麻豆精品

This article is part of Bright Spots, a series聽highlighting schools where every child learns to read, no matter their zip code. Explore the Bright Spots map to find out which schools are beating the odds in terms of literacy versus poverty rates.

Walking into Windsor Park elementary in Corpus Christi, Texas, it鈥檚 hard to miss the mass of bright, colorful paper balloons taped on the wall, displaying photos of dozens of children who have read at least 1 million words this school year.

鈥淚t’s something that the students are very, very proud of,鈥� said librarian Annelise Rodriguez, who created and manages the Millionaires Club. 鈥淲e’ve had kids come in when they take tours and say, 鈥業’m going to be up there some day.鈥� Some kids get it in 45 books, and for others, it鈥檚 taken 360 books.鈥�

The project was created three years ago to motivate and recognize young avid readers in the of roughly 600 students. Just a few weeks ago, a grandmother who didn鈥檛 speak English bowed her head to thank Rodriguez after her grandchild鈥檚 photo finally made the display. 

Last year, Windsor Park students read 400 million words as part of the Millionaires Club. They are on track to beat that record, with over 315 million words read by the end of February. It鈥檚 one of the ways the school has attained its high reading proficiency rates, an achievement that earned its ranking on 麻豆精品鈥檚 Bright Spots list. The highlighted schools have third grade literacy scores that are much higher than might be expected, based on the schools鈥� poverty rates. 

With its 29% poverty level, nearly two-thirds of Windsor Park third graders were projected to be proficient in reading in 2024, but its actual score was 96%. That rate jumped to 99% last year. Nearly 50% of students are Hispanic, 29% are white and 15% are Asian. 

Windsor Park is a magnet school for gifted and talented children. Texas schools to screen their students, and all children in the Corpus Christi Independent School District who score in the top 3% receive an invitation to transfer to Windsor Park, said Principal Kimberly Bissell. Transportation is provided. 

The consists of multiple tests that grade students鈥� achievement in reading and math, as well as problem-solving and critical thinking abilities. Students can transfer in any grade to Corpus Christi鈥檚 gifted and talented schools.  

Windsor Park is also the district鈥檚 only elementary school. The worldwide educational program allows teachers to write their own curriculum and offer rigorous instruction along with inquiry-based learning.

鈥淲e have kids who are in first grade reading at a middle school or high school level,鈥� Bissell said. 鈥淭hose things have always been true, but the initiative behind their personal achievement has certainly ramped up in the last few years with our new approaches.鈥�

The Millionaires Club, which is expanding to other schools in the 33,000-student district, is one of them. The number of words children read are tracked through Accelerated Reader, an online program that records finished books and comprehension. 

Windsor Park also recently launched a called 鈥渢hinking classrooms.鈥� Originally created for math education, it students working in small groups, solving problems while standing up at whiteboards and building on pieces of knowledge as they go. But Bissell said Windsor Park implemented this approach across all its classes. 

It especially improved students鈥� writing skills because the children use the whiteboards to organize text and story structure, she said. 

In Hanna Patton-Elliott鈥檚 third grade classroom on a recent morning, students became “doctors,” pulling on blue medical gloves before separating into groups of two or three. Each group had to assess a passage of text on a whiteboard 鈥� the 鈥減atient鈥� 鈥� by finding the main idea. The children then diagnosed their 鈥減atients鈥� by writing a conclusion for what the passage was about.

Patton-Elliott said that at the end of the class, students rotate and evaluate one another鈥檚 work as “attending doctors” 鈥� the staff who oversee the work of a medical team. 

鈥淚’m going to give them an opportunity to write the conclusions for other people’s work, but then also go back and look at it as the first attending doctor,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o we’ve got lots of things going on. We’ve got some reading skills, we’ve got the main idea, we’ve got organization, but then also we’ve got some creative writing, too. The metaphor seems to be working for breaking this down and organizing it.鈥�

The activity is part of the curricular materials written by Windsor Park teachers under the International Baccalaureate program. Teachers create their grade-level curriculum together to ensure that the same lessons 鈥� such as finding the main idea of a story 鈥� are taught in each classroom, even if the activities may be different. Because Windsor Park classes are interdisciplinary, teachers try to connect the same ideas in all academic subjects, so what the children learn in reading, for example, is referenced in math class.

Much of Windsor Park鈥檚 instruction uses standards from the Texas Education Agency, but infuses it with student-led learning and group collaboration. The curriculum also allows children to make decisions and manage their own instruction, such as choosing the grading rubrics for an activity. 

鈥淲e find not just for gifted learners, but as a best practice, this idea of choice and student agency really builds writing, as well as reading and everything that English Language arts envelopes,鈥� Bissell said. 鈥淲hen you offer choice with expectations, they do a lot better.鈥�

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 麻豆精品鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.