| Literacy Loves Lexia |
| Friday, 21 May 2010 15:52 | |||
 Concord, Massachusetts, May 2010 — To boost the performance of struggling readers and improve reading proficiency for all students, more than 700 schools and districts in Illinois have turned to the Lexia Reading® software program. Schools in Chicago, Des Plaines, Bourbonnais and Berwyn are among the hundreds to use the technology-based reading program to improve student performance.
“Ensuring early literacy success is a wise investment because literacy skills are essential to success in all school subjects — literature, social sciences, natural science and mathematics,” said Carol Gibbs, principal of North Elementary School in District 62 in Des Plaines. “That’s why we selected the program from Lexia Learning Systems. There is a strong research base for how children learn to read, how to prevent failure and how to intervene when reading difficulties occur — and Lexia Reading does all three very successfully.” As one of the nation’s leading reading software programs, Lexia Reading’s distinctive and cost-effective technology offers more than 900 activities for reading skills development for students in grades pre-K through 12. Each of the age-appropriate, skill-specific activities conforms to federal guidelines. Students using the program work independently as the software automatically detects when they need additional practice. This “branching” technology ensures that students demonstrate mastery of each reading skill before proceeding to the next skill. “Reading practice is a critical component of reading skills development and improved comprehension,” said Nick Gaehde, CEO of Lexia Learning Systems. “As an essential part of reading instruction, programs like Lexia Reading can seamlessly augment the core reading curriculum with a multi-sensory, Web-based program that is proven to support reading skills development.” For North Elementary School Principal Gibbs, the school year began with 75 percent of kindergarteners unable to recognize or name a single letter of the alphabet. By incorporating the differentiated, guided practice offered through Lexia Reading, every child is now in North Elementary’s “green” (on-level) or “blue” (above-level) groups academically. Educators in the Chicago Public Schools are also seeing the impact of Lexia Reading’s guided practice and progress reporting, particularly in their efforts to support struggling students. At Walter S. Christopher Elementary School, Principal Mary McAloon faced a problem common among many schools: students arrive at school displaying significant gaps in their educational backgrounds. In addition, the school has a large special education and English Language Learner (ELL) student population, which creates the added challenge of finding an intervention program that helps teachers assist a diverse group of students. Christopher Elementary turned to Lexia to address these challenges. “Lexia has helped many of our older ELL students who are no longer receiving ELL services, but still have problems with phonics,” said McAloon. “For some of these students, we have seen tremendous growth in a relatively short time. Lexia has been incredibly valuable to us in applying a practical and cost-effective approach to implementing individualized interventions at Christopher Elementary.” West of Chicago, Berwyn South School District 100 has numerous schools using Lexia Reading, with more than 100 students at a given moment online, enhancing their reading skills. At Emerson Elementary in Berwyn, school Principal Laura Massarella noted that students are thriving on Lexia Reading. “Our fourth- and fifth-grade students are making gains and maintaining those gains over time away from school,” said Massarella. In urban, suburban and rural settings, teachers agree that in addition to Lexia Reading being an effective instructional tool, the students truly enjoy using the program. “The students love their time on Lexia; all are engaged and involved in what they are doing,” said McAloon. “It is rare that a teacher ever has to bring them back to task. Furthermore, they willingly come before school starts and stay after school to work on the program. That’s what gets me excited about the future in education — engaging students, challenging students, and helping students succeed.” Lexia Learning Systems, Inc., headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts, is one of the most highly regarded reading software companies in the nation. Established in 1984, the company provides a flexible, Web-enabled technology that is scientifically based and proven to increase reading proficiency in students at all levels of ability, pre-K to adult. To learn more about Lexia, please visit www.lexialearning.com or call 1-800-435-3942. SOURCE: Lexia Learning Systems
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