Athena Elementary
02-25-25 Science of Reading Efforts Making a Difference
Educators at Athena Elementary are always looking for ways to ensure their instruction and strategies are the best they can be to foster academic success in students. This school year, a group of Kindergarten through Fifth grade teaching staff have embarked on a comprehensive program to help improve their skills in teaching children to read.
They are taking a class through Eastern Oregon University focusing on the science of reading, which is a vast, interdisciplinary body of scientifically based research about reading and issues related to reading and writing. According to online information, this research has been conducted over the last five decades across the world and is derived from thousands of studies conducted in multiple languages.
Kerri Coffman, Athena Elementary Principal, said the EOU class is 48 hours of instruction, which after each 8-hour module, staff gather on Friday early release days once a month for discussion and implementation planning. Those taking the class receive a stipend from the district.
Coffman said the class has been fascinating and emphasizes that reading definitely has to be taught to children. “It’s quite a bit of heavy content to work through, but we are learning a lot together,” she said.
The school is combining previous practices and new ideas from the class, including using data-informed practices, flexible grouping of students, instruction based on student diagnostic data and more. Principal Coffman said the school has also started using Ignite Reading, an online tutoring program supporting some second and third graders at Athena Elementary, this is in addition to small group intervention.
The science of reading concept emphasizes that if students are missing a key skill in reading, they should go back and get more instruction in that area to ensure a strong foundation in early literacy skills.
According to the school’s winter testing scores, efforts are paying off; the students are growing in their reading skills and making some nice gains. Successfully teaching a child to read is not easy, Coffman said. “Teaching someone to read IS rocket science! But once they learn to read, a whole new world opens up for students.”
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