MARIETTA, Ga. — The Marietta City School District has dramatically improved reading scores among its third graders.
Recently released results from the Georgia Milestones Assessments show that the Marietta school district had a gain of 20 points, which is five times the state average.
Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell learned that reading specialists, an afterschool reading program and more are some of the reasons why students across the board showed major improvement.
Neal Dean Gilland, who has dyslexia, was up against a big challenge when he entered the third grade last year. His mom says it took just three months for that to change.
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“It was pretty hard before, but now it’s getting easier,” Neal Dean said about reading.
The 9-year-old began working with reading specialists at the beginning of the school year.
“The attention that he was getting from the reading specialists is where we started to see the growth. Because the holes in his reading were being filled. Because they could pinpoint where the disconnect was,” his mom, Beth Gilland, said.
Dr. Grant Rivera, Superintendent of Marietta City Schools, told Newell he’s proud of their growth.
“Over the last two years, Marietta has partnered with the Atlanta Speech School, one of the nation’s leading experts in language and literacy to do this most important work,” Rivera said. “Every subgroup, every kind of child in Marietta showed gains, for which we are incredibly proud.”
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Neal Dean’s progress is especially inspiring.
“He has the highest growth out of everyone,” Beth Gilland said. “The biggest difference that we’ve seen since he began reading is his connection to the world. When we’re out, he’s reading everything.”
“I’m very proud of myself,” Neal Dean said.
The district made changes to classroom size and hired 40 new reading specialists.
If students are reading below their grade level, they are placed into smaller classrooms and spend 90 minutes a day reading with their teachers.
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