What's Working in Idaho with NCLB
Successes Highlighted in New Idaho Parent Resource: 3rd Edition - No Child Left Behind

CREATING EXCELLENCE: New Plymouth Elementary

New Plymouth Elementary School had a problem. Its kindergarten and grade 1 students needed help sounding out words. Students in grades 2 and 3 weren't reading as fast as their peers in other Idaho schools.

It was time for a change and New Plymouth staff members responded. They eliminated pull-out programs (instruction outside of the child's regular classroom), purchased a new reading curriculum, lengthened the school day and agreed to spend more focused time, working and planning together.

The change worked. In spring 2003, only 58 percent of New Plymouth's kindergarten students could read at grade level. By spring 2004, that number had risen to 70 percent. The difference was even more dramatic in grade 1, jumping from 47 percent in 2003 to 86 percent by spring 2004.

Principal Carrie Aguas said the school has always worked to give students the best education possible. But the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act required much more.

"It's urgent," Aguas said. "We have three years to get every student up to the standard."

Aguas explained that a Reading First grant from the State Department of Education made the changes possible. But the money came with strings attached.

"First thing we had to do was lengthen the school day," Aguas said. "We had to be able to have a 90-minute, uninterrupted reading block."

The school also had to choose a scientifically based reading program and use it in every classroom.

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