October 23, 2023 | By: Halena Sepulveda at Spectrum News 1<\/p>\n
According to the Nation\u2019s Report Card, 33% of fourth-grade students performed at or above proficiency levels in 2022, which was 2% less compared to 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cPost-pandemic we\u2019ve really figured out that we need to target exactly what our kids need and our curriculum has allowed us to do that,\u201d said Katie Carrasquillo, fourth grade teacher and instructional leader at Rochester Prep Elementary Jay Street Campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have lots of love happening within our classrooms but also our academic programming is really rigorous and meeting all the needs of our students to get to college and beyond,\u201d said Danielle Hinman, principal at Rochester Prep Elementary’s Jay Street campus. \u201cReading is not like a sprint. We\u2019re not going to see overnight growth, we are gonna see an elongated continuum of learning. What we know in third and fourth grade is that they are actually applying the skills and reading to learn and so that’s where that deeper comprehension comes into play.”<\/p>\n
Which is why Rochester Prep has turned to focus more on individual needs.<\/p>\n
It’s a difference in focus that Katie can see in her students.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re feeling way more confident, I mean all their hands were up, they knew the skill,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re feeling confident because we\u2019re meeting them where they\u2019re at.\u201d<\/p>\n