Newsletters

In the May Issue:

Read It! Improving Reading Skills at Tier II of the RTI Model

The University of Colorado Speech, Language, Hearing Center and the St. Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, CO have teamed together for an after school reading program called Read It!. Read It! stands for Reading with Explicit & Direct Instruction & Technology and is funded by a SLIVER Grant through the Colorado Department of Education. This state incentive grant was designed to get federal grants focused on Response to Intervention (RTI) according to Lynea Pearson, M.A., CCC-SLP, Clinical Instructor and lead researcher.

“We started because we wanted a summer program for ’at risk’ kids,” said Pearson. These students were initially identified by their parents. They continued with a Fall semester after school program which included students in Kindergarten through 4th grade receiving literacy services (Tier II RTI Model) including Special Education and language disabled students. The University team partnered with St. Vrain Valley School District for geographic proximity and because the district is experiencing huge growth and needed to figure out how to support this student population.

The focus of the intervention was phonological awareness, phonics, and fluency. According to Lynea Pearson, Lexia was chosen as the technology or computer part of the project because of its research base and documented effectiveness in various interventions. In addition, Lexia was already being used in the University’s clinic where the researchers were familiar with its success. The program is now in the second semester. Pearson said the kids love it and the results from the first semester are encouraging.

Graduate students in speech language pathology provide direct instruction to 24 students who attend the program weekly at hour-long after-school sessions. The program consists of three separate interventions: table top, movement, and computers. Each student spends a minimum of 20 minutes of each session on Lexia to reinforce the skills they learn in the table top and movement parts of Read It!. The Lexia Quick Reading Test® was given to each student at the beginning of the second semester to correctly place each at his or her appropriate level. Twenty-three students were placed in Level 1 of either Primary Reading (PR) or Strategies for Older Students (SOS). One was placed in Level 2 of Primary Reading. Two standardized tests were given as pre and post-tests to accurately measure gains – Dibels and Critchlow. The Critchlow is a vocabulary test where an individual is asked to give an opposite of a given word. The mean average increase of raw scores over the semester was 5.85 with a range of -3 to 14. Dibels subtests that were analyzed were Initial Sound Fluency, Letter Naming Fluency, and Oral Reading Fluency. For Initial Sound Fluency, an average increase in raw scores of 11.73 was observed and 63% of the children increased one category (deficit, emerging, established). For Letter Naming Fluency, an average raw score increase of 28 was noted with 36% of the children changing RTI categories (at risk, some risk, low risk). The older students were given Oral Reading Fluency and the results demonstrated a mean increase of 18.7 and 50% of the students changed category levels.

The students were also given a survey before and after a semester in the program and the largest area of change was in their enjoyment of reading. Other areas of growth were seen in their self rating as a reader and being able to read more words.

According to Pearson, “Lexia is a vital part of this intervention program. The increase of test scores in just one semester demonstrates its usefulness in providing reinforcement and extra practice at critical skills to increase reading success.” The team is reapplying for funding to continue and are moving ahead with the Summer program. Perhaps the ultimate compliment was when a Literacy Specialist was stopped by other students in the hall asking if they could become part of the program. Reading skills and the enjoyment of reading can be improved at all levels of ability, not only those in Tiers II and III requiring intervention.

Rochester Teachers Getting Results with Lexia Reading Software

“After using the Sight Vocabulary section of Lexia’s Primary Reading, the children were actually able to incorporate the new words into their writing for the day.”

“Lexia is helping the children in my LEAP class (children who are learning English) learn more words and use appropriate grammar.”

“The children in my bilingual class who worked with Lexia’s programs using both English and Spanish directions improved their scores on the DRA test [Developmental Reading Assessment test].”

“These are just some examples of the enthusiastic responses that teachers are giving Lexia Reading Software,” said Joan Matzner, Instructional Technology Resource Teacher, in the Instructional Technology department of the Rochester, New York city schools. Joan’s responsibility is to provide training and support for the teachers who are implementing Lexia into their elementary classrooms as part of a three-year Instructional Technology Infusion Initiative.

The teachers attend an initial 2 1/2 hour session geared to kindergarten through grade six students where Joan provides hands-on practice with Lexia reading software. During the Lexia reports class, she also demonstrates how Lexia can be integrated into whichever reading program the teacher is currently using, such as Houghton Mifflin, Open Court, DIBELS, Wilson Fundations, or the Guided Reading model, just to name a few.

“I try to show them the many possibilities for differentiated instruction within Lexia,” she said. “Lexia is excellent for children who have reading difficulties, but Lexia can also be used to provide guided practice for children who are reading on or above grade level, as well as for children in bilingual programs. In addition, teachers can implement Lexia as part of their Academic Intervention Services (AIS) for children who do not pass Rochester’s assessments or New York State’s mandated tests.”

Following the initial training session, Joan loads the software and student data onto the server, visits teachers in the classrooms and helps teachers set up Lexia. There is then a second 2 1/2 hour training session covering Lexia’s extensive reporting capabilities.

Once teachers’ student data is entered into the server and their groups established, the teachers find Lexia reports easy to use. They particularly like the fact that they can obtain reports for an entire class as well as for each individual student. The individual reports are very helpful when preparing AIS reports and reporting to parents.

Both teachers and students are having a great experience with Lexia. Teachers like the fact that once the children are placed at the appropriate skill level, they can work through the program independently. The children are excited by the motivators such as the tree that blossoms or the parrot that appears when they have entered the correct answer; and the students love seeing the charts fill up as they successfully complete each section.

Lexia Reading Software and DIBELS: An Ideal Partnership of Reading Software and Benchmark Assessment

Accurately evaluating the efficacy of instruction is an essential component of reading intervention. A wide range of school districts rely on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). These standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development are short fluency units that regularly monitor pre-reading and early reading skills. DIBELS results have been thoroughly researched and are valid indicators of a student’s literacy proficiency as well as grade-level identification. These results help guide and differentiate instruction. DIBELS is a web-based database, which allows schools to enter students’ information online and generate automatic reports. (http://dibels.uoregon.edu)

Lexia Reading Software and DIBELS—combined—provide educators with both the pre- and post-tests required to determine a student’s area of need, as well as the reading skills software to provide the practice students must have to improve their reading skills. Lexia Primary Reading is designed to help children master the critical reading skills identified by the National Reading Panel, and tested by DIBELS. The Lexia Primary Reading program builds on the skills developed in Lexia Early Reading (the Lexia program for learning sounds and letters), while introducing phonics principles and the application of word-attack skills to single words and contextual materials. Activities to develop automatic recognition of high-frequency words are included in every level. Both Lexia Programs - Early Reading and Primary Reading - provide a perfect complement to the assessment and testing offered in the DIBELS program.

Lexia correlates perfectly to a student’s DIBELS result, offering teachers specific independent practice for each student’s area of need as defined by DIBELS. Using Lexia’s correlations, a teacher can assign various Lexia activities to provide intense interactive practice assisting the student in the problem areas highlighted by DIBELS. Visit our correlations page to learn more about how best to use Lexia and DIBELS together in your school or classroom.