If you go into any of the schools in Dillon School District Two in Dillon, South Carolina, you’ll see signs of active and avid reading through the Scholastic Reading Counts! program.  These signs will pop up in the media centers, where Scholastic Reading Counts! labels on the spines of books show up sprinkled like dots throughout the rows and rows of books.   On the hall bulletin boards, the pictures of student achievers are displayed.  You can tune into each school’s morning show, which is broadcast through each school building and recognizes students who have achieved certain reading levels.  But best of all is the sight of students carrying books around and poking their noses in them whenever they have a spare minute.

Dillon School District Two has been using Scholastic Reading Counts! for years, and nearly all of their students participate.  Parents receive letters at the beginning of the year outlining the program at the school, and the students are off reading and earning incentives.  “Have plenty of books available on a wide variety of reading levels and interests,” advises Linda Dutton at South Elementary School.  “Don’t discourage students from trying books you may think are too difficult.  Students often surprise us with what they can do.”

Scholastic Reading Counts! has also been incorporated to support the schools’ curriculum reading.  “Many stories in the reading books have Scholastic Reading Counts! tests available and I purchase them,” says Ann Carlson at East Elementary School.  “This is another way to reinforce skills taught.”  At J.V. Martin Junior High School, although participation is mostly voluntary, students are required to take the Scholastic Reading Counts! tests on the novels they are studying in language arts classes. 

Teachers are delighted that students are so eager to read.  “Some students, who otherwise would be causing problems in class, are wanting to read every spare minute they get!” says Ruthann Wooten at Stewart Heights Elementary School.  Teachers also like that skills are reinforced through the quizzes and that they can get an easy assessment of a student’s reading comprehension.  And they take advantage of the fact that the quizzes are drawn from a bank of 30 questions.  “When students fail a test,” says Donna Newton at Gordon Elementary School, “they are expected to reread the book before taking the quiz again.”  Having different questions in different order on each test also helps cut down on cheating.

Parents are kept informed of their children’s participation throughout the school year.  Reports are available for review during parent-teacher conferences, and schools publicize achievements in their newsletters.  Every nine weeks, the top achievers at each school receive additional prizes and are publicized in the local newspaper and on the district Web site, and the top readers are recognized at the school year’s end.

The schools are pleased that reading achievement has gone up for students who participate in the program.  “The more one reads, the better one reads, and Scholastic Reading Counts! encourages students to read more books and more challenging books than they might read otherwise,” says Linda Dutton at South Elementary School.  “I think Reading Counts! helps with test scores also because it gives them practice in reading for information as well as practice in using test taking skills.”  And everyone loves the students’ enthusiasm for reading.  “At the beginning of the year, they kept asking me, ‘When are we going to start Scholastic Reading Counts!?’ says Ruthann Wooten.  “They were ready to read, and that was exciting.”