Literacy Levels Soar at Louisiana Elementary Schools

In Rapides Parish, the ninth-largest district in Louisiana, literacy rates were worryingly low. District leaders realized many of the teachers came from non-traditional backgrounds in which they had received no literacy instruction, but even those with education degrees found their university programs had failed to prepare them to teach literacy. They implemented LETRS® and were amazed by how rapidly the students' literacy scores improved. Some of the greatest gains have occurred in the lowest-performing schools in the district, producing a more equitable school environment.