BOSTON, Sept. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the Nation’s Report Card, only 34% of students in grade eight and 37% in grade 12 met or exceeded the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) criteria for reading proficiency. Those low percentages are troubling since research has consistently proven that reading proficiency is key to achieving college and career readiness. In 2018, Lexia debuted the Lexia® PowerUp Literacy® (PowerUp) instructional program to help struggling readers in grades six and above overcome this major obstacle. The company recently conducted an analysis to gauge the program’s impact during the 2018-19 school year and the results are compelling.
After the first full year of schools implementing PowerUp, Lexia’s research team found that students were able to cover multiple years of content in a single year, bridging skill gaps to better meet college and career ready standards. The analysis tracked almost 200,000 students across more than 3,300 schools in the United States. The team found that students who used the program for at least 20 weeks completed on average 42 activities, working on skills that range from basic literacy concepts to advanced comprehension. The analysis also showed that the more time students spent in the program, the more skills they were able to acquire, so students who used PowerUp with minimum fidelity made substantial advances. In fact, in just one academic year, 63% of students were able to advance approximately three grade levels of skills in PowerUp.
“PowerUp is designed to close the reading skills gap by meeting the diverse needs of struggling adolescent readers,” said Lexia’s Chief Learning Officer Dr. Liz Brooke. “The program uses age-appropriate content and motivational elements to cover foundational skills typically addressed in grades K-2 while simultaneously building more advanced literacy skills covered in 6th – 8th grade.”
The City School District of Albany in the state of New York adopted the use of PowerUp in September 2018 (it also uses Lexia® Core5® Reading for its elementary students). “The computer-based programs offer differentiated instruction and substantial practice at the appropriate level for each student, and the just-right pencil-and-paper materials allow teachers to transfer those skills into the offline world,” said Lee-Ann Mertzlufft, the district’s assistive technology specialist for individuals with disabilities. “Professionally, I’ve been using Lexia’s programs for 16 years, and I’ve looked at a lot of different vendors, but Lexia was always the best.”
“As use of PowerUp continues to grow, we are excited at the prospect of having an even greater impact on closing the achievement gap of struggling adolescent readers,” said Brooke.
Lexia PowerUp Literacy is designed to enhance core English language arts instruction for struggling readers in grades six and above. Blending personalized, online student-driven instruction with offline teacher-delivered lessons and activities, the program accelerates the development of both fundamental literacy skills and higher-order thinking skills through adaptive learning paths. With a range of engaging texts, instructional videos and game-based motivational elements, the program is designed to help students take ownership of their learning, acknowledging their growing autonomy and building their confidence. Additionally, embedded progress monitoring, actionable data and scripted lessons empower teachers to deliver the exact instruction each student needs.
# # #
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.