Oxford Public Schools, a predominantly low-income, rural Pennsylvania school district, partnered with American Reading Company and reduced its Special Education referrals by 90%. After 180 days, the commitment of ACTION 100 executive coaches, principals, teachers, and parents to this RtI model brought exceptional results. For the first time since 2002, all district elementary schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act legislation by meeting or exceeding the requirements for student proficiency in reading and math on the 2010 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). Remarkable gains were also made in reading by the district’s special education students, the population of which is higher than average in Oxford schools.
Camden City Public Schools partnered with American Reading Company and propelled principals from “School Leaders” to “Instructional Leaders” capable of jump-starting historically underperforming schools. The district made (and continues to make) unprecedented investments in principals so that they may become effective change agents who can “talk the talk” and “walk the walk” when it comes to reading instruction. Camden turned to American Reading Company’s ACTION 100 RtI solution, a comprehensive accountability model that turns every teacher into a Reading Expert and every principal into the “Director of Reading.” With a dedicated Executive Coach, principals received weekly on-site training to reorganize their schools for accelerated and continuous reading improvement. After the first of a three-year commitment to ACTION 100, students at the Dr. Ulysses S. Wiggins and Cramer Elementary Schools demonstrated reading growth of 1.0 years and .9 years, respectively. Based in part on these early results, the schools were awarded $5.4 million in funding through School Improvement Grants.
Clinton Elementary School partnered with American Reading Company to prepare every young student, regardless of race, gender, or income, for college and career readiness in reading. The effort required a renewed mindset for a school that has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the past three years, has a 24 percent special education population (compared to 13 percent in the state), and has more than 90 percent of all students qualifying for subsidized lunch (compared to 56 percent in the state).
One year after implementing the Explorer Express After-School Program, Georgia’s Thomasville Community Resource Center (TCRC) has seen significant improvement in K-2 reading skills with the most dramatic gains in phonics and comprehension.
Southwood Elementary School kicked off the 2010-2011 school year with 100 Book Challenge along with 31 days of professional development. At the end of the fi rst year of 100 Book Challenge, Southwood realized dramatic gains in OAA test scores and made Adequate Yearly Progress for the fi rst time in three years.
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