Program's Alignment to Common Core Standards Makes Spalding Teachers More Prepared Than Most, Says Spalding Education International

"The Writing Road to Reading," an integrated language arts program using the principles of instruction in The Spalding Method, already fulfills the majority of the Common Core Standards' requirements. This close alignment will make Spalding teachers more prepared to comply with Common Core Standards than most teachers. Spalding recently learned Utah has added "The Writing Road to Reading," as an approved Common Core program.

PHOENIX, Ariz., Aug. 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Common Core Standards (CCS), created as a means of better equipping students with the knowledge they need to be competitive in the modern world, has many teachers feeling ill-prepared to teach them. According to a recently published report by Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while nearly two-thirds of teachers surveyed believe that common standards would have a strong impact on improving student achievement, only 22 percent feel prepared to teach them. For those teachers feeling unprepared, nearly four out of five felt they needed professional development to help them understand the requirements for the standards and to learn to teach them effectively. This 134-page report, "Primary Sources: 2012 America's Teachers on the Teaching Profession," surveyed 10,000 teachers.

Spalding Education International (SEI) says its language arts program, "The Writing Road to Reading," is closely aligned with CCS — making it easier for its teachers to teach the Common Core English Language Arts Standards (watch video). SEI is currently concentrating its efforts on being on each state's approved list of CCS-aligned programs, with Utah the first of the 46 English/language arts Common Core-adopting states to grant approval.

"The Writing Road to Reading" uses the principles of learning and instruction in The Spalding Method to teach an integrated, research-based curriculum of speaking, spelling, writing and reading. "The Writing Road to Reading" textbook, now in its 6th revised edition, was originally written by Romalda B. Spalding in the 1950s.

"We already had the research-based element in our teaching that CCS requires, and we've always had a strong writing curriculum," said SEI Director of Research & Curriculum Janie Carnal. "One of Common Core's main requirements is integration. Although most teachers are accustomed to teaching separate spelling, reading and writing lessons, our curriculum has always been integrated."

SEI is currently in the process of making the entire correlation of "The Writing Road to Reading" to CCS available to administrators and other key decision makers. This will be a 200+-page document provided by SEI. According to Carnal, for the most part SEI only has to fine-tune the Teacher's Guide to align with CCS terminology.

"In many instances, it's just merely plugging in a teacher's tip because we already incorporate the basic concept. We just didn't use the same vocabulary that Common Core is using," said Carnal. "Our textbook offers states a program already closely aligned to these new standards and teachers who are prepared to implement it. We're hopeful that the states that have used 'The Writing Road to Reading' program previously will continue to use it, and that states that have never used it will now take a look at it."

"When we did this correlation, we were initially surprised how strongly we aligned to the Common Core," added SEI Associate Director of Research & Curriculum Pat Perkins. "It is a wonderful validation of our method."

SEI sponsors teacher training courses annually. This training includes how to teach CCS effectively.

About Spalding Education International

Spalding Education International (SEI) is dedicated to teaching all students to spell, write and read. The organization was founded in 1986 by Romalda B. Spalding, author of "The Writing Road to Reading" — a comprehensive K-6 total language arts program that closely aligns with the Common Core Standards. In the Spalding Method, instruction is explicit, systematic, interactive, diagnostic and multi-sensory. SEI courses are accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) for its literacy instructional programs for teachers and Spalding teacher trainers. Classroom and resource room teachers, adult educators, as well as home educators in the United States, Canada, Australia, Central America, Europe, Singapore and Taiwan are currently using the Spalding Method. SEI is a nonprofit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) corporation based in Phoenix, Ariz. For more information, call 1-623-434-1204 or visit www.spalding.org.

Contact: Jeff Pizzino / 480-606-8292 / jeff@pizzinovations.com

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