Ep 205 | FREE BOOKS? Keep your child reading at grade level!

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I can tell you that 88% of our surveyed families have reported that the caregivers of enrolled students spend more time reading with their enrolled child and feel more confident doing so after enrolling their students in New Worlds Reading.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every child in Escambia County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support your child's success. When kids get behind on reading, it can impact them for the rest of their lives. But for many Escambia County families, there are financial and transportation barriers to getting their children the support they need. My next guest is part of a program that offers VPK through fifth graders free at-home literacy delivered to their door. She is the senior engagement specialist for New World's Reading Initiative, and today she's going to share how kids are building their confidence and their at-home libraries. Literacy advocate, parent ally, partnership builder Shelly Payne. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. So this partnership builder part of that is so essential to this because you're in town thanks to your partnership with Global Learning Academy. Is and this is a statewide program, though. Is that normally how you get the word out through getting plugged in with like one school?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

One school can start the domino effect in the district. And I am so thankful that Global reached out to me for this connection. And I'm looking forward to their event tomorrow night and the things that I can grow in Escambia County from it.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

That's exciting. Oh, so what have been the results that you track? Because even though we think of reading as warm fuzzies and feelings, your organization has a lot of data behind it.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

They are fantastic. In Escambia County, there are roughly 15,000 students that are eligible for our program, which is about 80% of your population in VPK through fifth grade that are eligible, that are not enrolled in our program. So there is a huge deficit. So hosting the events with Global gives the parents or caregivers the opportunity to complete the applications while they're there. We have the availability on our website when they're completing these applications to shift from English to Spanish to Haitian Creole so that they are understanding in their native language. And we also have the ability when we ship these books that they are in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and even Briole. So very exciting things. That is exciting with the data though. They complete the applications with us. That's all they have to do is complete the application. We have a collaboration with the Department of Education, and we have all of the testing data for a student so that we match that application up with one test one time between their VPK and the end of their fifth grade career qualifies their program. Once they're enrolled in our program, they stay in our program until they complete fifth grade, even when they become proficient. And 56% of those students are making gains faster than their peers who are not enrolled in our program.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

That's interesting because sometimes students are borderline, but they are eligible to continue on to the next grade, but maybe they don't feel confident. Maybe they are lacking some of those foundational skills in a strength that is robust enough to really allow them to be in the at least in the middle part of their class. No one wants to be at the bottom of the class. So that that is so key. So I know what reading to your child at home looks like, but what does home literacy look like?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

So once a caregiver enrolls in the completes the application and a student is eligible for our program based on their test scores, we mail nine free books directly to the student's home. While they are completing the application, the caregiver along with the child have the ability to pick out the genre of books that they want delivered to their home. And they have the ability to change between the genres if they're getting bored or they're just not liking the books because we want to keep them excited. They get really, really excited when the mail comes because it comes directly to the student. So when a first grader gets their very own mail, they feel like a movie star. I had a first grader tell me that I am a movie star when I get my mail and they get really excited. So to harness that excitement when the book comes in in the mail, I encourage caregivers. I know we have a thousand things going on, especially when you have your kids coming in in the afternoon and there's a hundred things. You have to cook dinner, you have to homework and baths and all the things. But if you can take 30 seconds, open that book up, look at that book. What do you think this book is going to be about? You know, what it what do you notice about the title or on the cover or, you know, even if it's just picking out colors or what animals are, you know, if you can keep them excited about that book, we can't read that book right now. But after, you know, later on this evening, we will find time to sit down and read this book together. It keeps them excited about that book. They're going to pick that book up again. They may even look at that book before you start reading that book, but along with the books that are delivered also come resources that are specific to that book. So it has vocabulary words that your student may not know that's in that book. So you can go over them and you can talk about them so that while you're reading that book together, they're going to understand what those words are. There's reading comprehension. There's all kinds of fun activities and things that are specific to that book, that those resources come every month as well. All of our books are approved by the Department of Education and they all are scholastic books. Each one of the activities that are mailed directly to the home reinforce the science of reading strategies, just like they they learn in their classroom.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

So when you get the book in the mail and the kid just like rips it open because after all, it's their fan mail, clearly. Clearly. The next step is for, you know, more or less the parent to look at those parent guides, like, hey, this is the vocab. This is so the parent, that's the difference between reading to your child and kind of doing at-home literacy lessons.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

It gives the caregiver the support that they need to help their child understand what they're fixing to read, especially if there's vocabulary words in there that they're they have no idea what those words are. It's going to help them when they're reading those books, it's just a flow instead of having to stop, explain what the words are. Because if they're not understanding the words that you're reading, they're not going to comprehend what they're reading at the very end. It's just words that you're reading to them.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Not to mention, if I read something and I don't understand many of the words in there, I am not interested in continuing to read that thing. But if I've learned a new word or two, even, you know, at my age, I get excited.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Or if it's a book that you picked out, if it's a fly guy book, if it's a Clifford the Big Red Dog book, if it is a magic school bus with Mrs. Frizzle, who can take you on an adventure on every book that you read, you know, if you have those books that you get to pick out, it keeps you excited. That does. What if the parent struggles with literacy themselves? We handle that with the opportunity of visiting Newworldsreading.com. We have videos and resources for the caregiver to help the caregiver as much as we do the child.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Okay. Now you mentioned earlier that the website is in several languages, or it can be, you know, depending on the settings and what the reader of the website needs, and that the books themselves also come in different languages. Wouldn't it be best if the books were just in English, since literacy is the goal?

SPEAKER_00 7:58

In the end, yes. Right now we have a lot of students who English is a second language. So Scholastic, who is partnering with New World's Reading and sending all of the creating the books, we have the opportunity to have English Spanish books and we have English Haitian Creole books. So that when a student is reading this book to give them the confidence that they need, they can read it in their native language as well as English so they can make that bridge. That transition. Yeah, that makes sense. Talk to me about eligibility. What does that look like? So to be eligible for New World Reading, you have to be in a charter or a public school within the state of Florida and not reading on grade level for one test one time. Again, these are all of the testing that is done within the state that is reported to the Department of Education. So it can be one of those test scores one time. And it can be a number, it can be a level. There's there's a difference depending on what grade level you're in. For our students in VPK, the wording is not making age-appropriate gains because most four-year-olds are not reading yet. So it there's a breakdown on Newworldsreading.com that can give specifics if they're looking for that specific number. I do know on the progress monitoring reports that their students test three times a year, on the right hand side of the progress monitoring report that is sent to the parents, New Worlds Reading is highlighted on there and there is a link directly to our website.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Oh, that's nice. Okay, let me just check for understanding. So a child who on one test one time in their life from VPK through fifth grade, if they just test under on one reading test once, then they qualify. They qualify.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

That's a pretty big pool. And they stay enrolled in our program. So if you complete an application, you come to Global tomorrow night, you complete an application for your student who is in kindergarten. Right now, your student is doing fantastic. They're not going to qualify for our program. Chug along to third grade. Your student struggles on progress monitoring one in September when they come back from summer. Their test score from that test and the application that you complete two years, three years prior, we're going to capture your student based on that application. They'll get an email that says your student is qualified for New Worlds Reading, and the books will start shipping to that student.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

That's why you say when in doubt, fill it out.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

When in doubt, fill it out.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Okay. So there's no financial qualification, no IEP needed. You know what's interesting about that to me? Like if I'm putting myself in the shoes of a parent, you know, I think parents just struggle with guilt. Parent guilt is a thing. Absolutely. And so if you're thinking, oh my gosh, I'm a failure, no, I mean, just one. How many times did we, when we were little, not perform up to speed on one test? I'm sure we did at least once. How exciting is it that now, because of that moment in time, you're gonna get a free book in the mail once a month during the whole school year, nine months out of the year.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

I mean, that's kind of cool. I think it's fantastic. I get really excited and I have presentations and tabling events six to eight times a month, and I get so excited every time. And it's really exciting to see a child walk up to your table and go, Hey, I have that book. I get that book, and I have that book and I have that book, and they get really excited because they are enrolled in our program and have been enrolled in our program for a couple of years since inception. We were signed into law in July of 2021. So anybody that hasn't been enrolled in our program since then has had the growth, they're chasing it. I mean, the data that's that's showing that's trending for those students who have been enrolled in our program and is phenomenal. We're watching that upward trend. But to say I was at an event last night in Fort Walton Beach. I had probably 20 students that came up to the table. I have that Fly Guy book. I have that shark book, and they're just they're just so excited, or they pick the books up and they read. I don't have this one. I would love the opportunity to just give them books off the table, but unfortunately, our program is not designed that way. It is simply to mail the books to the home.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

But there is it sounds like there's a point of pride about having a home library.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

They get to keep these books. They are theirs. They can share them with siblings, they can share them with anyone that they would like. They can give them true to their children's teacher, whatever they prefer to do with these books once they read them. You said this began in 2021.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Was this at all a response to the effects from the pandemic?

SPEAKER_00 12:48

I'm not really sure what prompted before. I just know with the help of House Speaker Chris Browse, we were signed into law in July of 2021. And here we are, fixing ahead into our sixth year. That's exciting.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

I wonder what the data will look like, you know, five years from now. Because five years to us is not a lot. But when you think of five years in adolescent development, it's just leapfrogs, right? Because zero to five, they're like a little person and they have weird little sentences that they want, you know, made up things they tell you about. They're so funny. And then five to ten, oh my gosh, like puberty is around the corner. And then 10 to 15, oh my gosh, you got to start thinking about university. And so it it goes really fast. So uh that's that's interesting. There's no question. That was just me pontificating.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

It is. I was just thinking, I don't know that I was looking to see if they had given me any data here. I don't know the data point behind it. I can tell you that 88% of our surveyed families have reported that the caregivers of enrolled students spend more time reading with their enrolled child and feel more confident doing so after enrolling their students in New Worlds reading.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

What about the catch-up effect? Do you have any data on that or any, you know, just feelings on that being in the position that you're at at your organization, that this helps students truly catch up who are like really for real struggling?

SPEAKER_00 14:19

It is in our mission statement that we want to help at the Last Searcher Center. One of our mission statements is to help teachers teach and students learn. So our program mission is to help kids strengthen literacy skills and build reading confidence and spark a lifelong love of reading. If we can put that book in their hand and get them excited about reading that first magic school bus book, it's gonna lead to the next one and the next one. And then it turns into a habit, and habits turn into healthy habits and it's gonna give them vocabulary words that they've never been exposed to. There, it's gonna take them on adventures that their their bodies could probably never go on.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

So you it sounds like that you don't have exact data for huge catch-up need, but it sounds like it's laying a really strong foundation for the at-home ingredient, which is a big ingredient, for lifelong literacy. Do I have that correct?

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Absolutely. Okay. I do know we have resources for educators, we have resources for caregivers, and we have resources for students, all on Newworldsreading.com. And for anyone that you do not have to be qualified to have access to those resources. You just have to visit the website. There are teacher reading guides out there that are specific to scholastic books that teachers probably have in their classroom already, or a friend has them in their classroom that are specific reading lessons for them to do in their classroom. It gives them first, you do this, then you do this, next, you do this. It links it back to the best standards for them. So it goes directly into their grade book. These are all free resources.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Okay. So if a teacher is listening to this in Escambey County and they can just go and get those free resources. But let's say they additionally want to have this program front and center for their families. What do they do?

SPEAKER_00 16:15

They have a conversation with their administrator and then they visit Newworldsreading.com. There is a link on the website for contact us. All things start there. It is then disseminated across the state of Florida to the regional specialists that can handle them and it they will have a conversation with them just like I did with Global. That's how it all started. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Your entire career has been in education. And um, since we interview obviously a lot of teachers for the show, I've learned that teachers go where they feel they can make the most impact. Is there a particular story of impact for you or new your new world's reading that kind of represents why you do what you do?

SPEAKER_00 16:56

I was sharing with you three and a half months into the job, I was given the task, a TV interview, and I was briefed. I was given all the things that I needed, and I find out the day before that it's actually a live interview, completely shifted and changed everything. I met a young lady from Fort Walton Beach who was enrolled in our program. And she too was very nervous about being on the interview, but she had brought some books that were delivered to her the day before. She had not even had the opportunity to read them. And she was sharing on live TV at eight years old the books that she had, the excitement that she had when we were done. I gave her a high five. I said, You did an amazing job. Well, she started looking through the books that I had in my, she said, I don't have that one. And I said, You absolutely do now, friend. Here you go. So made her day by giving her a shark book. She was looking at it on as they were walking out of the interview. It was fantastic. Fast forward a year later, I met this same young lady at an event in Fort Walton Beach. She recognized me. I did not her a year later. They do a whole lot of changing in a year. She came up to me and she said, Do you remember me? And I looked at her and I said, I do not. And I felt really bad. But the fact that she remembered me in my New Worlds reading shirt came at this event, found me to tell me that she was still reading. She still enjoyed the books, and she shared that shark book with her little brother. So moments like that, yeah, they get you.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

They do. Well, thank you so much for making the drive over here today and sharing. I really appreciate it. And I hope that we can get more books in more hands of more families in Escambia County. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Escambia County Public Schools.