It began in the summer of 1997 as one of the most significant educational programs developed and underwritten by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in recent years. To date, the Rodeo Institute for Teacher Excellence, known as RITE, has successfully trained 75 teachers in an innovative phonics-based reading program to teach students how to read in pre-kindergarten through third grade. Now, it is time to evaluate the progress of 1,500 students who are being taught by these teachers, and RITE is looking for some very important, rodeo-spirited volunteer help. According to Dianne Morris, RITE Program Coordinator, "We need a lot of help administering oral reading tests to students in kindergarten, first and second grades to see where they are today in their skills, and to measure the success of our program." She went on to say that the testing will be done one-on-one and will take place on the campuses of the six program schools and six control schools. P. Michael Wells, lifetime member of the Executive Committee and chairman of the Show's At-Risk Task Force, told how initial (base line) evaluations were done without volunteers. "We didn't have enough people, so we had to pay individuals to administer the tests," he said. "It was very expensive." Ruby Bloodworth, wife of Show President Jim Bloodworth, is heading up a group of 10 volunteers who are looking for others to join them in a newly formed auxiliary called The RITE Group. "The goal," said Wells, "is to build a volunteer pool of 100 to 150 volunteers who are willing and able to give two to three six-hour days in April and September to help." "We are also
looking for people who will act as facilitators on each of the school campuses,"
said Morris. "Ideally we want to form five- to six-person teams which
can go into the schools, do the evaluations and leave with as little disruption
to the school routine as possible. We will provide all the materials and
training they need." Volunteers do not have to have any teaching experience to sign up. They must, however, be a member in good standing of the Show. "This is not a badge committee," said Morris. Training and testing will begin after the 1998 Show. In a training session
that will take no longer than half a day, volunteers will learn how to administer
the TOPA Test of Phonological Awareness, a phonics test and a reading
test. The reading test will include a variety of reading skills, word recognition
and comprehension. "By evaluating
students being taught by the RITE program-trained teachers and comparing
their results against students in selected non-RITE schools," said
Morris, "we can measure growth and the effectiveness of the teacher
training." She also said that the six control schools have been selected
based on similar student demographics, rather than similar reading programs.
To thank them for their participation, the schools receive donations from
the RITE program to buy books for their libraries. As for overall reaction to the RITE Program and indications of its success in its first seven months, Morris said, "It seems to be working wonderfully. There is so much enthusiasm and positive thinking about what is happening in the classes. Kids are months ahead of where they might have been without the program, and they are reading! Their newly found skills are falling out into other areas of study, too, and there are fewer student problems." She added that school administrations have been most supportive. To make sure that the program reaches its full potential, volunteers need to step forward and lend a hand in the spirit of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, where volunteerism and the education of youth are at the heart of its success! |
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