Woburn middle‑school reading specialists lay out structured literacy program; staff report early fluency gains

Woburn — Two middle‑school reading specialists and a district humanities coordinator told the Woburn School Committee that a set of targeted interventions, staff training and schoolwide “morpheme” routines are being used this year to improve reading fluency and vocabulary among students in grades 6–8.

The presentation on the district’s second year of dedicated middle‑school reading specialists was led by Abby Gillis, the district’s 6–8 humanities coordinator, and included reading specialists who work at the Joyce and Kennedy middle schools. Gillis and the specialists described training in the Wilson literacy approach and other programs, use of STAR Renaissance and DIBELS screening data to identify candidates for intervention, and a “Morpheme Magic” routine distributed to all teachers as a tier‑1 vocabulary strategy.

Why it matters: School leaders said improving fluency and vocabulary is intended to make grade‑level content more accessible in science and social studies and to reduce the number of students who need long‑term remedial support. The district reported that 122 students at the Joyce and 117 at the Kennedy scored in the district’s “red” range on the STAR Renaissance winter screener; not all of those students will enter tier‑2 intervention after further screening, but the figures were presented as the pool being assessed.

Gillis opened the presentation by describing the program’s structure and staffing. “We were able to get a reading specialist in each building,” she said, and the three staff — Gillis plus specialists at each middle school — are coordinating schedules, shared materials and professional learning communities.

Laura Molson, identified in the presentation as the Joyce reading specialist, described training and one‑on‑one work under the Wilson program. “I worked with an 8th‑grade student last year, 1 on 1, 4 days a week. He made tremendous progress,” Molson said, summarizing the type of gains the district hopes to scale. She said staff also completed training in morphology‑focused instruction and piloted computer‑assisted fluency programs, including Read Naturally and a product the presenters called Flow Fluency, to increase repeated reading practice and rate.

Laurie Diamond, the Kennedy reading specialist, described classroom routines and materials intended to create consistent exposure to the same morpheme (root/prefix/suffix) across subjects. Diamond said teachers receive a short slideshow each week and that teachers were adding visual word walls in classrooms. “The idea is that the kids are seeing this visual everywhere in the school,” she said.

Program details and screening: Presenters said they use STAR Renaissance as a universal screener, supplemented by phonics screeners and DIBELS oral reading fluency checks. The specialists described grouping students for intervention, progress monitoring two to three times per month and using short, repeated‑reading fluency passages to measure words‑per‑minute gains. The presenters said some students have already “tested out” of intervention after meeting fluency and comprehension benchmarks.

Gillis described the district’s professional learning community for literacy that includes the middle‑school specialists and special‑education staff, and she said the team meets biweekly. She also noted an external partnership with the state tiered literacy academy and monthly consultation with a DESE advisor, John Quinn, to review curriculum alignment and instructional strategy.

Committee response and needs: Several school committee members praised the energy and practical tools. Committee member Miss Chisholm said, “I just think that this is excellent,” and noted the potential cost savings for families who otherwise would pay for private tutoring. Vice Chair Lipsett, asking about scheduling constraints, pressed the specialists on limits posed by mixed student schedules and special‑education placements that complicate regular pull‑out intervention time. The specialists said scheduling remains the primary barrier to reaching more students and described efforts to use “wind block” and to coordinate with guidance to create additional intervention times.

Presenters asked for additional resources to expand intervention capacity, more teacher training time (choice PD), and opportunities to visit other districts with established middle‑school literacy models. They also proposed schoolwide events — a March “morph off” competition and participation in World Read‑Aloud Day — to build engagement.

The presentation included specific program names used or piloted: Wilson (level‑1 practitioners), Read Naturally, Flow Fluency (computer‑based fluency program), STAR Renaissance (universal screener), DIBELS (progress monitoring), and the Morpheme‑focused routine called Morphe Magic. The specialists said they are aiming to keep group sizes small (ideally two to four students) but have sometimes served larger groups because of scheduling constraints.

The committee did not vote on program funding at the meeting; presenters framed the session as an update and requested consideration of additional staffing and training funding in future budget discussions.

Ending: The school committee thanked the presenters for the report and asked administration to return with cost and scheduling options if the committee wishes to expand the intervention program.