Arkansas Division of Youth Services
District Support Plan 
2021-2022 
Our goal for 2021-2022 is to help students become better readers by creating a critical reading class for all students who have demonstrated characteristics of dyslexia. 
New resources are being purchased from Winsor Learning, which primarily include intervention kits for teachers, as well as supplies and materials for students.  
Veteran teachers have completed the Science of Reading training; however, there are very few veteran/trained teachers. DYS facilities are under the management of "Rite of Passage." There is a serious teacher shortage. ROP administrators are working diligently to recruit and retain new staff members. Newly hired teachers will need to start the training after being hired by ROP. 
All students are assessed when they first arrive at AJATC intake. Progress monitoring takes place every 30 days. The average length of stay is six months. Pre and post tests are given to determine the growth students make while they are with us. The two assessments we depend on most for pre- and post-results are Edmentum Exact Path Diagnostics and the Winsor Learning Reading Placement assessments in reading and spelling. The Woodcock Johnson IV and the CTOPP are used to identify youth who might benefit by being placed in a critical reading class. Big picture monitoring is done by DYS central office administrators on staff in the education department.     
The DYS student population differs from a regular school. Our students typically stay 6-9 months, some shorter, some longer. We have found that the best evaluation system is to evaluate each student and determine the growth during the time they are with us. In terms of this district support plan, we will be evaluating reading progress and growth. We can look at the percentage of students (collectively) who showed positive gains while they were with us.   
Background 
The Arkansas Division of Youth Services will continue the work we previously started to help our struggling readers. We have provided teachers with dyslexia training and purchased small group kits. We will continue to expand the training to include more teachers and will purchase more intervention kits for classrooms.  
Between 80-90% of students remanded to the custody of DYS struggle to read and are several grade levels behind where they should be in terms of their academic performance. We currently use the Woodcock Johnson-IV as a screener then administer the CTOPP to determine which students need further testing and interventions that will improve both their reading and comprehension.   
All groups of students benefit from these efforts, including ESL, Special Education, 504, males, females, low socio-economic, highly mobile, Specific Learning Disability, etc. We strive to provide all DYS students with equal opportunities to strengthen their reading skills, recognize words, and comprehend the meanings of what they have read. We know if our students can do these things, the chances of them experiencing success in many aspects of their lives will increase greatly.