Libraries, the Parent Information Resource Center, local
books stores, and other entities to provide additional resources and encouragement for
students to read.
MEASURE: 1.1.I:
1. List of participating community partners
2. Report on progress and results
Objective 1.2: To increase the language and literacy skills of at-risk secondary student
populations through the use of literacy labs. Integrate technology at the student level to assist in
the development of literacy and communication skills, to promote the acquisition of knowledge
in meaningful context, and to increase the engagement of all students.
TASK 1.2.A: Procure necessary technology hardware (student workstations) and
software for participating secondary schools.
MEASURE: 1.2.A:
1. Inventory report of procured equipment.
TASK 1.2.B: Identify at-risk students based on reading and language arts scores and
other appropriate criteria within identified secondary schools.
MEASURE: 1.2.B:
1. List of participating students.
TASK 1.2.C: Monitor, track, and assess student reading and language arts scores
utilizing the respective literacy program quarterly and at the end of the school year and
use information to modify or improve program activity.
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MEASURE: 1.2.C:
1. Report on Monitoring Activities and results.
2. Pre/Post test scores.
TASK 1.2.D: Monitor, track, and assess student SAT10 reading and language arts scores
and compare to prior year assessment results and use information to modify or improve
program activity.
MEASURE: 1.2.D:
1. Report on results.
TASK 1.2.E: Monitor, track, and assess student‘s ability to use technology (computer,
internet, and other equipment) to complete assignments
MEASURE: 1.2.E:
1. Report on Monitoring Activities and results.
2. Pre/Post test scores.
OUTCOME: At least 75% of the students will have successfully increased their reading and
language arts scores by at least one grade level as measured by the appropriate literacy program
assessment and SAT10 or Head Start pre-literacy indicators will show improvement from the
baseline determination towards developmentally appropriate levels. GDOE will increase the
cohort graduation rate by at least 2% annually; and will reduce the proportion of students who
drop-out by at least 1% annually.
GOAL 2: To provide a system of effective instruction and learning through comprehensive
professional development opportunities and training to a) teachers in differentiated instruction
and best practices at all levels with an emphasis on students‘ instructional needs and levels of
language proficiency; b) To provide Administrators to ensure that they have the skills and
knowledge necessary to support, monitor, and assess stated activities.
Objective 2.1: By the end of SY 2011-2012, at least 50% of the district‘s Reading and
Language Arts teachers within the participating schools will have participated in a specialized
training in the area of Reading, Language Arts, Differentiated Instruction, and/or best practices
by highly knowledgeable professionals (i.e., professors, trainers, etc)
TASK 2.1.A: Contract the services to provide training for identified Reading and
Language Arts teachers
MEASURE: 2.1.A:
1. Course/training/Workshop outline
2. Course credits earned.
3. Workshop/training evaluations.
4. Participant roster.
TASK 2.1.B: Identify Reading and language Arts teachers.
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MEASURE: 2.1.B:
1. Database of initial teachers‘ participation/Database of teachers who
successfully completed trainings and/or workshops.
2. Course credits earned.
3. Workshop/training evaluations.
4. Teacher certification listing.
OUTCOME: At least 100 teachers will receive training, and at least 75% of the teachers will
report that training has improved their teaching skills and ability to maintain GDOE teaching
certification.
Objective 2.2: By the end of SY 2011-2012, at least 75% of Administrators within the
participating schools will have participated in specialized training in the area of monitoring and
assessing the implementation of stated activities.
TASK 2.2.A: Provide administrators with training to help them acquire and develop the
knowledge and skills necessary to support and monitor implementation of stated
activities, including effective literacy instructional practices.
MEASURE: 2.2.A:
1. Participant roster.
2. Workshop/training evaluations.
OUTCOME: At least 20 Administrators will receive training, and at least 75% of the
Administrators will report that they have successfully taken an active role in supporting,
monitoring, and assessing gains and challenges within their respective schools.
GOAL 3: To provide support to ensure a seamless transition from one level of schooling to
another, the district will identify and assess the literacy skills of students transitioning from one
level of schooling to the next, specifically, students transitioning from Pre-K to Kindergarten;
Elementary (5th grade) to Middle (6th grade); Middle (8th grade) to High School (9th grade) and
12th
grade students as they prepare to transition into post-secondary education and/or careers.
Historically underachieving students such as socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds,
English Language learners, and students with disabilities will be monitored closely.
Objective 3.1: Determine the literacy skill level of students transitioning from one level of
schooling to another to identify challenges and successes.
TASK 3.1.A: Identify cohort groups of students moving from a specific Pre-School or
Head Start into specific elementary school feeder bands, into specific middle feeder
bands, and into specific high schools.
MEASURE: 3.1.A:
1. List of participating students.
2. List of schools/program students are participating in.
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3. Report on progress results, successes, challenges, and identified solutions.
TASK 3.1.B: Establish and implement a seamless, articulated system that supports the
child/student as he or she transitions between each level of schooling.
MEASURE: 3.1.B:
1. Identified system of support
2. Report on progress results, successes, challenges, and identified solutions.
TASK 3.1.C: Establish regular opportunities for communication and collaboration
among educators within and across grades, as well as between pre-K and elementary,
elementary and middle educators, and middle and high school educators. Plan and
engage in regular cross-disciplinary meetings among all teachers involved focusing on
the analysis of, and response to, student assessment data.
MEASURE: 3.1.C:
1. Identified system of support
2. Report on progress results, successes, challenges, and identified solutions.
OUTCOME: The district will be equipped with the tools necessary to make instructional
decisions relative to the effectiveness, success, and challenges of current literacy programs,
instructional approaches, and professional development strategies and its impact on preparing
students as they transition from one level of schooling to another. The data will allow the district
to determine if current practices, strategies, and programs are making a positive difference in
raising professional and academic skills and greater literacy awareness and participation.
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GOAL OBJECTIVE ACTIVITY MEASURE OUTCOME
1.1.A: Identify at-risk students based on
reading scores and other appropriate criteria
determined by program within identified
schools.
1.1.A: List of participating students.
1.1.B: Procure appropriate supplemental
reading books
1.1.B: Inventory of books purchased
1.1.C Give students books for the appropriate
reform program to read at home
1.1.C: Reading Monitor Sheets
1.1.D Have students record reading activity on
monitoring sheet
1.1.D: Report on Monitoring
Activities done
1.1.E Teacher, Parent and/or Consultant will
follow up on reading activity
1.1.E: Analysis of reading scores
1.1.F: Monitor, track, and assess students'
reading skills utilizing the respective literacy
program and Head Start assessment Creative
Curriculum progress report each quarter and at
the end of the school year, and use information
to modify or improve program activity.
1.1.F: Report and analyze student
assessment results
1.1.G: Monitor, track, and assess students'
SAT10 reading scores and Head Start
assessment Creative Curriculum progress
report and compare to prior year assessment
results, and use information to modify or
improve program activity.
1.1.G: Report and analyze results.
1.1.H: Analyze results of reading scores, using
respective literacy assessment results and
SAT10 scores at the end of the year and
identify successes and challenges, and use
results to modify and/or improve processes,
activities, lessons, and professional
development strategies accordingly
1.1.H: Report on progress results,
successes, challenges, and identified
solutions.
Guam Department of Education
Striving Readers Project Na'fang gai Tiningo
LOGIC MODEL MANAGEMENT PLAN
1. To improve reading
comprehension skills of all
participating elementary and
secondary students by one
grade level annually by
providing them with additional
interventions and support
through the district’s current
language literacy programs, the
Home Literacy Program, and
Literacy Labs, paying particular
attention to historically
underachieving student groups
such as the socioeconomically
disadvantaged, English
Language learners, and students
with disabilities. GDOE will
increase the cohort graduation
rate by at least 2% annually;
and will reduce the proportion
of students who drop-out by at
least 1% annually.
At least 75% of the students will have
successfully increased their reading
and language arts scores by at least
one grade level as measured by the
appropriate literacy program
assessment and SAT10 or Head Start
pre-literacy indicators will show
improvement from the baseline
determination towards
developmentally appropriate levels.
GDOE will increase the cohort
graduation rate by at least 2%
annually; and will reduce the
proportion of students who drop-out
by at least 1% annually.
1.1 Increase the reading scores of
the students grouop every year by
one grade level as measured by the
respective literacy programs,
SAT10, and Head Start benchmarks
through the development and
implementation of a student home
reading program.
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GOAL OBJECTIVE ACTIVITY MEASURE OUTCOME
1.1.I Design and develop Community
Partnership Programs and Activities with the
private and public sectors, include the Guam
Public Library, University of Guam and the
Guam Community College Libraries, the Parent
Information Resource Center, local books
stores, and other entities to provide additional
resources and encouragement for students to
read
1.1.I:
1. List of participating community
partners
2. Report on progress and results
1.2.A: Procure necessary technology hardware
(student workstations) and software for
participating secondary schools.
1.2.A: Inventory report of procured
equipment.
1.2.B: Identify at-risk students based on
reading and language arts scores and other
appropraite criteria within identified secondary
schools.
1.2.B: List of participating students.
1.2.C: Monitor, track, and assess student
reading and language arts scores utilizing the
respective literacy program quarterly and at the
end of the school year and use information to
modify or improve program activity.
1.2.C:
1. Report on Monitoring Activities
and results.
2. Pre/Post test scores.
1.2.D: Monitor, track, and assess student
SAT10 reading and language arts scores and
compare to prior year assessment results and
use information to modify or improve program
activity.
1.2.D: Report on results.
1.2.E: Monitor, track, and assess student’s
ability to use technology (computer, internet,
and other equipment) to complete assignments.
1.2.E:
1. Report on Monitoring Activities
and results.
2. Pre/Post test scores.
1.2: To increase the language and
literacy skills of at-risk secondary
student populations through the use
of literacy labs. Integrate
technology at the student level to
assist in the development of literacy
and communication skills, to
promote the acquisition of
knowledge in meaningful context,
and to increase the engagement of
all students.
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GOAL OBJECTIVE ACTIVITY MEASURE OUTCOME
2.1.A: Contract the services to provide training
for identified Reading and Language Arts
teachers
2.1.A:
1. Course/training/Workshop outline
2. Course credits earned.
3. Workshop/training evaluations.
4. Participant roster.
2.1.B: Identify Reading and language Arts
teachers.
2.1.B:
1. Database of initial teachers
participation/Database of teachers
who successfully completed trainings
and/or workshops.
2. Course credits earned.
3. Workshop/training evaluations.
4. Teacher certification listing.
2.2: By the end of SY 2011-2012,
at least 75% of Administrators
within the participating schools will
have participated in specialized
training in the area of monitoring
and assessing the implementation of
stated activities.
2.2.A: Provide administrators with training to
help them acquire and develop the knowledge
and skills necessary to support and monitor
implementation of stated activities, including
effective literacy instructional practices.
2.2.A:
1. Participant roster.
2. Workshop/training evaluations.
At least 20 Administrators will
receive training and at least 75% (15)
of the Administrators will report that
they have successfully taken an active
role in supporting, monitoring, and
assessing gains and challenges within
their respective schools.
2. To provide a system of
effective instruction and
learning through
comprehensive professional
development opportunities and
training to a) teachers in
differentiated instruction and
best practices at all levels with
an emphasis on students’
instructional needs and levels
of language proficiency; b) To
provide Administrators to
ensure that they have the skills
and knowledge necessary to
support, monitor, and assess
stated activities.
At least 100 teachers will receive
training, and at least 75% of the
teachers will report that training has
improved their teaching skills and
ability to maintain GDOE teaching
certification.
2.1: By the end of SY 2011-2012,
at least 50% of the district’s Reading
and Language Arts teachers within
the participating schools will have
participated in a specialized training
in the area of Reading, Language
Arts, Differentiated Instruction,
and/or best practices by highly
knowledgeable professionals (i.e.,
professors, trainers, etc)
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GOAL OBJECTIVE ACTIVITY MEASURE OUTCOME
3.1.A: Identify cohort groups of students
moving from a specific Pre-School or Head
Start into specific elementary school feeder
bands, into specific middle feeder bands, and
into specific high schools
3.1.A:
1. List of participating students.
2. List of schools/literacy program
students are participating in.
3. Report on progress results,
successes, challenges, and identified
solutions.
3.1.B: Establish and implement a seamless,
articulated system that supports the
child/student as he or she transitions between
each level of schooling.
3.1.B:
1. Identified system of support
2. Report on progress results,
successes, challenges, and identified
solutions.
3.1.C: Establish regular opportunities for
communication and collaboration among
educators within and across grades, as well as
between pre-K and elementary, elementary and
middle educators, and middle and high school
school educators. Plan and engage in regular
cross-disciplinary meetings among all teachers
involved focusing on the analysis of, and
response to, student assessment data.
3.1.C:
1. Identified system of support
2. Report on progress results,
successes, challenges, and identified
solutions.
3. To provide support to ensure
a seamless transition from one
level of schooling to another,
the district will identify and
assess the literacy skills of
students transitioning from one
level of schooling to the next,
specifically, students
transitioning from Pre-K to
Kindergarten; Elementary (5th
grade) to Middle (6th grade);
Middle (8th grade) to High
School (9th grade) and 12th
grade students as they prepare
to transition into post-
secondary education and/or
careers. Historically
underachieving students such
as socioeconomically
disadvantaged backgrounds,
English Language learners, and
students with disabilities will be
monitored closely.
The district will be equipped with the
tools necessary to make instructional
decisions relative to the effectiveness,
success, and challenges of current
literacy programs, instructional
approaches, and professional
development strategies and its impact
on preparing students as they
transition from one level of schooling
to another. The data will allow the
district to determine if current
practices, strategies, and programs are
making a positive difference in raising
professional and academic skills and
greater literacy awareness and
participation.
3.1: Determine the literacy skill
level of students transitioning from
one level of schooling to another to
identify challenges and successes.
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E. Quality of Literacy Team
The GDOE Literacy Team will be responsible for examining the current state literacy programs,
review of current literacy research, determine actions for a future literacy plan, practices and policies; and
proposed actions for improving literacy for all students in all content areas.
The purpose of the plan is to assist stakeholders in intervening early and preparing students to be
work and college ready. An important emphasis of the plan is to provide professional development to
teachers so that they are equipped with research-proven strategies that improve student literacy
proficiency. The GDOE Literacy Team will continue to revise the plan as necessary and provide guidance
to stakeholders for implementation.
The Guam Department of Education‘s (GDOE) expanded the process of literacy
improvement by establishing the GDOE Literacy Team in April 2011. The Literacy Team
includes representatives who have expertise in the following areas:
Literacy development and instruction for children in the following age/grade levels:
o Birth to school entry
Assistant Superintendent of Special Education
Project Director, Head Start Program
o Kindergarten through grade 5
Assistant Superintendent of Special Education
Project Director, Head Start Program
Administrator, Research, Planning and Evaluation
School Level Facilitator, Success For All Program
School Level Facilitator, Direct Instruction Program
School Program Consultant, ESL Program
o Grades 6 through 8
Administrator, Research, Planning and Evaluation
School Program Consultant, ESL Program
Project Director, Oceanview Middle School, Johns Hopkins Talent
Development Program
o Grades 9 through 12
Administrator, Research, Planning and Evaluation
School Program Consultant, ESL Program
Project Director, Southern High School, Johns Hopkins Talent
Development Program
Managing and implementing an effective literacy program at the school, district,
and State levels
Administrator, Research, Planning and Evaluation
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Project Director, Head Start Program
School Program Consultant, ESL Program
School Level Facilitator, Success For All Program
School Level Facilitator, Direct Instruction Program
Evaluation of literacy programs
Administrator, Research, Planning and Evaluation
Project Director, Head Start Program
Planning for and implementing a response-to-intervention model that includes
utilization of universal screening, multiple tiers of instruction, early intervening
services, validated interventions, and student progress monitoring to inform
decision-making
Assistant Superintendent of Special Education
Project Director, Head Start Program
Administrator, Research, Planning and Evaluation
Screening and performance measurement in the areas of phonological awareness,
word recognition, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and writing
School Program Consultant, ESL Program
Validated interventions and instruction for struggling readers, limited-English-
proficient students, and students with disabilities
Assistant Superintendent of Special Education
School Program Consultant, ESL Program
Teacher, coach, and principal professional development
School Program Consultant, ESL Program
Administrator, Research, Planning and Evaluation
Teacher preparation and state licensure/accreditation in literacy development and
instruction
School Program Consultant, ESL Program
Administrator, Research, Planning and Evaluation
The GDOE Literacy Team will be responsible for examining current state of literacy
programs, review of current literacy research, determine actions for a future literacy plan,
practices and policies; and proposed actions for improving literacy for all students in all content
areas.
The purpose of the plan is to assist stakeholders in intervening early and preparing
students to be work and college ready. An important emphasis of the plan is to provide
professional development to teachers so that they are equipped with research-proven strategies
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Page 53 of 66
that improve student literacy proficiency. The GDOE Literacy Team will continue to revise the
plan as necessary and provide guidance to stakeholders for implementation.
The GDOE Literacy Team along with the GDOE management team designed and
developed the goals and objective of Project Na'fang gai Tiningo. Involvement of the
development of the project design ensures that the Literacy Team members share common goals,
to improve student academic achievement for all students, improve teacher quality, and ensure a
seamless transition across school programs and from one level of schooling to another.
F. Evaluation
District Evaluations Tools
The evaluation model of the student achievement is divided into three categories: School
level, District level and Statewide Assessment. First, at the school level, program specific
assessments will be used to track and inform teachers of student progress in terms of their
achievement. The Direct Instruction, Success for All, and the Johns Hopkins Talent
Development programs each possess specific assessment tools and instruments to track, monitor,
and assess student progress and achievement. The literacy program assessment design is
comprehensive in a manner in which teachers, coaches, coordinators, and administrators are
taught to routinely use student assessment data to identify students who may be in need of
remedial help and decide on an appropriate intervention or strategy that could be used to help
that student better comprehend the material.
Next, at the district level, a common set of accountability measures will be developed and
applied to all three reform programs to monitor each school‘s implementation efforts. This data
will be used by department leadership, coordinators, program consultants, administrators and
teachers to identify implementation issues and offer support in specific areas. These
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recommendations will be an integral part of the next steps in the selection and implementation of
literacy programs within the schools.
Lastly, at the district level, student achievement is measured by the district‘s state-wide
assessment tool, the Stanford Achievement Test 10th
Edition (SAT10), student scores are
reported as SAT10 performance levels (Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced), SAT10
percentile scores, and SAT10 mean scaled scores.
The SAT10 is given annually in the spring to grades 1st through 12
th and assesses
students‘ achievement in a wide range of content knowledge in the areas of Language Arts,
Reading, Math, Science, Social Science and Spelling. Student scores are then compared to a
nationally sampled group of students called a ―norm group‖ that is representative of the country
and who took the test at the same time of the year.
The SAT10 provides the District with diverse scores for different interpretive purposes.
However, the primary score that is used by the Department is the Students‘ Performance Level
which classifies a student as scoring in the Below Basic (Level 1), Basic (Level 2), Proficient
(Level 3) or Advanced (Level 4) categories. Our goals are to increase the number, as denoted by
a percentage, of students who score in the Proficient (3) and Advanced (4) categories. These
categories indicate a solid mastery of the content material and indicate that the student is
prepared for the next grade.
Results from the SAT10 reports are used to monitor student progress in comparison to the
norm and content referenced standards. SAT10 results are also used to report student progress,
as mandated by P.L. 28-45, ―Every Child Is Entitled to an Adequate Education Act.‖
Specifically, SAT10 provides a measure of student achievement once a year. However,
teachers need to regularly monitor student progress throughout the school year so to identify
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students who are falling behind and need the extra help to catch up with their peers, to target
specific areas for improvement, to make appropriate lesson modifications, and to ensure that
placement aligns with individual academic performance. Informed decisions and adjustments in
instruction can be made to ensure that students are ―on track‖ for reaching the instructional
targets.
The literacy program specific assessment tools and instruments provide teachers and the
schools with the information necessary to monitor student progress throughout the school year
through the collection and assessment of student performance data monthly, quarterly, and
annually. Regular classroom assessments assist teachers in designing instructional programs that
meet specific needs of students, resulting in improved student achievement and total school
performance.
Data collection and reporting are essential for designing relevant instructional plans and
can strengthen school-family-community relations. Understanding the data is pertinent to
understanding student characteristics and ascertaining the effectiveness of instructional programs
is equally important. The more that teachers, administrators and school support providers know
how to use data, the more effective they will be in identifying ways by which parents and
community members can support efforts to improve student performance.
Results from the tri-fold assessment coupled with the assessment report of Project
Na'fang gai Tiningo, will provide the district with the critical information to determine if
current practices, strategies, and professional development programs are making a positive
impact on academic skills and literacy awareness.
Furthermore, the GDOE recognizes the significance of aligning student assessments with
the adopted GDOE Content Standards and Performance Indicators. The GDOE is currently in the
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final stages of developing a criterion-referenced assessment tool based on the adopted GDOE
standards and performance indicators which will be used as an annual summative evaluation.
This evaluation model will take into account rates of change in student scores by tracking student
progress and the effects of literacy programs (Direct Instruction, Success for All, and the Johns
Hopkins Talent Development programs) on students‘ performance on the state-wide assessment.
A comprehensive analysis of the data collected at all levels of evaluation will help the
Guam Education Policy Board, department leadership, and stakeholders in determining the
overall effectiveness of current literacy programs.
Project Na'fang gai Tiningo Evaluation Model
A participatory approach to evaluation will be employed for two reasons. First, a
participatory approach is one that will allow for maximum capacity building among the staff
responsible for project implementation -- and capacity building not only in terms of teacher
quality, but also in terms of program administration, is critical to the project‘s success. Secondly,
a participatory approach links the ‗community-of-theory‘ with the ‗community of practice‘,
thereby linking knowledge gained through evaluation to the practical users of such knowledge,
making for a truly data-driven project that allows for maximum alignment and synergy between
lessons learned and activities implemented.
Just as there are many different approaches to evaluation, there are at least as many
definitions for evaluation. For the purposes of this project, evaluation is defined as a systematic
process that is integral to project implementation and carried out in a planned and purposeful
manner and used as a formative tool throughout the project.. It is important to note that
stakeholders agree that the evaluation will be used as a process for enhancing knowledge and
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decision making, whether the decisions are for refining the project, process, product, system or
organization, or for determining whether or not to change, continue or expand the project.
For the purposes of the Striving Readers – Project Na'fang gai Tiningo, three types of
evaluation will be employed which are outlined below:
Developmental Evaluation – the Project Na'fang gai Tiningo Literacy Team
plays an integral role in the project design and development. The Team will use results from
the various assessment tools and instruments to amend or enhance project design throughout
the grant cycle to address challenges and build upon successes.
Process Evaluation – typically relies heavily on process data and evaluation
measures to improve the operational implementation of the project. In a participatory
evaluation approach, all individuals involved in project implementation are also involved in
collecting and understanding process evaluation data. Moreover, decisions for project
improvement are shared. Not only does this help build capacity, in the Pacific Islands, this
approach is culturally appropriate and correct.
Outcome Evaluation – is implemented for the purpose of determining the
projects value and efficacy and helps project administrators make a final
evaluative judgment regarding the project. Outcome evaluation relies on data
collection efforts and requires reliable and valid data be collected throughout the
project lifespan. Outcome evaluation can be ongoing, but is generally used at the
completion of a project.
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Guam Department of Education
Striving Readers Project Na'fang gai Tiningo
BUDGET NARRATIVE
Year 1 JUSTIFICATION
$49,897.00 The Program Coordinator IV (PCIV) will function as Project Na'fang gai Tiningo 's
statistician. This individual will work closely with the Project's Program Manager to ensure
goals and objectives are achieved. Roles and responsibilities will include but not limited to
Communicating, monitoring and evaluating the activities of contracted consultative services;
Collecting, analyzing, interpreting, reporting, and communicating results and findings; Will
conduct regular teacher/class observations, Will assist and train school personnel in assessing
and interpreting student achievement and skills levels; Collection and compilation of SAT10
and literacy program specific data to gauge student achievement at the district level; Will
meet regularly with School Administrators to identify success and challenges pertaining to
transitioning students; Will prepare quarterly and annual reports for Project Na'fang gai
Tiningo ; Will coordinate with schools to align program components and activities with
federal, local and district requirements.
$49,897.00
$18,576.01 Government of Guam provides for fringe benefit packages consisting of medical, dental, and
life insurance, social security and/or retirement. (36.88% for medical, dental, retirement,
and $174 for Life Insurance Benefits)
$18,576.01
$0.00 No Funds Requested for this project
$0.00
Budget: May 1, 2011- September 30, 2012
Description
(121) BENEFITS
Program Coordinator IV (1 FTE)
Total Salaries
Total Benefits
(221) TRAVEL: Off-Island
Total Travel
(111) SALARIES
Program Coordinator IV
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Guam Department of Education
Striving Readers Project Na'fang gai Tiningo
Year 1 JUSTIFICATIONDescription
$17,300.00 To procure instructional classroom equipment to include but not limited to interactive
literacy lab student work stations (desktop computers/laptops and printers) for identified
technology based instructional methods, other similar technology, and accessories necessary
to enhance teaching and learning in the classrooms. ($700 x 20 student workstations; $300 x
6 printers) Additional equipment such as a laptop, printer, and other necessary software and
accessories necessary for the Program Coordinator to efficiently and effectively conduct
project specific activities including but not limited to data collection, analysis, data
presentation, reporting requirements, and other relative activities. ($900 x 1)
$25,500.00 To procure classroom books and resources for instructional resources for participating
schools to include but not limited to activity books, classroom dictionaries, classroom library,
trade books, literature kits and references, literacy software, and other relevant teacher,
student, parent resource materials, kits may include trade books, literature kits and
references. (Estimated at 30 schools x $1,000)
$42,800.00
$2,000.00 To procure necessary administrative supplies for project school personnel to effectively
conduct classroom observations, data collection, review and analysis, professional
development activities, and other materials to ensure student progress are collected, assessed,
and are used to drive decisions; and other necessary items necessary to support the
implementation of the program.
$25,000.00 To include but not limited to the procurement of instructional supplies to support program
implementation in the classrooms at all participating elementary and secondary schools by
providing academic consistency with the characteristics of the identified literacy programs,
program specific student workbooks (consumables), as well as professional development
activity supplies and materials.
(240) SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS
(250) EQUIPMENT
Instructional Teacher/Student Classroom
Resource Materials - Home Literacy
Program Instructional equipment: (To
include but not limited to
Teacher/Student Kits, Student/Teacher
Textbooks, literacy kits, classroom
library books, etc.)
Administrative Supplies: including, but
not limited to folders, pens, printer ink
and toner cartridges, CD ROMs, note
pads, binder clips and other office
supplies necessary to facilitate the
program.
Instructional Supplies: Including but not
limited to pencils, paper, world maps,
stop watches, clickers, teacher/student
planners, stickers, stamps, flash drives,
staplers, and program specific student
workbooks (consumables) and materials.
Total Equipment
Instructional/Technology Equipment: To
include but not limited to Literacy
Lab/Student Computers and Printers,
and necessary computer hardware;
software and equipment upgrades, etc.
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Guam Department of Education
Striving Readers Project Na'fang gai Tiningo
Year 1 JUSTIFICATIONDescription
$29,492.50 To procure necessary instructional supplies to build literacy libraries for the participating
elementary and secondary schools for the Home Literacy Program to provide students with
additional resources to enhance their reading and language skills.
$62,500.00 Upon successfully completing a series of required professional development trainings and
workshops relevant to the projects goals, objectives, and activities, Teachers will be provided
with instructional supplies and materials geared towards supporting literacy in the
classrooms through building literacy classroom libraries, other instructional resources, and
teacher/student supplies and materials. (Estimated at 250 teachers @ $250)
$118,992.50
$55,000.00 Fees to support consultative services for professional development for teachers,
administrators, and school personnel, and parent workshops to encourage student and parent
participation; activities include but not limited to Differentiates Instruction, Best Practices,
Data Analyses, and other relevant trainings and workshops to build Program capacity,
increase skills and knowledge of teachers, administrators, and school personnel to ensure
effective implementation of the project; and parent information workshops to build thier
knowledge and skills as it pertains to their child's literacy skills.
$12,000.00 Graduate level professional development workshops/trainings for participating Reading and
Language Arts teachers. Courses to include but not limited to Language and Literacy
Development; Middle/Secondary Reading and Writing in the Content Areas, Seminar in
Literacy for Children and Young Adults, Advance Methods in PK-12 School Literacy, and
Organization and Supervision of Reading Programs ($720.00 per credit x 6 courses x 117
personnel)
Consultative Services: Professional
Development, Workshops, Conferences
(Higher learning institutions and Off-
Island trainers);
Professional Development: Graduate
Credits
Teacher Professional Development
Incentive: Instructional Supplies and
Materials (Including but not limited to
pencils, paper, world maps, stop
watches, clickers, teacher/student
planners, stickers, stamps, flash drives,
staplers, and program specific student
workbooks (consumables) and
materials.)
Home Literacy Program Instructional
supplies: including but not limited to
grade-level specific paperback libraries,
read-alongs and storybooks.
Total Supplies and Materials
(230) CONTRACTUAL
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Guam Department of Education
Striving Readers Project Na'fang gai Tiningo
Year 1 JUSTIFICATIONDescription
$11,000.00 Funds requested for venues to conduct the professional development trainings workshops,
and institutes
$1,500.00 Funds requested to support the printing and advertising services for program manuals,
training materials, student materials, and advertisements for procurement and as deemed
necessary.
$1,500.00 Funds requested to support servicing and repair of project specific technology equipment to
ensure continued use for program specific purposes; maximizing the life span of the
equipment, and for updating all electronic equipment.
$81,000.00
$0.00 No Funds Requested for this project - Not Applicable
$0.00
$0.00 No Funds Requested for this project
$0.00
$311,265.51 Total Direct Cost
$311,265.51
$1,701.49 Funds requested at 3.4% as per the U.S. Department of Interior, National Business Center
rate agreement.$1,701.49
$0.00 No Funds Requested for this project - Not Applicable
$0.00
$312,967.00
Total Other
(710) INDIRECT COSTS
Total Indirect Cost
TOTAL DIRECT COSTS
Total Other
CONSTRUCTION
OTHER (Miscellaneous)
Total Contractual
Repair of electronic equipment to
include but not limited to laptops,
tablets, and desktop computers.
Total Contractual
Photo Copying and Advertising
Services
Training venue for district-wide
professional development conferences
and trainings
TOTAL COST
(290) TRAINING STIPENDS
Total Training Stipends
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