Reading Specialist and Title I Assistant Supervisor Vicky Panasuk developed an intervention reading program for first and second graders at Sidney Elementary School in Sidney. Mrs. Panasuk's program first identifies students who require additional assistance through a process called Phonological Awareness Screening (PALS). The program takes these students out of the regular classroom and places them in small groups according to reading level. There they receive direct instruction until they have reached grade-level performance, at which point they are returned to the regular classroom. Mrs. Panasuk's program has helped reduce the number of struggling readers. She has conducted professional development workshops on the use of an informal reading inventory and was a presenter on the subject of family involvement at the Montana Reading Conference.
