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News Second Graders Drastically Improve Reading Scores in Only 9 Weeks TUCSON, Ariz. - This January 40% of the second graders at Myers-Ganoung Elementary were reading at the lowest reading levels, compared to the national average of 11%. However, principal Alice McBride has turned things around in just 9 weeks with a new co-teaching model. Her students have made significant improvements; 22% of these second-grade students have already moved out of the lowest reading levels. Myers-Ganoung Elementary is a low socio-economic Title 1 school. Nine weeks ago, they began a pilot study using the phonics-based software program, My Reading Coach™. Sixty-eight second-graders use the program 30 minutes a day. This program holds students accountable and provides them with instructional help, freeing the teacher to address a student's individual needs. All students, including those who are predominately Spanish speaking, are using the new model. The second graders were tested before and 9 weeks into the pilot using a standardized, national reading comprehension test.* As a result, only 18% (compared to 40%) of these students remain at the lowest reading levels. There has also been more than a 700% increase (from 0 to 7) in the number of students scoring in the above average range. McBride credits the financial support from Tucson's YWCA, the flexibility of her second grade teachers, the willingness of her students and My Reading Coach™ for this success. She states, "Any school would be happy with these gains for an entire year, let alone 9 weeks." My Reading Coach™, developed by MindPlay®, has been making significant improvements like this since its initial development in 1996. Students who use My Reading Coach™ for 40 hours have improved reading scores 1-5 grade levels, 95% of the time. The product combines state-of-the-art technology with techniques developed by speech pathologist and veteran reading teacher Jim Larrabee. Student improvement has increased directly proportional with the number of My Reading Coach™ lessons completed: ranging from 61% for students who completed 20 lessons to 88% for students who completed 30 lessons. The latter 88% improved their reading comprehension scores by more than one grade level. As for Spanish-speaking students, 75% of those who completed 21 or more lessons had the same performance increases as their non-Spanish-speaking peers. Further gains are expected as students complete the program over the next 6 weeks. These results are a dramatic contrast to the results achieved by other Title 1 schools. According to Rod Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education, who states, "After spending $125 billion of Title 1 money over 25 years we have nothing to show for it. Fewer than a third of third and fourth graders can read at grade level." Results Comparison Chart: This chart shows the progress of the 2nd grade students against the national average. It compares where these students scored before the pilot and again 9 weeks into the pilot. Post-test results (yellow line) show significant gains, particularly given the number of ESL (English as a Second Language) students as well as the low economic background of the neighborhood.
* Pre and Post-testing was done by the Tucson Unified
School District using Degrees of Reading Power™ (DRP) reading
comprehension tests from Touchstone Applied Science Associates®.
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