VIDALIA &8212; Fourth-graders who struggle with basic reading principals face a tough game of catch-up. But new curriculum in the Concordia Parish schools aims to give them and older children the help they&8217;ll need.

The district has purchased Read 180 materials from Scholastic and will implement it when school starts next week.

Fourth- through 12th-graders who need the extra help &8212; based on test scores &8212; will spend extra time each day working through the material with a specially trained teacher.

Teachers and administrators who will use the program received day-long training Monday from a Scholastic reading consultant and will head to Baton Rouge today through Thursday for more training.

Elementary- through junior high-level students in the program will spend 90 minutes a day in the Read 180 class. They&8217;ll work through three reading centers, using audio tapes, computers and hand-held books. High school students will do the same types of things, but may do so in a regular class period for scheduling purposes.

The lessons use fundamentals as basic as phonics but books that are age-appropriate so children don&8217;t feel like they are being babied, Reading Consultant Vicki Sargent said.

&8220;Our goal is to get a student below level on reading level and back in regular programs,&8221; Sargent said. &8220;It&8217;s a very intensive reading intervention program.&8221;

Read 180 classes are smaller than regular classes and include small group work.

Sargent said the program is already in place in nearly 10,000 classrooms in the country and has a success record of getting students four years behind grade level back on track in two.

For teachers, the biggest adjustment may be the number of materials to incorporate into lessons, Sargent said. And high school teachers may have to get used to small group learning, she said.

But Vidalia High teacher Juanita Irvin said she was ready to take on the changes.

&8220;I think we are so used to changing anyway that we know we are going to have to do it,&8221; Irvin said.

Ferriday Junior High School Principal Dorothy Parker said she was excited about targeting those who need extra help in a more one-on-one way.

&8220;We&8217;ll have 15 in a class,&8221; she said. &8220;Reducing class size is one of the strategies for improvement.&8221;

FJHS will have two Read 180 teachers, one for seventh-grade and one for eighth. Students will rotate in and out of the classes as they would any other class.

The program has three stages, all that start on the first-grade level. As students improve they will work their way up.

The Ferriday schools used school improvement grant dollars to purchase the curriculum.

District funds paid for the materials at other schools.