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Academy Star Students 2008I'd like to nominate a student who raised his reading level by four grades. The number of levels of improvement, however, is not the reason for his nomination. All the students using the Academy of READING are over-aged ninth graders at very high risk to drop-out. Many of them can withdraw with permission when they arrive; some can sign-out on just his or her signature. Also, many of our students are quite capable of achieving on grade levels, but have lost the interest and desire to succeed. That desire, too often, is manifested in behavioral issues. His pre-test, I am sure, was less than indicative of his real ability. He only completed 47 of 83 lessons and his hours of Time on Task were not that high. While he is hardly the ideal student in those regards, early in the year he began to display reliability in completing lessons, focusing on his work for longer periods of time, and improving his measured results. Conversations with his teachers revealed these same improved behaviors and habits in other classes. Today, he is one of our most successful students, and a much more pleasant person to be around. It was never about not being able to read, or even about being a weak reader/below grade level reader. It was about a student who forgot why reading is critical. It was about a student who needed to resume using his reading skills as a means to raise the overall value of his academic and vocational education. It was about a student who, as he stuck-it-out through the very early fundamental lessons and progressed through some basic ones, recognized on his own that he had abilities he hadn’t been using and changed his own behaviors. This student is our Academy Star, but he has already won a bigger battle. Submitted by: Don Kozuck, Instructor, The Academy for Career Excellence, SC
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