We’re delighted to interview Katie Croland, State Director of Literacy and Enrichment Initiatives at the Florida State Alliance of YMCAs, about the organization’s YMCA Reads reading intervention program.
Since 2004, YMCA Reads has used SIPPS® to help Florida striving readers succeed.
Tell us a little about yourself and your role at the Florida State Alliance of YMCAs.
My name is Katie Croland and I am the State Director of Literacy and Enrichment Initiatives at the Florida State Alliance of YMCAs. The Florida State Alliance of YMCAs serves all 16 YMCA Associations in Florida, providing advocacy, resources, and state-wide programs.
Describe the YMCA Reads program and the Florida students you serve through it.
One of our state-wide programs is YMCA Reads, which currently operates in 19 Title I schools across Florida. YMCA Reads is an after-school reading intervention and mentoring program that provides tutoring to Florida students in Kindergarten through 4th grade who are reading below grade level.
Teachers and administrators refer students who are reading in the bottom 20% to YMCA Reads, and these students receive small-group and one-to-one reading intervention.
YMCA Reads improves students’ reading skills through mentoring and the use of research-based, data-driven curriculum.
YMCA Reads improves students’ reading skills through mentoring and the use of research-based, data-driven curriculum. The program is implemented by 1 full-time YMCA staff person, 1–2 part-time assistants, and volunteer mentors who are trained in reading interventions.
We provide differentiated instruction to all students to target their individual needs. To accomplish this goal, SIPPS is one of the core pieces of curriculum that we use.
What is the most rewarding part of being an educator for you?
When I was in the classroom, the most rewarding part of being an educator for me was the challenge of meeting the children’s individual needs.
When I was able to figure out exactly what the child needed to learn, understand, and grow, it was so rewarding to be able to provide that to them. I am a huge proponent of differentiation and meeting the child where they are at, whether it be educationally or emotionally.
I am a huge proponent of differentiation and meeting the child where they are at, whether it be educationally or emotionally.
In terms of my current role at the Florida State Alliance of YMCAs, it is extremely rewarding to be able to teach SIPPS to coordinators, assistants, and volunteers.
Many of our staff and volunteers do not have a traditional education background, so being able to teach them the skills they need and give them confidence to be educators, mentors, and coaches is my favorite part of the job. My goal is always to empower staff to feel confident in their ability to teach and deliver the program.
How did YMCA Reads become interested in SIPPS? Tell us a little about that process.
YMCA Reads has been using SIPPS since 2004, when our program came to life. Our program was built with SIPPS as a core component and it has been an integral part how we have served students since 2004.
SIPPS was an easy choice because of its systematic approach to teaching that helps our striving readers.
The goal of YMCA Reads has always been to improve students’ reading skills with phonological awareness, word recognition, spelling, fluency, and comprehension skills, so SIPPS was an easy choice because of its systematic approach to teaching that helps our striving readers.
What do you appreciate about SIPPS? What do your staff and volunteers appreciate about it?
Since many of our YMCA Reads staff and volunteers don’t have a traditional teaching background, we love working with Collaborative Classroom to deliver SIPPS because of the resources and built-in support that the curriculum offers.
Our staff love the Collaborative Classroom Learning Portal and the SIPPS professional learning videos, resources, and support it provides them.
Using SIPPS is also helpful because of the scripted nature of the program; once trained, our after-school staff feel confident in delivering the program as intended because of the strong support the manuals provide.
Once trained, our after-school staff feel confident in delivering the program as intended because of the strong support the manuals provide.
What have you noticed about students’ learning and engagement? What has your staff noticed?
The built-in repetition through SIPPS in all levels really helps to increase student learning.
Specifically in SIPPS Beginning Level, whether it’s a Kindergartener or first grade student learning those skills for the first time, or a second- or third-grader who is significantly below grade level, the repetition and constant refreshers of sounds and words really helps the students to learn the concepts.
The consistency of SIPPS and the structure that all levels follow help to increase student learning because the students learn the routines and know what to expect, which makes the material easier to process.
Finally, the YMCA Reads staff and I have thoroughly enjoyed using SIPPS because of the increased student engagement it has created. The choral reading allows all students to be engaged and constantly practicing the skills.
How has SIPPS shifted teaching practices and/or professional learning for YMCA Reads?
Working with Collaborative Classroom has been a game changer for YMCA Reads.
Twice a year, we have in-person conferences where Collaborative Classroom gives staff trainings for us. The level of support, guidance, and targeted professional learning opportunities they provide has been incredible.
From orienting our brand-new coordinators to supporting our seasoned people, Collaborative Classroom makes it easy to develop learning opportunities that can benefit all of our staff.
From orienting our brand-new coordinators to supporting our seasoned people, Collaborative Classroom makes it easy to develop learning opportunities that can benefit all of our staff.
SIPPS, in particular, has really shaped the way we deliver interventions because of the program’s structured approach. The explicit routines and built-in support have allowed us to center our program around the students’ needs in phonological awareness, spelling-sounds, and sight words.
SIPPS also provides us with formative data to supplement using other resources. Because SIPPS gives us the necessary data to help the students in those areas, the coordinators can spend some of their time focusing on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition.
What insights would you share with a community organization similar to the YMCA that is considering SIPPS for an after-school tutoring initiative?
The systematic instruction that SIPPS provides makes such a difference with striving readers.
This program would be incredible as an intervention for schools—and also in the out-of-school time space where YMCA Reads functions. We use it in an after-school program, and with the proper training and support, it is extremely effective! The many supports that Collaborative Classroom provides makes the implementation of SIPPS easy.
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Learn more about SIPPS literacy success across Florida.
Read interviews with literacy leaders who use SIPPS in after-school and expanded learning settings across the country, including OCPS Read2Succeed in Florida, Texas-based Literacy Now and ALIVE in California.
Find out why so many state departments of education are recommending SIPPS.