June 26, 2004
Chandler teacher Phyllis Carr remembers when educators assumed that high school students could read well.
"But we are finding it’s so important to teach reading strategies," said Carr, an English teacher at Hamilton High School.
"Re-read if you don’t understand something, question the author to find out why they wrote a certain way, decode something complicated by reading around it."
Carr was one of 300 educators from the Chandler and Mesa unified school districts who gathered this week to learn more about how to incorporate literacy into all school subjects.
The four-day workshop featured Janet Allen, an international literacy expert recognized for her work with at-risk students. The Chandler Unified School District governing board paid $55,000 for Allen and about 10 teachers she chose to present the conference.
Hamilton principal Fred DePrez said for the past two years, the district has focused on incorporating literacy into all classes — from physical education to math — in fourth through 12th grades.