ROCKFORD, Mich. — A Rockford mother plans to ask the school district to approve her volunteer reading initiative aimed at boosting elementary school reading scores.
WATCH STORY HERE
Michelle Kime, a mother of two, wants to organize community volunteers to spend 20 to 30 minutes daily reading with children who need additional help in elementary schools.
"I felt that we needed to do something as a community," Kime said. "There are a lot of people in the community that care deeply about our children."
Kime's proposal comes as Rockford's third-grade reading proficiency has declined slightly over the past several years. Spring 2024 M-STEP scores showed 65.8% of Rockford third-graders passing, down from 68.3% in 2023. Despite the decrease, both figures remain significantly higher than the state average of 39.6% and the Kent ISD average of 47.3%.
The urgency of early reading intervention motivated Kime's initiative.
"Once a child reaches nine years old, if they are not reading at grade level, 75% of them will never read at grade level, regardless of the intervention," she said.
Kime cited a Washington school that improved reading levels using similar volunteer programs.
"There's a school out in Washington that took their reading levels from 55% to 90% by doing just this; we know that it can be done," she said.
Mike Ramm, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction for Rockford Public Schools, acknowledged the district's strong performance while supporting community involvement.
"That number is a pretty high proficiency when compared across other districts in the state, and it tells us that our scientifically based program does work," Ramm said.
The district currently uses response intervention for struggling students, providing targeted instruction outside normal classroom time.
"So that would be a time where a student would not be in normal instruction, but it would be targeted towards their learning needs," Ramm said.
Ramm welcomed the potential community partnership.
"People in this type of instance, they're coming from a place of good, and they want help, right? It is important to partner with parents in the community as a public school," he said.
"I feel like we should have enough manpower to really get in front of these kids and just read with them for 20 to 30 minutes every single day," Kime said.
Kime will present her volunteer reading proposal to the Rockford School Board at their Dec. 8 meeting.
If you would like more information about Kime's plan, you can email her at Rockfordreads@gmail.com
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
