HUNTINGDON COLLEGE
NEWS RELEASE
May 1, 2017
For more information, contact:
Su Ofe
(334) 833-4515; news@hawks.huntingdon.edu
Huntingdon establishes professional classroom at Dozier
Montgomery, Ala.—The Huntingdon College Department of Teacher Education and Dozier Elementary School have established a professional classroom at Dozier for the purpose of preparing future literacy educators. The partnership was celebrated last week at the school.
Beginning January 10, 2017, with six Huntingdon students and Dozier Elementary teachers participating in the pilot program, Huntingdon preservice teacher candidates have tutored first-grade struggling readers using an approach similar to the Reading Recovery Program. The goals of the project are to reduce the number of first-grade students who have extreme difficulty learning to read and write and to reduce the cost of these learners to the educational system. College preservice teacher candidates have also worked with small groups of third-grade students to improve reading fluency and comprehension—an instructional need identified by Dozier Elementary. Huntingdon College assistant professor of literacy Dr. Shannon Henderson is a certified university trainer in Reading Recovery and has supervised the tutoring sessions.
The initial pilot has been highly successful, resulting in increased reading achievement for both first- and third-grade students. Plans to extend and expand the partnership are underway for the 2017–2018 academic year.
Huntingdon students Erin Curtis ’18, Hannah Johnson ’18, Raina Lanier ’18, Macy Martin ’18, Brooke Pate ’18, and Kasey Savage ’18 participated in the pilot project.
Huntingdon College, grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition of the United Methodist Church, is committed to nurturing growth in faith, wisdom, and service and to graduating individuals prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing world. Founded in 1854, Huntingdon is a coeducational liberal arts college recognized among “The Fastest Growing Colleges in America” by The Chronicle of Higher Education; among the top 10 regional colleges and top 10 best regional values by U.S. News and World Report; among the top tier of regional colleges by the Princeton Review; among “Colleges that Contribute to the Public Good,” by Washington Monthly; and on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The Huntingdon campus, a Tree Campus USA, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Suellen (Su) Ofe
Associate Vice President
for Marketing and Communications
Huntingdon College
1500 E. Fairview Ave., Montgomery, AL 36106
(334) 833-4515; Cell (334) 324-6591
www.huntingdon.edu
