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Emerson staff tell Lakewood board how Science of Reading practices and targeted interventions improved classroom outcomes
Summary
Emerson Elementary staff told the Lakewood Board of Education that district curriculum adoptions, 40 minutes of daily intervention/enrichment, and systematic phonics work have increased student reading confidence and fluency. Teachers described classroom techniques showcased during a governor's visit.
Emerson Elementary Principal Denise Luddy told the Lakewood Board of Education on Nov. 24 that Emerson was recognized as a State of Ohio "reading champion" after a governor's visit and a roundtable on the Science of Reading. "We have this 40 minutes a day of intervention and enrichment time," Luddy said, describing that time as "meant for intervention or enrichment" and a key tool allowing teachers to focus on student-specific needs.
Teachers who presented described the classroom practices they credit with improvements. "The biggest change I've noticed is we no longer have to make our students guess what word is coming next in the sentence because we are teaching the exact skills that are in the print that they are reading," said a tier 2 instructor, adding that the work has boosted students' confidence. Kindergarten and early-grade teachers described daily, explicit phonics and phonemic-awareness work (Heggerty) and activities such as word chains that support orthographic mapping — the process of linking letter-sound relationships to long-term memory.
Classroom visits during the governor's visit highlighted what teachers said were concrete results: students engaged in rhyming, substituting letters and sounds, and reading fluently enough to perform the Gettysburg Address in another classroom. Teachers also said they are beginning to integrate explicit writing instruction (the Writing Revolution) to build on gains in reading.
District-level supports cited by presenters included recent curriculum adoptions (CKLA), new intervention resources, district-wide assessments used to monitor progress, and time for staff to collaborate on tiered instruction. Luddy said those systems, combined with a staff focus on relationships and data-driven instruction, made the recognition possible. "We look at multiple pieces of data. We look very carefully. We make it actionable," she said.
The presentation closed with teachers outlining next steps: reinforcing writing instruction aligned to the reading work, continuing targeted fluency work, and expanding practices that allow students to "read to learn" in upper grades. The board thanked the Emerson team for the demonstration and recognized the role such targeted instruction plays in district literacy goals.
