Project “REWARD” Draft
Reading Enhancement and Writing
Advancement, with a Reading Dog.
Abstract
Project” REWARD” is designed to reach
hundreds of at risk students in
St. Lucie County and impact in a
positive way the FCAT test scores of targeted schools.
Imagine these scenarios: a
teacher and a specially trained dog visit a school that is in danger of
scoring a”D”or an “F”. They visit the targeted
classrooms and the teacher does a presentation with his “reading dog” that
stimulates the imagination of young students. This in turn leads to teachable
moments where the instructor has the opportunity to make some real progress
with reading and writing. Imagine a “B” school becoming an “A” school
because the school had been visited by Olivet (our CCI dog). The "A"
being earned because the children were really motivated and reenergized
because Olivet returned to their school and attended an FCAT pep rally. If
only 1 more school were to become an A school because of Olivet and project “REWARD” it would mean an additional
$???.000 for SLCS.
Another benefit to actively
interjecting Olivet into the schools with “REWARD,” will be the positive effect
Olivet will have on ESE classes. With the trials sessions we have run, we have
witnessed some truly powerful results. She becomes a strong motivating force
when children are asked to earn her affection and attention. While at a school
visiting targeted classrooms, Olivet will need a base
of operation. “Home base” will be with the special ed
classroom. These special students will experience an increase in
self-esteem and will be empowered with the newly developed skills of dog
handling. We have already seen this many times over and it continues to be a
joy to watch. We see it in their eyes, a sparkle, a slight smile with success,
a new found feeling of pride that comes with accomplishment. When you look out
over a quiet group of attentive regular ed students
and realize that they are paying close attention to a student that is ESE you
know that you and Olivet are doing a good deed for that special ed student. As
a program “REWARD” has tremendous
potential on multiple
levels.
Project
“REWARD”
Goals and
Objectives
*To create a program that will
bring about improvement in FCAT scores for targeted
schools.
*To help achieve an increase in
overall FCAT scores for SLCS.
*To help students focus on an
event that will lead to improved writing.
*To create an interest in
reading and writing.
*To help facilitate classroom
success and to help stabilize a difficult class.
*To help students that are ESE
develop self confidence and to facilitate an increase in
self-esteem.
*To help regular ed students understand and respect a student that may be
handicapped.
*To help create awareness and
understanding of the CCI program within the general school population and
within the community at large.
*To develop a program that is
replicable.
Project “REWARD”
How it will be
implemented
Project “REWARD” will be a very cost
effective program designed to raise the FCAT scores of students and impact
upon the results of entire schools. There will be no cost
for training, no workshops, no special curriculum, nor texts. Just a
wonderful canine companion named “Olivet” a dog that has a unique ability to
read a few words and motivate children to learn.
Olivet will either be based at
her present location, Dale Cassens School, the county ESE dept. or another county location. She will
spend the majority of her day actively engaged with students doing reading
presentations in selected classrooms and in dog training skills development
sessions and practice sessions with students that are ESE. To avoid wasted
time and extra expense, travel will be minimized or eliminated by focusing on
one school at a time. This is not to suggest that Olivet would not be (as she
is now) interested in working extra hours in a middle school doing art lessons
after other schools are out for the day. The TMH population that we work with
late in the day is a very loving and wonderful population and we enjoy
them.
While focusing on a particular
school, project ”REWARD” will work closely with the school
administration and the teachers of selected classrooms. We will make
presentations to those classrooms and participate in motivational activities
that will support the student as he or she strives to develop reading and
writing skills. A fully integrated “authentic” lesson plan will be developed
following sunshine state standards. When all targeted classes have been
visited and activities finished at a given school we will evaluate project” REWARD”, schedule follow-up
sessions and if possible schedule a pep rally appearance. Then we will move on
to our next targeted school.
A naturally occurring benefit to
project “REWARD” will be the
impact upon the ESE home base classroom. With the talents of Olivet,
coupled with the experience that I will bring into an ESE setting ,we can potentially bring about positive change and
stability to a classroom that might be suffering difficulties. We can assist
with behavior management and make suggestions to the classroom teacher that
might lead to improvement of the classroom environment. We will not be there
to impose, but to support and to offer suggestions. This subtle support might
be enough to save a struggling teacher or help a desperate
child.
With the onset of testing, our
job will not end. We will always have ESE classes to work with and Very
Special Arts projects to implement. We will have posters to create in support
of Project “REWARD,” and awards to create in support of
successful students. Late in the school year when the test results are in, we
will have to evaluate the effectiveness of project “REWARD” so that it will be even
better for the year that will follow.
“REWARD”
Project
Evaluation
Evaluation of project “REWARD” will be tri-fold. The first
component of evaluation will be observation .We will expect to see active
learning activities taking place in the classroom between Olivet and the
students. Based on previous trials, we will see a captive audience, ready and
eager to learn.
The second phase of evaluation
will take place with review of the written work completed by the students. We
will expect to see all students trying to do their very best to write a story
as a component of the lesson plan.
The third aspect of evaluation
comes when the FCAT results are in; we will look at the results of targeted
classrooms, and we will assess the results of the individual students that
participated in project “REWARD”.
We will be looking for results that will demonstrate the success of
project “REWARD”.
“REWARD”
Project
timeline
August 2004
*Identify schools that might
benefit by having the support of project “REWARD”.
*Identify ESE classes that may
need support at selected schools.
*Establish a
Schedule.
*Planning.
August 2004-February-2005
*Begin active
engagement with selected ESE classes.
*Practice with
Olivet.
*Begin presentations to targeted
regular education classrooms.
*When one school is finished
schedule return visit(s) and move on to the next
school.
March 2005-May 2005
*Refocus our
attention on classes that are ESE and work on art
projects.
May 2005-June 2005
*Evaluate results
of standardized FCAT testing and the impact of project “REWARD”.
Project Coordinator, Background
Information
Dan Galloway, Art Teacher and
Canine Facilitator home based at Dale Cassens School
Presently serving selected students and classes that are
ESE in SLCS
Graduated with a Masters degree in Behavior Disorders,
North Georgia College
1990
Graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Art Education,
University of Northern
Arizona
1974