Jefferson Parish School System Lexia Program

Transcription

1 Systems For Learning, Inc Williams Blvd., Kenner, Louisiana / / Fax / sfl1@bellsouth.net Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 1

2 Lexia Reading Core5 Lexia Reading Core5 is an innovative, technology-based reading program that was systematically designed to develop reading skills in alignment with the Common Core State Standards for students in Kindergarten through fifth grade. Lexia Reading Core5 addresses the key objectives of the Standards, ensuring that students have opportunities to interact with and master skills that are essential to gradelevel proficiency. Lexia Reading Core5 maintains a strong emphasis on systematic instruction in foundational skills, while providing a series of integrated opportunities to develop automaticity and fluency skills with connected text. All levels of the program include complex text, allowing pre-readers to develop listening comprehension skills, while emerging and more proficient readers interact with complex text through reading and strategy application. Lexia Reading Core5 s system of data-driven, differentiated instruction and embedded assessment is a powerful tool to assist districts in accelerating and scaling their implementation of RTI plans efficiently and effectively. Lexia Reading Core5 provides Tier I, II, and III students the just-right level of instructional intensity at the right time, using scaffolding, branching, and targeted instruction. Students can be flexibly grouped for instruction, reporting, and tracking. Lexia Reading Core5 provides a personalized learning path for foundational reading skills and delivers norm-referenced performance data without interrupting the flow of instruction to administer a test. It is an adaptive technology-based program with supporting printed instructional materials, designed from inception specifically to meet the Common Core State Standards through grade 5. Created using Lexia s research-proven, award-winning methodology, Lexia Reading Core5 is the most comprehensive technology-based reading skills program available. Lexia Reading Core5 s scope and sequence provides balanced skill development for all five strands of the Essential Elements of Scientific Reading as identified by the National Reading Panel (2000). In addition, a sixth strand targeting Structural Word Analysis helps form the bridge from decoding skills to advanced vocabulary and comprehension. Personalized Learning Lexia Reading Core5 provides a truly adaptive and personalized learning experience that enables students at every tier of instruction to advance their reading skills development, working at their own pace on activities based on the Common Core State Standards. If a student struggles with the task, s/he is presented with a scaffolded approach to the skill. If the student continues to struggle, s/he receives skill-specific, direct instruction in the software. If necessary, explicit, teacher-led instruction using scripted lesson materials are recommended to the teacher. This personalized approach enables at-risk students to close the gap more quickly, and enables on-level or advanced students to continue their progression. Gradual Release of Responsibility Model (GRMM) Lexia Reading Core5 s model of Personalized Learning flips the GRRM. Using this approach, the student has the ability to demonstrate mastery on each skill, and only dipping down into scaffolding and instruction when needed (You Do -> We Do -> I Do). If the student continues to struggle, the teacher is notified and provided with a scripted structured lesson for direct instruction on that skill (Lexia Lessons). Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 2

3 When an activity is successfully completed, the student can build automaticity of the skill and extend work in expressive domain for that skill with paper-and-pencil activities (Lexia Skill Builders). Norm-Referenced Performance Data Lexia Reading Core5 includes detailed progress monitoring, predictive, and diagnostic assessment tied directly to action plans and relevant instructional resources. It uses data as a catalyst for collaboration between educators and parents. The proprietary Assessment Without Testing technology gathers norm-referenced performance data without stopping the flow of instruction to administer a test. The Assessment Without Testing technology was initially developed for Lexia Reading the predecessor to Lexia Reading Core 5. All features of the technology are currently being implemented with Lexia Reading Core 5. Based on Assessment Without Testing, teachers and administrators receive real-time reports on individual student progress toward mastery of the Standards, as well as data-driven action plans, unique to each student, simplifying the process of differentiating instruction. This researchproven, scalable approach provides educators with screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessment tools that predict performance and prescribe the instructional intensity each student requires to improve their reading achievement and attain end-of-year grade-level benchmark. Based on the multi-tiered model of supports, Lexia Reading Core5 is specifically designed to help teachers provide each student with the right level of instructional intensity at the right time. Research and Efficacy Lexia Reading the predecessor to Lexia Reading Core5 has been proven effective through six peerreviewed published research studies and over 27 years of success working with millions of students in classrooms across the country. All six studies included use of treatment and control groups, and measured outcomes using independent assessments. The highly regarded Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) gave Lexia Reading the highest possible ratings for phonemic awareness, phonics, and fluency, and very strong scores for vocabulary and comprehension. In the report, the FCRR found no weaknesses and noted the following strengths for Lexia Reading: Intensive, structured, and systematic practice is aligned with research. Quick, immediate feedback follows the student response. For older students, phonological awareness is developed in conjunction with phonic word attack strategies. Web-enabled to allow for school-to-home connection. The What Works Clearinghouse finds Lexia Reading to be Effective, meeting the WWC Research Standards, showing positive or potentially positive effects in at least two of the four beginning reading skills (alphabetics and reading comprehension) and statistically significant effects in general reading achievement for subgroups of at-risk students. Lexia Reading received the endorsement of the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), the country s leading organization of special educators, stating that Lexia Reading is an incredibly effective and cost-efficient way to improve reading proficiency for struggling students and students of all abilities [and] meets or exceeds all of the criteria on the CASE Scoring Rubric. Instructional Design of the Program Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 3

4 Accelerates student learning of reading; is systematic, structured, and sequential in the lesson design; provides supporting materials and allows for sufficient practice; develops both the knowledge-based competencies as well as the skill-based competencies of reading; and includes texts that increase in complexity of decodability. Acceleration of learning to read is evident and attainable. The long-term plan for learning to read is clear, easy to follow, and of appropriate sequence. Units and lesson plans are arranged in a way that allows for the flipped gradual release of responsibility from teacher to students. Practice materials are of a sufficient variety and frequency so that students have ample opportunities for practice of concepts taught. Both the knowledge-base and skill-base of learning to read are addressed in an appropriate manner that is clearly linked to the research of learning to read. Decodable texts are provided and include sufficient practice in advanced phonics skills. Acceleration of Learning to Read During the school year, Lexia Learning conducted an analysis of a national database of at risk students in grades 1 3. The study included approximately 37,000 students, comprising a geographically and ethnically representative sample. Students high-risk status, as well as their progress toward end-ofyear benchmark, was determined by Lexia Reading s embedded assessment, called Assessment Without Testing. This real-time, norm referenced measure is correlated to, and highly predictive of, outside measures such as AIMSweb, DIBELS, and MAPS. High-risk students were identified based on their rate, accuracy, and grade-level of material on which they were working. Based on real time performance data, Lexia Reading provided each student with a specific number of minutes per week to use the software. Students were considered to have used the program as recommended if they met the prescribed number of minutes for at least six months of the year. Analysis of the national database showed that high-risk students who used the program as Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 4

5 recommended achieved statistically significant gains. Within one school year nearly two thirds (62 percent) of high-risk students reached their on-level, endof year benchmark, advancing one or more grade levels during the same school year. Five Components of Reading Lexia Reading Core5 s scope and sequence provides balanced skill development for all five strands of the Essential Elements of Scientific Reading as identified by the National Reading Panel (2000). In addition, a sixth strand targeting Structural Word Analysis helps form the bridge from decoding skills and advanced vocabulary and comprehension. Pedagogical Approach: Phonemic Awareness Phonological awareness skills are targeted in Lexia Reading Core5 through a developmental sequence of activities that begins in the preschool years. Young children first develop an awareness of the phonological patterns that occur at the end of rhyming words. A next step involves awareness of bigger chunks within words such as compound words made up of two independent words and syllables. Most importantly for reading success, students must also develop phonemic awareness as they learn to analyze and manipulate individual sounds within words. These phonemic awareness skills not only enhance phonics acquisition but also continue to grow as students work on letter- sound correspondences and application of phonics word attack strategies. During early activities in Lexia Reading Core5 students develop phonological awareness through picture matching activities that emphasize recognition of rhyming words and the ability to blend syllables in spoken words. They also learn to segment spoken words by identifying the number of syllables they hear. Blending and segmenting activities begin with compound words and progress to three syllable words. Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 5

6 Once phonological awareness of syllables has been established, students begin to develop phonemic awareness by analyzing and synthesizing individual sounds in words. During phonemic awareness activities, they match pictures with the same beginning and ending sounds, and also blend and segment individual phonemes in words. These phonemic awareness or sound analysis skills are critical for learning phonic word attack strategies related to word identification and spelling. Throughout the phonics activities in Lexia Reading Core5, more complex phonemic awareness abilities involving the manipulation of sounds continue to develop. Pedagogical Approach: Phonics Phonics activities in Lexia Reading Core5 begin with building letter-sound correspondence knowledge and progress to include activities that require the application of this knowledge to decoding isolated words as well as decodable phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. The use of decodable text for beginning readers is essential for building the skills necessary to identify unfamiliar words, and supports the development of automatic word recognition skills. Students gain an understanding of syllable types, syllable division, and simple spelling rules that are based on letter-sound correspondences as they build their decoding skills. Initial phonics activities begin with identification of letter symbols and the alphabetic sequence. Students are then introduced to the relationship between sounds and letters for consonants and vowels as they match letters to the sounds in pictured words. This lettersound knowledge is quickly applied to written words in tasks that require the analysis of initial and final consonants as well as medial vowels. These letter-sound activities reinforce phonemic awareness. Students then learn to recognize letter patterns as they identify open, closed, and silent-e syllables in one syllable words. In subsequent activities, they learn to combine syllables to construct and read two syllable words. They also learn to apply phonic word attack strategies to read decodable phrases and sentences. Activities throughout the phonics strand aim to simultaneously strengthen phonemic awareness skills as students continually analyze and manipulate the sequence of letters in words. As students progress through the program, they are introduced to more complex sound and syllable patterns. Ultimately, students learn to identify all six syllable types and the basic rules for syllable division. They are also introduced to the common spelling patterns found in single syllable words. Throughout the vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency activities at each level of the program, students apply their phonics knowledge to read sentence and paragraph level text. Pedagogical Approach: Structural Analysis The goal of the structural analysis strand of Lexia Reading Core5 is to develop skills to read and spell multisyllabic words often found in literature as well as in the domains of math, history, and science. Activities aim to strengthen reading and spelling by focusing on the recurring morphemes or meaningful word parts that make up these words. Once automatic recognition of the common affixes is in place, Lexia Reading Core5 morphological structure refers to the study of meaningful units of language or morphemes (e.g., prefix, root, and suffix) and how they are combined to create words. Initial activities expose students to simple Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 6

7 suffixes, such as -ed and -ing, and Latin prefixes, such as un- and pre-. The goal is to improve word identification by increasing their awareness of the morphological structure of words. Students identify these affixes through listening, reading, and constructing words containing these word parts. Later activities focus on Latin suffixes and common spelling rules based on the morphological structure of words (e.g., doubling rule and drop-e rule). As students move through the program, additional emphasis is placed on the meanings of prefixes and roots to build vocabulary as well as advanced word identification and spelling strategies. Students use their knowledge of word parts to infer the meaning of academic vocabulary at the word and sentence level while continuing to strengthen their automatic reading and spelling of complex, multi-syllabic words. Ultimately, students are introduced to Greek combining forms and accent placement rules which allow them to read and comprehend vocabulary, particularly for science and the arts. Pedagogical Approach: Fluency In Lexia Reading Core5, automaticity and fluency are targeted through systematic activities that enhance speed of processing. Automaticity: A feature of Lexia Reading Core5 is the inclusion of warm-ups designed to consolidate previously learned skills and bring them to a level of automaticity. Students engage with these activities at the beginning of each session for approximately two to three minutes. Since students differ in their processing speed, the pace of these warm-ups is based on individual performance and allows the students to increase their rate of response relative to their level of automaticity. The content of the warm-ups follows the same sequence as the activities within previous levels. Warm-ups begin with letters and sound/symbol correspondences and move to recognition of both regular and irregular words as well as the recognition of key elements related to comprehension. Fluency: Efficient readers learn to integrate automatic word identification with knowledge of sentence structure and meaning. In Lexia Reading Core5, fluency instruction is built systematically by work that focuses on important aspects of sentence structure. Although these sentence level activities are not timed, they address critical elements of fluency related to phrasal chunking and prosody. Fluency activities culminate at the paragraph level through timed silent reading of narrative and expository text that follows a maze format. These silent reading activities are designed to increase speed of processing while maintaining a focus on meaning. In the passage s fluency activities, we use a maze task where students time themselves as they silently read a passage and choose words to complete the text, ensuring that they are monitoring for meaning. Progression through the activity is based on both accuracy and rate. Lexia Skill Builders and Lexia Lessons support the development of additional skills important for reading fluency, including oral reading with a focus on expression and appropriate prosody. Pedagogical Approach: Vocabulary Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 7

8 Vocabulary instruction must go beyond word definitions in order to affect comprehension. The vocabulary strand in Lexia Reading Core5 is structured to teach word-learning strategies, to provide exposure to rich and varied vocabulary words, and to allow students to develop an awareness of word relationships and associations. These goals are systematically integrated into increasingly more complex skill activities. Throughout the vocabulary strand, activities expose students to new words and concepts, but more importantly, require students to think critically about words and their meanings and to apply strategies to build their own vocabulary for unfamiliar words and concepts. These vocabulary tasks begin by developing oral vocabulary through the association of word meanings with pictures. As students begin to develop word identification skills, they continue to enhance their vocabulary knowledge through activities involving reading. Early activities allow students to develop word-learning strategies as they deduce the meaning of unfamiliar, high-level words by analyzing pictures for similarities and differences. Other early vocabulary activities are aimed at building categorization skills as students must recognize relationships between words. As vocabulary activities progress, students are explicitly introduced to more abstract vocabulary concepts, such as multiple-meaning words, idioms, similes, and metaphors. Through these activities, students develop skills and strategies to use sentence-level context clues to determine the meaning of these words and phrases. The most advanced vocabulary tasks continue to emphasize associations and subtle relationships between words through focus on analogies and shades of meaning. Students think about and recognize nuances in word meaning as they think critically about words and form logical relationships between word meanings. In addition to targeted vocabulary activities, students also acquire vocabulary and wordbuilding strategies by repeated exposure to the rich language activities that exist in all strands of the Lexia Reading Core5 program. For example, early phonemic awareness and phonics activities require students to match pictures to words, building concrete vocabulary knowledge. Later activities, found throughout the Structural Analysis strand, provide students with the skills to analyze prefixes, roots, and suffixes for meaning and encourage the application of this knowledge to connected reading tasks. While the explicit goal of the activities included in the vocabulary strand is to foster the use of word-learning strategies and to build an awareness of word relationships and associations, students are constantly building their vocabulary and word awareness as they progress through all strands of the Lexia Reading Core5 program. Pedagogical Approach: Comprehension The goal of the comprehension strand of Lexia Reading Core5 is to develop active reading skills by having students engage with information they hear and read and by teaching them to think critically about this information. Early comprehension activities aim to build a student s language comprehension skills through listening activities. Students hear stories as they think about the sequence of events and the details as well as what the story is mainly about. This teaches early learners about the structure of text and provides a framework for later reading comprehension. They learn to use context clues by analyzing pictures as they begin to Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 8

9 develop imaging skills. Foundational critical thinking skills are fostered through questioning around details and what the stories are mainly about. Once reading skills emerge, students are asked to associate decodable words and phrases to pictures, reinforcing comprehension at the word level. Students then engage more deeply with the structure of language as they sequence sentences within a story and then words within a sentence. Students are later required to think about the components of a sentence by attending to question words that identify key parts of a sentence (e.g., Who is the sentence about? ). These activities encourage an active engagement with language while fostering the application of critical thinking skills. As students move through the program, they are required to apply skills to independently read and comprehend multi-paragraph narratives and informational texts. After reading, they are asked comprehension questions that require an increasing focus on developing higher order thinking skills, such as making inferences and drawing conclusions. They must consistently monitor the meaning of what they are reading in order to complete the activities. Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 9

10 Common Core State Standards Alignment Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 10

11 Aligned to the Common Core State Standards, and includes texts on core academic content to assist the student in maintaining, meeting, or exceeding grade appropriate proficiency levels in academic sessions in addition to reading. The instructional program is well-aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Includes materials/texts that relate to core academic content that would assist the student in maintaining, meeting, or exceeding grade appropriate proficiency levels in academic sessions in addition to reading. The Common Core State Standards were developed to create a single set of rigorous standards to serve as guidelines in preparing all students to achieve a high level of success upon completing their education. The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts provide a concise set of clear and ambitious grade-level benchmarks that define the skills that students are expected to master through their curriculum by the end of each school year. What the Standards do not provide is a formula for how to deliver high-quality instruction to help all students achieve these goals. Educators are currently investing a great deal of time trying to identify the most effective curriculum and materials that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards and can provide systematic instruction in essential grade-level skills. At the same time, schools and districts are looking for efficient ways to measure and analyze students progress towards the Standards. Lexia Reading Core5 is an innovative, technology-based reading program that was systematically designed to develop reading skills in alignment with the Common Core State Standards for students in Kindergarten through fifth grade. Lexia Reading Core5 addresses the key objectives of the Standards, ensuring that students have opportunities to interact with and master skills that are essential to grade-level proficiency. Lexia Reading Core5 maintains a strong emphasis on systematic instruction in foundational skills, while providing a series of integrated opportunities to develop automaticity and fluency skills with connected text. All levels of the program include complex text, allowing pre-readers to develop listening comprehension skills, while emerging and more proficient readers interact with complex text through reading and strategy application. Lexia Reading Core5 integrates both narrative and informational text into activities designed to build comprehension, providing students with exposure to various genres and different types of text structure. Additionally, a strand of activities throughout the program is designed to develop academic and domain-specific vocabulary skills, including more advanced structural analysis skills that are especially important for older students as they encounter unfamiliar vocabulary in their content-area reading. Embedded within all of the reading skill activities, is Lexia s proprietary Assessment Without Testing technology, which collects real-time data on individual student progress towards mastery of the Standards and provides teachers with normreferenced performance measures. This data is available to educators at the student, class, grade, school, and district levels, to help them make data-based instructional decisions regarding their students reading skill development. Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 11

12 Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 12

13 Grade Levels of Lexia Reading Core5 Program Levels Lexia Reading Core5 Grade Level Program Levels 1 Pre-K 2 Kindergarten 3 Kindergarten 4 Kindergarten 5 Kindergarten 6 First Grade 7 First Grade 8 First Grade 9 First Grade 10 Second Grade 11 Second Grade 12 Second Grade 13 Third Grade 14 Third Grade 15 Fourth Grade 16 Fourth Grade 17 Fifth Grade 18 Fifth Grade Assessments Lexia Reading Core5 includes scientifically-based and reliable assessments; provides initial and on-going analysis of the students progress in attaining reading competency. The instructional program includes assessments that are based on scientific reading research and are reliable. There are initial and on-going analyses of students progress in attaining reading competency. The teacher can make clear instructional decisions based on the outcomes of the assessments. Reliability and Validity Reliability and validity of Lexia Reading the predecessor to Lexia Reading Core5 was established through a series of correlation analyses conducted to determine the strength of the relationship between progress through Lexia Reading and outside measures of reading ability. Medium to high correlations are considered strong in evaluating assessment tools. Two Lexia Reading measures Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 13

14 February Performance Predictors and End-of-Year Benchmark Status were correlated with seven progress monitoring, diagnostic, and state outcome measures. This program focused on reading standards for grade K-3. The table below presents four of those measures. Correlation Ranges: Low =.1.3, Medium =.4.6, High =.7.9 February Performance Predictors End-of-Year Benchmark Status K 1 st 2 nd 3 rd K 1 st 2 nd 3 rd AIMSweb DIBELS MAP GRADE Lexia Reading Core5 Performance Predictors Validation Correlations were obtained between Lexia Reading Core5 (Core5) Performance Predictors and reading test scores on DIBELS Next, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and STAR Early Literacy/Reading. These statistical analyses determine the strength of relationship between performance in Core5 and scores on commonly used standardized progress monitoring tools. Performance Predictors in Core5 provide a monthly indicator of the percent chance that the student will reach Core5 s end-of-year benchmark for his or her grade level. Beginning-of-year and middle-of-year scores on DIBELS Next and MAP were provided for grades K-3 by a school in eastern United States, and beginning-of-year and middle-of-year scores on STAR were provided for grades 1-5 by a school in mid-west United States. Analyses were conducted for each grade and assessment period in which at least 40 students had test scores. Scores from 1,205 students in total were used in the analyses. Beginning-of-year scores were compared to Core5 Performance Predictors calculated on October 1st or November 1st, and middle-of-year scores were compared to Core5 Performance Predictors calculated on January 1st or February 1st. DIBELS Next composite scores1, Test RIT scores from MAP, and standard scores from STAR were used in the analyses. Across grades K 5, correlations with DIBELS Next, MAP and STAR were statistically significant and fell in the medium to high range. These correlations show that Core5 Performance Predictors from the beginning and middle of the year are valid indicators of reading ability. See for the latest validation of Lexia Reading Core5 Performance Predictors School Year. Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 14

15 Initial and On-Going Progress Monitoring Students are correctly leveled within the Lexia Reading Core5 curriculum using the embedded Auto- Placement function. Within a few weeks of use, students receive a Performance Predictor that includes an instructional risk level (On Target, Some Risk, and High Risk). Predictors in the first month of school have been found to be 86% accurate in identifying students who are On Target to meet End- Of-Year Benchmarks. As students continue working in the system, it analyzes student performance and provides a new Performance Predictor on the first of each month. With a Predictor, Lexia Reading Core5 also provides a Prescription of Instructional Intensity to improve the student s chances of reaching the end-of-year benchmark. (Student data is automatically while students interact with the activities, collected with each click of the mouse.) Student performance data is calculated in real time and available to teachers and administrators through a browser from school or home. Data-Driven Decision-Making Lexia Reading Core5 includes detailed progress monitoring, predictive, and diagnostic assessment tied directly to actionable plans and relevant instructional resources. Data is used as a catalyst for collaboration between educators in a problem-solving team, and provides the tools needed to increase instructional intensity and maximize success. Reports go beyond just providing a student s status on skills; they provide the specific Prescriptions of Intensity that are required to change the student s trajectory to meet benchmark. Recommended software usage time and targeted lessons are provided to close skill gaps and accelerate reading proficiency. Reports that integrate norm-referenced and criterion-referenced data are uniquely suited to provide actionable data for tracking proficiency on the Common Core State Standards, use with parents during parent-teacher conferences, inform problem-solving teams, and include in Individual Educational Plans (IEPs). Lexia Reading Core5 Program Teacher s Progress Monitoring Reports The mylexia data reports provide insight into progress on a district, school, grade, class, and student level. The home page for each level provides a clear, real-time snapshot of how students are progressing toward grade-level benchmarks. Monthly change in student reading gains is also identified, allowing educators to monitor progress for each student and their entire class. Administrators can also view this change, giving them the ability to monitor reading gains over time on a grade, school, and district level. The mylexia data reports provide educators with a Performance Predictor that informs them of each student s percent chance of that student reaching end-of-year benchmarks. Color-coded icons signify risk level in order to visually help educators to quickly assess and compare the risk of reading failure associated with their students, classes, schools, or district. (Red = high risk; yellow = some risk; green = low risk.) The Performance Predictors also provide educators a Prescription of Intensity - Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 15

16 recommended levels of instructional intensity for each student - designed to improve chances of reaching their end-of-year target. With access to detailed reports of school, grade, class, and student data, educators can make informed decisions by monitoring student progress and planning instruction based on students risk level and needs, helping to prioritize limited time. The Prescription of Intensity that is recommended for each student allows educators to allocate computer time for each student, as well as additional reading block time and use of paraprofessionals. Within the data reports, a data-driven action plan is provided to take the guesswork out of differentiating instruction by focusing the teacher s time on the greatest needs in the classroom, and prescribing the instructional intensity needed to help students reach their end-of-year benchmark. The action plan identifies the skill areas in which the student is currently working, specific skills on which the student needs instruction (and provides the skill-specific Lexia Lesson plan), the program usage based on the student s recommended minutes in the program, and completed levels with certificates of achievement to celebrate success. The program automatically groups students by skill in a Plan Instruction list for small group instruction, with color-coded icons based on risk level that help educators prioritize who needs attention first. With the ability to assess students as they work in the program, performance data aligned to the Common Core State Standards is provided, allowing educators to see the standards each student must meet and the progress he or she is making towards that standard. In order for students to accelerate foundational reading skills and close the gap, it is important that they are meeting the recommended minutes in the program. In a national study, 62% of high-risk students who used the program as recommended reached their on-level, end-of-year benchmark, advancing one or more grade levels during the same school year. In the mylexia reports, administrators have the ability to monitor class and teacher login usage to ensure the program is being used with fidelity in order to achieve reading success. Identifying teacher login usage is essential in determining whether the data is being utilized to drive instructional decisions. Lexia Reading Core5 Program Teacher s Lexia Lessons The Lexia Reading Core5 program provides structured, skill-specific instructional materials that provide step-by-step strategies for teachers or paraprofessionals to address each student s skill gaps and accelerate reading proficiency. Lexia Reading Core5 Program Teacher s Lexia Skill Builders When an activity is successfully completed, the student can build automaticity of the skill and extend work in expressive domain for that skill with paper-and-pencil activities. Practice materials are of a sufficient variety and frequency so that students have ample opportunities for practice of concepts taught. Lexia Reading Core5 Program Teacher s Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 16

17 Research Lexia stands as one of the most rigorously researched, independently evaluated, and respected reading programs in the world. In numerous studies published in peer-reviewed journals, Lexia has been found to accelerate the development of critical foundational literacy skills in the early grades. Lexia's Strategies for Older Students has also been shown to be effective in remediating struggling readers in middle and high school. The studies followed rigorous scientific standards, including the use of control groups, pretesting/post-testing, standardized and norm-referenced reading tests, and stringent statistical data analysis. To learn more, please download Lexia's res (PDF). Building Early Literacy Skills The three studies that follow were published in Reading Psychology and show that Lexia improves early literacy skills when used in conjunction with classroom reading instruction, conducted in an urban Massachusetts school district. The studies were Kindergartners using Lexia significantly outperformed students in the control group on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Level PR (Pre-Reading), which measures phonological awareness, letter-sound correspondence, and listening comprehension. Group differences were more pronounced for low performers. [Macaruso, P., & Walker, A. (2008). The efficacy of computer-assisted instruction for advancing literacy skills in kindergarten children. Reading Psychology, 29, ] In a subsequent Kindergarten study, focusing on low performers, students using Lexia made significantly greater gains than a control group on the Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE ), Level K. The test measures phonological awareness, early literacy skills, letter-sound correspondence, listening comprehension, and word reading. Group differences were notable for the word reading subtest. [Macaruso, P., & Rodman, A. (2011). Efficacy of computer-assisted instruction for the development of early literacy skills in young children. Reading Psychology, 32, ] Preschool students using Lexia made significantly greater gains than the control group on the Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE) Level P, used to assess phonological awareness, visual skills, conceptual knowledge, and listening comprehension. The greatest gains were made in phonological awareness. [Macaruso, P., & Rodman, A. (2011). Efficacy of computer-assisted instruction for the development of early literacy skills in young children. Reading Psychology, 32, Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 17

18 Supporting English Language Learners This study, published in 2011 in the Bilingual Research Journal, demonstrates that Lexia supports English Language Learners (ELL students) in acquiring foundational literacy skills. The study was conducted in Kindergarten classes using a bilingual education model in a rural Texas district, where all students received reading instruction based on a core, phonics-based curriculum. Students who used the Lexia program in addition to core reading instruction showed greater gains than a control group in overall reading, phonological awareness, and word reading. The Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE), Level K, was used as the reading measure. [Macaruso, P., & Walker, A. (2011). Benefits of computerassisted instruction to support reading acquisition in English Language Learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 34, ] Closing the Gap Lexia supports literacy gains among at-risk elementary students, as documented in a study published in 2006 in the Journal of Research in Reading. The study followed first graders in an urban school district in Massachusetts, where Lexia was used to supplement a core, phonics-based reading program. Title I students in the Lexia group made significantly greater gains than Title I students in a control group on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, Level BR (Beginning Reading), which measures letter-sound correspondences for consonants and vowels, and basic story words. Moreover, Title I students in the Lexia group closed the performance gap when compared at post-test to non-title I students in the Lexia group. [Macaruso, P., Hook, P.E., & McCabe, R. (2006). The efficacy of computer-based supplementary phonics programs for advancing reading skills in at-risk elementary students. Journal of Research in Reading, 29, ] Helping Adolescent Readers Advance A study published in 2009 in the European Journal of Special Needs Education shows the effectiveness of Lexia beyond the elementary level. This study tracked the performance of sixth- and seventh-grade remedial reading students in a Utah school district, where Lexia's Strategies for Older Students supplemented intense phonics-based reading instruction. Students in the Lexia group made significant gains relative to a control group on the Word Attack subtest, from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. [Macaruso, P., & Rodman, A. (2009). Benefits of computer-assisted instruction for struggling readers in middle school. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 24, ] Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 18

19 The Lexia Core 5 and Lexia Strategies Software contains 12,064 Student Licenses for all Jefferson Parish Public School Schools. All teachers can access there class information at: My Lexia All Teachers can access on-line help at: Lexia Help The Student Software Downloads are available for both Windows XP(SP3),7,8.8.1 Mac OS X 10.6 or Higher, Tablet APPS for Apple and Android are located at: Lexia Support is available at: or One Year Lexia Reading Renewal includes, Lexia Core 5 and Lexia Strategies, 12,064 Student Licenses, Tech Support, and Program Updates till October 31, 2015 Lexia Reading Renewal # Total $ 40, Terms: Net 30 Days ARO Please Send Purchase to: Systems For Learning 1301 Williams Blvd. Kenner La Submitted By: Tom Richard or tomrichard@bellsouth.net Systems For Learning, Inc. Page 19