© 2024 WGLT
A public service of Illinois State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Parkside Elementary Receives Honor

Unit Five Schools

Even as the percentage of poorer students went up at Parkside Elementary School, test scores rose too. The school, and one in Chicago, are being honored for that accomplishment. Shelly Erickson was principal at the school during the years targeted by the board, she says teachers at Parkside used a new approach to reading. "We try to make sure students are reading books that are at their reading level. So the teacher will do a mini-lesson for the first ten or fifteen minutes of the hour, and then students read to each other, they read independently, they read in small groups to the teacher, and it's much more targeted at their level." Erickson says when children have material at appropriate levels, misbehavior goes down, and children read more. She notes the poverty rate at Parkside simultaneously doubled.

The National Title One Association honored the achievement at it's Houston Conference last month.

Related Content