Lackawanna Middle School is incorporating the Drop Everything And Read program. Every Friday, during a pre-determined period (a rotating schedule), students will stop what they are doing and read for 15 minutes.  This will take up half the period (transition time) and will occur during all subjects during that period.  This is being done in an effort by the district to improve students' reading skills.

Unfortunately, these students will be missing important material in other subject areas and are responsible for the missed material on the NYS assessments.  This may seem like an insignificant amount of time, but it is 10% of their weekly instructional time for that subject.  Since many teachers teach the same subject and grade level throughout the day, this means that one of two things will happen.  Either one class is going to get short-changed or the other classes will have 20 minutes of review.  Both options result in a loss of opportunity to learn material required by the NYS Education Department.

The D.E.A.R. program, and programs like it, are typically implemented in grades 3 thru 5, yet we are using it in grades 7 and 8.  Also, research on this program varies and there is no conclusive data about its effectiveness.   Several researchers believe that programs like this do not help a child at all because there is no accountability and no measurement for their comprehension.   So the other subjects are being sacrificed to increase their reading proficiency with an unproven program.

Currently, students spend a portion of every ELA class doing independent reading and keep a book log. They are reading everyday in this class.  Students also have a study hall, and amazingly some have 2, where they are mandated to work or read.  Several students flat out refuse to read during this time.  So now we are going to try and force them to read in other subjects.  Seems like other measures should be taken before implementing this program.  If you feel this is unfair to the students and to the non-ELA teachers, then please sign this petition. Thank you for your support.

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