Province unveils its replacement literacy program
Posted Apr 26, 2011 11:00:46 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Nova Scotia Government has announced the initiative it will implement this September to help young learners with literacy while saving millions of dollars in budgetary costs.
The group-oriented Succeeding in Reading initiative will replace the one-on-one Reading Recovery program in the province’s 97 schools, saving the province $2 million annually.
Succeeding in Reading is being touted as a cheaper program which will reach more students, using fewer teachers and classroom resources.
“Teachers would be in a class and would be working with small groups of students, while the classroom teacher is teaching the main group of students,” said Halifax Regional School Board superintendent Carole Olson told reporters following today’s announcement at St. Catherine’s School.
“It will be very flexible in terms of how the teacher is going to interact with the students who are struggling,” said Olson.
The government has been criticized for its decision to eliminate a $7-million program which focused on the bottom 20 per cent of readers needing help in Grade 1.
The program being implemented in September will be introduced in Primary and Grade 1 but will include help for pupils in Grades 2 and 3.
The government says this program will help schools to more quickly identify those who need help with speaking, reading and writing.
There will also be more specific support for students, such as working with them in small groups and allowing for one-on-one instruction.
