Combining Lexia Offerings Brings Impressive Success to Multilingual Schools

When a large number of students are English Learners, literacy struggles take on a whole new meaning. Jennifer McAnallen, multilingual learner teacher for grades 3–6 in Fairfax County, Virginia, said the needs of her young readers vary greatly. Some are above grade level, others are on pace, and many are still juggling English with their first language. 

County leaders adopted an entire suite of Lexia® support, including Lexia® Core5® Reading, Lexia® PowerUp Literacy®, and Lexia® LETRS® Professional Learning. This is the third year educators have been using the programs, and McAnallen said exposure to the science of reading has benefited teachers and students. “We’ve really seen their skills grow and their successes improve,” she said.

Lexia helps both in the short term and the long term, McAnallen said. For example, teachers are still building their science of reading knowledge, but thanks to Lexia’s explicit, sequenced instruction, they have tools they can immediately use in the classroom. The combination of teachers progressing with LETRS and students excelling with Core5 and PowerUp resulted in zero learning loss during the summer, even among English learners. 

“It’s not like we’re taking a program, and we’re trying to make it fit our students’ needs. This program just really meets our learners where they are, and that’s something that was missing in our curriculum in our school,” McAnallen said. 

This short video explains more about why McAnallen said “the proof is in the pudding” when it comes to literacy strides being made with Lexia.