Readers Come First Team
Mary Balmford- Program Coordinator
Cathy Gebhardt- Resource Cordinator
Linda Callahan- Data Manager
Literacy Specialists
Diana DiPofi Lisa Ferrick
Missy Heinonen Marsha Howell
The Conneaut Area City Schools received a $2.7 million Federal Reading First Grant.Only 12 school districts in Ohio were awarded this grant.
Reading First was established by the No Child Left Behind Act. Reading First is intended to help all children learn to read well by the end of the third grade by putting proven methods of early reading instruction in the classrooms.
Our "Readers Come First" program is a collaborative effort at the family, classroom, building and district level.
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The ability to read well at the end of third grade is one of the most critical indicators of future success in and out of the school environment. Reading First Ohio focuses on implementing a coherent research based system for first-rate reading instruction. The research is founded on the five essentialcomponents of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and instruction of these components. Reading First also provides teachers with reading assessment tools to screen, diagnose, and monitor their students throughout the course of the year. It puts research in the hands of the teachers so they are able to make sound instructional decisions based on what works and the instructional needs of their students. It also aligns with the Ohio English Language Arts Content Standards and Assessment System. The goal of Reading First is that all children will be reading at or above the grade level by the end of grade three.
