Elementary school is tough.
There are playground politics, multiplication tables and learning to read.
Imagine dealing with all that in a new language — or even a whole new country.
That’s the added challenge for kids who are learning English at the same time they’re learning everything else as their peers.
It’s an issue that Sarah Walters and her colleagues were determined to tackle in Troy City Schools, a public school district made up of nine campuses roughly an hour north of Cincinnati. The area is home to an automotive manufacturer that brings some employees — and their families — over from Japan.
Roughly 3 percent of the 4,000 students have primary languages like Spanish, Ukrainian and Japanese, a relatively small population compared to the most recent national average of 11 percent.
But that small group is making big gains. Looking to close the literacy gaps that have plagued schools since the pandemic, the district took a big swing to increase literacy among its English learners. It trained 116 staff members — including every elementary teacher, intervention specialist, paraprofessional and principal — in the Orton-Gillingham approach, which folds movement and touch into reading instruction.
They say it’s paying off.
Walters, a literacy instructional support specialist, says that helping multilingual students master their grasp on English is vital. Like any other student, the foundation that they lay in reading and math will affect their learning from that point on.
“We want to help the students continue to thrive, and really everything that we’re thinking about with our student services is equitable learning opportunities,” Walters says.
Moving Toward Equity
Federal data shows that English learners’ achievement scores lag far behind their peers on average, and have made little improvement over the past two decades.
Troy City Schools was eager to close widening literacy gaps that surfaced after the onset of the pandemic, Walters says, which was particularly hard on English learners like those at Concord Elementary. A big hurdle was phonics, the letter sounds that make up words.
“We were seeing a lot of student frustration and wanting to give up,” Walters recalls. “Students being very withdrawn, those social-emotional impacts.”
Back in 2020, English-language instruction was inconsistent and fragmented across classrooms.
Yet, even with the desire to boost English learner scores, the program took some time.
Following the pandemic, Troy City Schools mulled over the changes for three years before it had enough funding to deliver on it, according to Danielle Romine, director of elementary teaching and learning for the district. The effort was funded through post-COVID relief grants and budget allocations made by the district’s leaders.
As a literacy specialist, Walters became certified in the Orton-Gillingham method through the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education. She’s now responsible for supporting and training staff to successfully use the techniques.
Walters says teachers and staff were trained to utilize drills that connect literacy concepts through visuals, sound and movement. Students might use flash cards as a visual element or tap their fingers to each letter as they spell out a word. Students also learn the origin and history of words to strengthen their ability to decode them. For example, a “red word” is one that does not follow phonics rules.
“Our multilingual learners love it because no longer are they being told, ‘That’s just the way it is,’” Walters says.
After an initial summer training on the Orton-Gillingham approach, teachers spoke so highly of the method that requests for training grew among staff.
Initial Promise
“In a school district, if you want to get something out, just tell a teacher, because it [will] spread like wildfire,” Romine says.
And the data are showing promising results, Walter says. The district-wide third grade reading proficiency had plummeted to 56 percent in 2021-22 but had risen to 81 percent by 2023-24 — slightly higher than its pre-COVID achievement rate. The most recent state data shows Concord Elementary far surpassed its target goal for English proficiency among multilingual students.
Walters has heard from teachers who say that the approach has helped some English learner students make lightning-fast gains in reading. One educator told her that two students from Japan who joined the elementary school in the fall were conversing in English by December. Another student’s phonics diagnostic score shot up by 38 points in the same timeframe.
Now, the district is working to spread the method beyond its own campuses.
“Eventually, our goal is to support the entire community, or the entire county because Sarah having that training [enables her] to support teachers from other districts, as well,” Romine says.
But for English learners, ensuring they’re on grade level in reading goes beyond measuring their success in the classroom.
Walters says that the district is thinking about long-term learning for children who, for example, may be in the U.S. for a few years before returning to Japan.
Now, the district is working to spread the method beyond its own campuses.
“Eventually, our goal is to support the entire community, or the entire county because Sarah having that training [enables her] to support teachers from other districts, as well,” Romine says.
But for English learners, ensuring they’re on grade level in reading goes beyond measuring their success in the classroom.
Walters says that the district is thinking about long-term learning for children who, for example, may be in the U.S. for a few years before returning to Japan.
“We want students to have success across math, science, everything,” Walters says. “So it’s important that we get them up to speed as quickly as possible, because those long-term impacts could really be harmful for them. That early literacy is key.”
