BOSTON, April 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lexia Learning, a Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) Company, today announced that Lexia Reading Core5® has been named by the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) as an approved provider of early interactive reading software for literacy instruction and assessment for grades K–3.
Out of the 14 literacy programs submitted to the USBE for consideration, Core5 is one of only four products to be approved. Of these four products, Core5 received the highest overall technical score by the evaluation committee and is the only program approved for site-wide use with implementation support services and trainings included.
“We are extremely honored to once again be selected as a preferred provider,” said Lexia President Nick Gaehde. “Under this state-funded initiative, Utah educators who choose Core5 from the approved list can implement Core5 with the knowledge that the program meets the USBE requirements to become an essential component of a district’s literacy implementation.”
The news of being named a preferred vendor comes after a recently released report showing that students in Utah who were using Lexia Reading Core5® during the 2016-17 school year realized significant literacy gains.
Released by the USBE for the Early Intervention Software Program grant (EISP), the report shows students with strong performance in Core5 also had increased gains in The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS®) Next. DIBELS Next is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The Evaluation and Training Institute (ETI), which conducted the report, also found that students using Core5 in grades K-1 experienced significantly accelerated reading growth compared to the control group.
The ETI report noted that additional hours of Core5 use were associated with increased DIBELS Next scores for students in grades K–3. Overall, students using Core 5 had the highest fidelity of use across all eight literacy products reviewed by the Utah State Board of Education. Notably, Core5 was the only program that had a positive relationship between additional time spent in the program and end-of-year assessment literacy scores for all grades.
“The most compelling findings in this year’s ETI report point to the connection between strong usage and final results. When students met EISP’s highest usage requirements during the 2016-2017 school year, DIBELS Next growth for kindergartners tripled, first graders nearly tripled, second graders doubled, and third graders had significant gains compared to their respective control groups,” said Gaehde. “Teachers can feel confident that when their students meet and exceed their weekly usage recommendations for at least 20 weeks, the results will have the maximum impact on literacy growth.”
A progress report prepared by the Lexia Research team further highlights the successful implementations in many schools across the state. All told, more than 22,000 students in 150 schools used Core5 during this time and the percentage of those students who met usage requirements and were classified as working in or above grade level nearly doubled by June 2017 — increasing from 49 percent to 92 percent. More than two-thirds of the students (67 percent) reached their grade-level benchmark in Core5 while students who were found to be working below grade level decreased from 51 percent to 8 percent.
"This year, we decided to switch to Lexia Reading Core5 after using another online literacy program and we are very excited by the student gains we are observing. In just a matter of months, those students who met their recommended usage levels and were working in or above their year in Core5 increased substantially from 67 percent to 91 percent," commented Principal Suzie Williams at Eastlake Elementary School in Jordan School District. "We also found that the percent of third grade students meeting usage and working below their grade level in the program reduced from 54 percent to 17 percent — just amazing results!"
Lexia Reading Core5 is a research-proven, technology-based program that accelerates the development of fundamental literacy skills for students of all abilities in grades pre-K–5. Following a scope and sequence built for rigorous state standards, Core5 provides explicit, systematic instruction through personalized learning paths in six areas of reading. Core5 seamlessly adapts based on student performance, targeting skill gaps as they emerge and equipping teachers with the data and instructional resources they need to personalize instruction for every student. Embedded assessment technology predicts students’ year-end performance and provides ongoing norm-referenced and actionable data to help teachers prioritize and plan instruction with the offline instructional materials.
Every school in Utah that selects Lexia Reading Core5 from the USBE’s approved list of early interactive reading software for literacy and assessment also receives an Implementation Support Plan (ISP) in which Lexia partners with the school to meet specific literacy goals. During the first year of implementation, an assigned implementation manager consults with and assists the school’s team while providing an implementation plan, technical set-up guidance, guidance of student scheduling for Lexia usage and a full day of customized on-site training.
For more information, visit https://www.lexialearning.com/utah.
About Lexia Learning
Lexia Learning, a Rosetta Stone company, empowers educators through adaptive assessment and personalized instruction. For more than 30 years, the company has been on the leading edge of research and product development as it relates to student reading skills. With a robust offering that includes solutions for differentiated instruction, personalized learning and assessment, Lexia Learning provides educators with the tools to intensify and accelerate literacy skills development for students of all abilities. For more information, visit www.lexialearning.com.
About Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE: RST) is dedicated to changing people’s lives through the power of language and literacy education. The company’s innovative digital solutions drive positive learning outcomes for the inspired learner at home or in schools and workplaces around the world.
Founded in 1992, Rosetta Stone’s language division uses cloud-based solutions to help all types of learners read, write, and speak more than 30 languages. Lexia Learning, Rosetta Stone's literacy education division, was founded more than 30 years ago and is a leader in the literacy education space. Today, Lexia helps students build fundamental reading skills through its rigorously researched, independently evaluated, and widely respected instruction and assessment programs.
For more information, visit www.rosettastone.com. “Rosetta Stone” is a registered trademark or trademark of Rosetta Stone Ltd. in the United States and other countries.