The following is the first in a series of articles highlighting the impact of grants awarded to staff by the Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund during the 2024-25 school year.
Center School reading teacher Carolyn Pawlishen, center, was awarded a $2,000 grant from the Old Rochester Regional Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund to support her small-group reading instruction project, which utilizes decodable texts and books. (Photo Courtesy Old Rochester Regional School District and MA Superintendency Union #55)
MATTAPOISETT — With additional funding in hand, Center School teacher Carolyn Pawlishen sought additional ways to engage and empower her second- and third-grade reading students. She wanted tools that would help them overcome challenges with phonics and build the foundational skills they need to become confident readers.
Based on a body of research known as the Science of Reading, Pawlishen considered multi-sensory learning boards, games, whisper phones, magnetic tiles and online subscription-based computer programs for this project, which she called “Empowering, Engaging, and Motivating Students with Learning Differences.”
But what she found most effective for the project — funded by a grant from the Old Rochester Regional Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund — was something called “decodables” — decodable text and books.
“My colleagues have asked how students were able to achieve such significant growth this school year,” Pawlishen said. “I shared that it was a combination of the new decodable materials purchased by the grant, paired with the small group routines I was coached in this past school year. The decodables play a vital role in the planning process for small group instruction.”
The Old Rochester Regional School District and Massachusetts Superintendency Union #55 are pleased to share the outcome of more than $9,400 in private grants provided by the nonprofit Old Rochester Regional Tri-Town Education Foundation for the 2024-25 school year.
The Old Rochester Regional Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund is a growing endowment under the umbrella of the SouthCoast Community Foundation. Supported by community donors, the fund helps educators pursue innovative, high-quality learning experiences for students throughout Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester.
This is the first in a series of articles describing the impact of grants awarded by the Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund to support innovative teaching and student enrichment across the Old Rochester Regional School District and Massachusetts Superintendency Union #55.
Pawlishen described the vision for her reading learning enhancement project, and she applied to the Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund, which awarded her a $2,000 grant for the reading initiative.
This came after two years of difficulties in getting students to their grade-level benchmarks for second and third grade.
Pawlishen then teamed up with Center School teacher Deb Camacho to consider what specific grant-funded materials they could use to enhance small-group reading instruction, meeting the needs of diverse learners while keeping it a fun and engaging experience.
While she initially envisioned pupils conquering their greatest reading challenges partly through games, digital programs and audio tools, Pawlishen quickly realized how effective and fun “decodables” are for the students.
Decodable text and decodable books are specially written and designed to help beginning readers — and those with reading difficulties or dyslexia — to better practice and reinforce their phonics skills.
Decodable text is carefully constructed using words that follow specific phonetic patterns that the student has already been taught systematically as part of their reading curriculum. This allows the reader to “decode” words by recognizing those phonetic patterns, allowing them to better link letters to sound, rather than relying more on rote memorization of entire words.
Pawlishen then used the grant funding to purchase several sets of decodables: Pioneer Valley Books’ “Lifting Off,” set 1 and 2, along with set 1 of “My Codables: Sally the Cow” and “MyCodables Bella and Rosie.”
The result: They were a hit with the students and proved effective.
By the end of the school year, all of Pawlishen’s third-grade students had reached or exceeded grade-level benchmarks. DIBELS data, which measures students’ performance on key reading skills, showed impressive growth for all students involved. The process has also given Pawlishen useful ideas for enhancing her reading instruction more broadly.
“Using these decodables provided more opportunities for practice of repeated readings, and they’re very engaging, resulting in students making great strides in their reading scores as well as growing a stronger love for reading,” Pawlishen said. “All of the knowledge I gained showed me other ways to engage and empower students to be strong readers.”
Early Childhood Coordinator Doreen Lopes celebrated the Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund grant’s support for specialized, joyful literacy instruction.
“This project reflects our commitment to making early literacy joyful, accessible, and tailored to the needs of each student,” Lopes said. “These materials allow teachers to nurture curiosity and confidence while strengthening foundational reading skills for all learners.
Superintendent Nelson expressed appreciation for the Foundation’s support of innovative classroom work.
“We are deeply grateful to the Tri-Town Education Foundation for recognizing the value of targeted early literacy instruction,” Superintendent Nelson said. “This grant strengthens our educators’ ability to meet students where they are and ensures that every child feels supported as they grow as readers. We hope that our community will continue to support the foundation with its fundraising efforts to help make more impactful projects like this one possible in the future.”
Donate today: To support future grant-funded programs like this one, community members are encouraged to donate to the Old Rochester Regional Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund. Please use the QR code below to go directly to the Old Rochester Regional Tri-Town Education Foundation Fund donation page: https://cfsema.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1304
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