In our May issue, we profiled Marsh Middle School teacher Jack Wallace who has challenged his eighth graders to collectively read 1,000 books by the end of the school year.
Transplanted to Dallas from Milwaukee, Wis., Wallace is one of several Marsh teachers who work under Teach for America, a national program that sends specially trained teachers to areas with the most economically disadvantaged students.
Wallace said the reading initiative has empowered his students to excel in other academic areas as well. This year, he had the highest passing rate for the TAKS test at Marsh and the second highest number of commended students. E.D. Walker Middle School scored the highest in reading for a comprehensive Dallas middle school while Marsh came in second. Marsh also had the highest scores among students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
He says that students who had never finished a book before are now making a huge gains. The class is now at 800 books as the school year begins to wind down. But even if they don’t reach the 1,000-book goal, there’s no doubt that the initiative was a success.
