Gallup, NM

District on the Navajo Nation Embraces Response to Intervention (RtI)

Gallup-McKinley County Schools in Gallup, New Mexico is the largest school district geographically in the continental United States. Situated in the middle of the largest Native American reservation in the country, the Navajo Nation, Gallup-McKinley serves over 12,900 students in 34 schools. Eighty-five percent of these students qualify for free and reduced lunch and 93 percent are of a minority status. Over half of the student population speaks English as a second language and 37 percent live below poverty level. The district has made significant progress to address the unique and challenging literacy needs of this at-risk population.

The district joined with Lindamood-Bell in 2004 to implement its comprehensive professional development and RtI model in four Reading First Elementary schools and one Title 1 elementary school. Since then, the partnership has expanded to 12 schools throughout the district, including two Middle Schools and one High School. Students are continuing to make significant progress in vocabulary, reading and oral language comprehension, and decoding fluency. Over 200 district staff have participated in the professional development model, including Lindamood-Bell's certification program, where candidates demonstrate proficiency in all components of a Response to Intervention (RtI) framework.

For the 2008-09 school year, over 2,500 students will receive Lindamood-Bell instruction in either a Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 setting. The district also began the implementation of the Talkies® and Visualizing and Verbalizing® programs to address early childhood learning with preschool age students at four preschool sites.

"Whenever I leave a classroom or a meeting with a new teacher having discussed the benefits of Lindamood-Bell, I feel confident that the hints and techniques I gave them will work for their students and so far, they always have."
Nicole Seltman, Teacher Gallup-McKinley Schools

"The students feel more confident and comfortable with their reading abilities. One of our students at Gallup High School made reading gains of three grade levels after twelve weeks of instruction."
Dorothy Wilkinson, Title 1 Teacher Gallup High School

Downloads

Response to Intervention: Lindamood-Bell's Process-based Educational Model