Akleysia Angesom did not just want to say she could read.
She wanted her friends to say they could, too.
As she sifted through books in the Clifford Davis Elementary library May 19, the third grade student said she could now read words — in English — that once felt too big. Tigrinya, a language spoken in Eritrea, was Akleysia’s first language. English came second.
She pulled a few classmates closer, encouraging them to share how their reading had improved, too. At the southeast Fort Worth ISD elementary school, where 627 of the campus’s 867 students are English learners and 455 are immigrant children, reading in English can be both an academic milestone and a personal one.
“It actually helped me because, well, first I was low, and now I’m a little bit higher,” said classmate Abgail Tesfalem, whose first language is also Tigrinya.
“It helped me reading,” Akleysia said. “Like on my reading test, I passed all of my lessons.”
“Before I couldn’t read,” another student yelled in the background. “Now I can read!”
Newfound confidence among students
For some Clifford Davis students that May afternoon, getting interviewed by a reporter became its own kind of reading celebration. One student after another leaned close in the library, eager to say what they could read now: big words, long English words, books they once struggled to finish.
School leaders said the confidence on view comes when children who have struggled with literacy — including students still learning English — start to see themselves as readers.
With families, teachers and school leaders gathered at Clifford Davis for a Catch Up & Read reading rally, students crossed a stage in the school gym, graduation-style. They beamed with pride as they received medals and certificates celebrating their literary gains, posed for photos with their classes and heard their teachers publicly recognize their progress.
Some were praised for perfect attendance. Others received special red medals for moving up a full reading level.
The celebration mattered, Clifford Davis educators said, because many students in the program began the year struggling with the foundations of reading.
Catch Up & Read works with first through third grade students and teachers in schools serving large numbers of children from low-income families. The after-school program focuses on evidence-based literacy practices, teacher coaching and tutoring for students who need additional reading support.
Anthony Smith-Wright, one of Clifford Davis Elementary’s assistant principals, said many students in the campus’s Catch Up & Read program are English language learners who are learning how to identify letters, sounds and words in English.
Clifford Davis serves students from families who speak Dari, Pashto, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Spanish, Arabic and Farsi — and many other languages and dialects.
For some students, reading growth is also language growth. It helps them participate in class, express themselves and, in some cases, help their families, Smith-Wright said.
“There’s that confidence that comes with that,” Smith-Wright said. “There’s that sense of not only can I do it, but let me show you.”
Abgail and Akleysia exemplified that feeling simply, he said.
When asked what they would tell another student who thinks reading is too hard, Abgail said she would help teach them letters and encourage them.
“You’re going to know how to read,” Abgail said.
Clifford Davis Elementary students, teachers and Catch Up & Read supporters cheer during a May 19 reading rally in southeast Fort Worth. The event celebrated students who made gains in the literacy program. (Courtesy | Catch Up & Read)
‘Even on the teacher’s side’
Dora Lopez, a second grade dual language teacher, said many of her students are newcomers to the United States and to the school system. Some began the year unfamiliar with English letters and sounds. Some had little formal schooling before arriving at Clifford Davis, she said.
By the end of the year, Lopez said, students were walking into school ready to participate.
“It’s amazing. It’s wonderful. It just gives me goosebumps,” Lopez said.
Catch Up & Read helped her sharpen her organization and routines, Lopez said. Students knew what to expect when they arrived, beginning with letters and sounds before moving into read-alouds, questions and answers.
The program also strengthened how teachers use data, Smith-Wright said. Teachers collect information while working with students and use it to target the skills children need next.
“There’s a confidence, even on the teacher’s side, that we don’t always speak about,” he said. “There’s that sense of, I know what I’m doing. And I feel confident in that.”
Lopez saw that shift in her students during weekly assessments. Children who once avoided eye contact began reading words aloud.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I got teary-eyed because these students were so shy they didn’t even want to look at you because they knew they couldn’t (read),” Lopez said. “Then when you gave them that test, they were able to do it.”
That change was visible in the library before the rally, Lopez said.
A student who once might have hidden was now eager to talk about reading.
“If you would have been here the first day of school, that wouldn’t have happened,” Lopez said. “She would be hiding. She would try to be invisible, but now she’s shining. She’s blooming.”
Anthony Smith-Wright, a Clifford Davis Elementary assistant principal, speaks during a Catch Up & Read reading rally May 19 in southeast Fort Worth. Smith-Wright said reading growth helps students build confidence in and outside the classroom. (Courtesy | Catch Up & Read)
‘Hard work, but it is worth it’
Teachers called students one by one to the stage. They described students who became more confident, improved their fluency, participated in small groups and showed up ready to learn.
Families applauded as children accepted their praise.
Smith-Wright said those moments of public recognition help students understand that the hard work of learning to read is noticed.
It is especially important, he said, for children who have not always felt successful in school.
“Those positive moments, really honoring those moments of success just continues to put them on that right trajectory of, yes, it’s hard work, but it is worth it,” Smith-Wright said.
For students at Clifford Davis, reading growth can show up beyond the books, he said. It can change how children participate in class and how much of their personality teachers get to see.
“We don’t always get to see that personality when you’re still learning English,” Smith-Wright said. “They can’t always express themselves the way they truly want to because they’re still grasping that language.”
But once students gain the foundation, he said, they begin to show more of themselves.
“To have that moment of, I’ve arrived in a sense, and here’s who I am and here’s who I can be, and here’s all the things that I can do, that’s where it really shows up,” Smith-Wright said.
Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report’s reader advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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