Research Supporting Our Professional Development Programs
All of our professional development programs are based on the science of reading. Click here to download a PDF with details.
Results: Effectiveness of PD
Quality instruction, not programs teach students to read and write. Keys to literacy professional development gives teachers the knowledge they need to deliver research-based, effective literacy instruction. Click here to download a PDF that summarizes study and survey results about the effectiveness of our teacher training.
Teachers Agree: Students Improve
We polled teachers from 12 schools that had been trained in The Key Comprehension Routine to hear their thoughts on how the strategies were working with students. Here’s what they said:
Educators Love Our Training
We gave educators post-training surveys on our Comprehension, Writing and Vocabulary training on a scale of 1-5 (5=Excellent). Here’s how we did:
Overall Training Content
Quality of Instruction
Quality of Information
Instructor Knowledge of Subject Matter
Presentation Clear and Well Organized
Instructor Ability to Answer Questions
Teachers Improve Instructional Practice
K-3 teachers were surveyed 3 months after initial and follow-up training concluded. Because the instructional routines are effective, a sample of results indicate a significant change to their literacy related instructional practice.
Matthews Elementary, New Madrid County Schools
In 2016 we became the educational consulting firm for one of the lowest performing schools designated as a “Focus School,” in the state of Missouri. When Angie Hanlin, the Principal of Matthews Elementary approached us in 2016, only 10% of her 3rd graders were Proficient on the state assessment. Impressed with the initial work at Matthews, the district contracted with our firm in 2017 to begin district-wide turnaround work at all schools, K-12. In this project, we collaborated with the school board, district leadership, school leaders and teachers, to establish community and shared vision, to transform outcomes for all students in this rural Missouri district. In just 3 years, the original elementary school—Matthews Elementary—was removed from Focus School designation, with a whopping 95% of their 3rd graders scoring Proficient on the state assessment! The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education along with the National Center for Systemic Improvement has recognized Matthews Elementary for its significant improvement.
New Madrid County
2019 Data Highlights
Exceeding for individual student progress and Exceeding on average student APR growth
Rankings:
- #13 of all 534 Missouri school districts reported on English Language Arts (ELA) average scaled score (MPI) growth when comparing 2017 to 2019 scores
- #29 in Missouri for MPI growth from 2018 to 2019
District ELA scores are increasing at a higher rate than any other school district in the southeast region of the state
Remington Elementary, District 49
Another example of remarkable growth achieved in partnership with our team was at Remington Elementary, in District 49, a mid-sized district in Colorado Springs, CO. In order to close the achievement gap, a school must produce a growth rate higher than 50%. The growth rate for “All Students” (Grades 3-5) increased from 48% to 63%, thereby accelerating the closing of the achievement gap. On that same state assessment, other historically underserved subgroups– FRL eligible, Hispanic, minority–produced high growth rates, and consistently outperformed the district and state peers.
Thorp Elementary, School District of Thorp
After years of dissatisfying reading scores, the school made a commitment to make a full transition to the Science of Reading. The district hired our team to consult on the complex journey. The graphic below depicts the beginnings of our partnership and the implementation of the Science of Reading, and its correlation to student risk, as measured by their local assessment data (Fast Bridge).
A few key highlights
- The percent of students identified “at risk” in 4K-1st went from 59% in Fall 2019 to 35% in winter 2020
- The percent of students identified “at risk” in 2nd-6th went from 65% in Fall 2018 to 41% in winter 2020
Adams 14
Adams 14, a mid-sized district in metro Denver, is a highly impacted and diverse school system. They are also one of the lowest performing districts in the state of Colorado, and have been mandated by the State Board of Education to enlist an external management partner to oversee Turnaround efforts. We were selected to be the external instructional partner to lead literacy efforts.
After just one year of working with all 13 elementary schools in the district, the students in Adams 14 entered at a higher level than ever before on the district’s literacy benchmark assessment. Because of the success seen after just one year of work in this highly impacted district, the lead management partner asked our team to lead literacy services for all secondary schools.
*Due to the pandemic, no test scores are available at this time.
Contact our team to learn how we can partner together in your district
We offer a range of services including PreK-12 evidence-aligned professional development and coaching for educators; comprehensive literacy audits and literacy leadership coaching; and partnerships with institutions of higher education. Together we canvhelp you create the knowledge, systems, and structures required to support critical literacy work.