The Science of Reading: The Data Behind District Success

What happens when district leaders provide what their teachers know they need?

At Bettendorf Community School District in Iowa, the answer was measurable literacy growth at every level. Like many districts, Bettendorf faced persistent post-pandemic reading gaps. Rather than hoping for quick fixes, district leaders made a systems-level investment in teacher knowledge, grounding professional learning in the science of reading.

It started small: 16 educators at one elementary school volunteered for Lexia® LETRS® training. The results were impressive and measurable. Kindergarten students taught by LETRS-trained teachers improved by 31% on universal screening measures, more than double the district average. Those results made the case for a districtwide rollout, and today more than 85% of their K–5 staff have completed LETRS.

When middle school teachers saw what was happening in the elementary buildings and asked for the same level of support, leaders responded by providing Lexia Aspire® Professional Learning. Teacher knowledge increased by up to 45 percentage points across assessed literacy domains.

This infographic breaks down Bettendorf's journey with the data to match: pilot results, districtwide growth trends, and the leadership decisions that made it all sustainable. If you're weighing how to strengthen Tier 1 instruction within your MTSS framework, this is what evidence-based professional learning looks like in practice, from one district to yours.

Explore the data behind Bettendorf's literacy growth.