Ramp-Up: An Easy-to-Implement Course that Changes Classroom Practice

Reaching students who are behind requires an intensive, multifaceted, extended effort, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Ramp-Up Literacy makes it easy for teachers to implement new practices by providing just the right tools, training, and support for any setting.

Before Ramp-Up Class Begins

Ramp-Up Literacy implementation begins with assigning students, scheduling, and professional development. The first step is to identify eligible students. Ramp-Up is designed for students who enter middle or high school at least two grade levels behind in reading. The course assumes that the students are able to decode text and are reading at least at a third-grade level as measured by the Gates-MacGinitie test. Assessments are the basis of placement decisions and provide a baseline achievement record.

Both Ramp-Up to Middle Grades Literacy and Ramp-Up to Advanced are yearlong courses. Sessions meet for 90-minutes each school day.

Optional professional development, delivered before the school year begins, helps prepare teachers to implement the curriculum. Professional development packages are available for in either district or school configurations.

From Day One

Beginning on the first day of Ramp-Up Literacy, teachers introduce the rituals and routines that empower students to work productively.

These rituals and routines provide a predictable structure, which facilitates instruction as well as independent and self-directed learning. They allow the teacher to create a supportive and non-threatening environment by

• modeling comprehension during the read-aloud/think-aloud
• conducting thoughtful conversations
• teaching focused lessons
• working with students in small groups

During the independent reading routine, it is important that students have choices about their selections. The classroom library—the most important artifact of the course—contains books on a variety of reading levels that appeal to adolescents. The suggested library contains the read-aloud texts, picture books for use as models of writing and for use in cross-age tutoring, and books for independent reading.

The course’s cross-age tutoring component not only provides an authentic application of what the students are learning, but it also enhances self-esteem. Our ultimate goal is that students come to see themselves as proficient readers and writers.

Comprehensive assessments are used throughout the course to monitor progress and differentiate instruction.