In its ninth year (school year 2008-2009), BRI will continue to implement its reading model in 15 public schools around Mississippi.  Over the previous 3 years BRI has placed master-level reading teachers in participating schools to provide core reading instruction to the poorest K-2 readers.  Beginning this year, however, BRI will place these master-level teachers into the schools as Barksdale Literacy Coaches (BLCs).  These BLCs will work with K-2 faculty in the schools to provide mentoring and support in the implementation of the reading model.  Also, in various of the schools, BRI will again place an Intervention Specialist to work directly with the K-2 children having the greatest difficulty in reading.

    This change in BRI's work in the schools will allow more students to be affected by the work.  Whereas in previous years BRI was able to work directly with only approximately 600 students, the new structure will reach approximately 3,000 students and 140 teachers.      

     As in past years, the first part of the school year involves administration of informal assessments, primarily the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). This year, BRI plans also to administer a normed, summative assessment - Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE) - on a pre- and post- basis.  BRI will also oversee adminsitration of the GRADE test at comparable schools where BRI is not otherwise working in order to have a set of comparable pre-/post-data.  This will be one of BRI's primary measures of success.

     The model that the BLC will be coaching employs a 3-hour literacy block that includes whole-class and small-group instruction, interventions (provideed by both teachers and by BRI- and school-provided intervention specialists), independent work centers, Accelerated Reader, and the accompanying strategies that allow the teachers to work with homogeneously-grouped students.  The assistant teacher will play a vital role in ensuring that the students are fully engaged and will be a core member of the teaching team, concentrating especially on small-group instruction activities.

     BRI is developing a read-aloud program - Read More! - that will be conducted outside the literacy block.
      Extensive training has been provided throughout the summer of 2008.  This training will continue throughout the course of the year, both in-school and off-site. Peer Coaching Study Team meetings will be held over the course of the year, during which individual student issues and data will be analyzed and additional training will be provided.

       BRI believes that quality preK experiences are vital to the development of preliteracy skills, particularly for the at-risk population which BRI serves. Therefore, in cooperation with the Early Childhood Institute at Mississippi State University, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WGBH public television out of Boston, and with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, mentoring will be provided to early childhood educators (private and Head Start workers) at preK centers that feed into the BRI schools.  The aim of this work will be to improve classroom environments, materials, and teachers' skills, all aimed at strengthening preK children's concepts of print, phonological awareness and other preliteracy skills.
     Volunteer tutors work with PreK-3 children to enhance fluency and comprehension skills. Those interested in volunteering as a tutor should contact BRI's Jackson office - 601-965-8002. For additional information, look under the Volunteer section of this site.
       In years past, BRI's reading model included funding of 11 faculty at the schools of education at the eight public universities in Mississippi. This implementation was designed to ensure that, upon graduation, teachers will be prepared to implement at least some aspects of the model in their schools. This component of BRI's work was terminated effective July 2004. Nevertheless, BRI hopes to continue to work closely with all 15 of the public and private universities and colleges, primarily through the Higher Education Literacy Council. BRI is optimistic that with increasingly rigorous pre-service reading requirements as well as increased cooperation among Mississippi's colleges and universities, graduates will come into school classrooms prepared to teach reading from day one.

      It is crucial that struggling readers be given an opportunity to practice reading.  BRI has therefore invested heavily in enhancing Accelerated Reader programs in the schools in which it is working.  BRI will provide computers, software upgrades, books, significant training, and funding for AR incentives.
      As of the end of last year, over 600,000 books hade been given to the children in the BRI schools as a result of BRI dollars, matching grants from Reading Is Fundamental and the First Book program. BRI has also worked closely with and has helped to fund Donor's Choose, a program that allows donors to locate worthy education projects that they desire to fund.
       BRI believes that a school principal's commitment and leadership is critical in determining the extent to which a school benefits from working with BRI. As in years past, BRI will work to foster deepened knowledge of the reading model and of teachers' challenges in implementation of the model.