BOSTON, Dec. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At the beginning of the 2018-19 school year, only 52% of a sample of elementary students in Mayfield City Schools (Ohio) placed into grade level or above in Lexia® Core5® Reading (Core5). By the end of the year, 94% were working in or above grade level material after meeting recommended Core5 usage targets. Additionally, the students’ end-of-year levels in Core5 had strong, significant correlations with their scores on both the Ohio State Test, English Language Arts (OST- ELA) and the Renaissance Star Reading assessment.
The sample consisted of 603 students in grades three through five. All of the students had used Core5 for at least 20 weeks in the 2018-19 school year. Mayfield assessed the students’ reading skills using the OST- ELA, which serves as an end-of-year measurement tool for English Language Arts. Of the 465 students who finished the year working in material above their grade level in Core5, the majority (92%) were also designated as Proficient, Accelerated, or Advanced on the OST-ELA.
Mayfield also assessed the students’ reading skills using Renaissance Star Reading, which serves as a brief, computer-adaptive progress monitoring tool. The results showed that the majority (89%) of students who were working above their grade level in Core5 by the end of the year reached a level of proficiency on the Star Reading assessment.
“Our study found a strong alignment between Core5 end-of-year benchmark status and the Star Reading status and OST-ELA performance levels, indicating that reaching benchmark or working on grade-level material in Core5 is consistent with a higher reading standard,” said Lexia Chief Learning Officer Dr. Liz Brooke.
Mayfield adopted Core5 in the 2018-19 school year as part of its All-Access Learning initiative, which focuses on providing customized, student-centered learning experiences. “Lexia has been a critical component of being able to bring All-Access Learning to our district,” said Vickie Loncar, Mayfield’s curriculum coordinator. “Now the teachers have data about their students at their fingertips. They know when to intervene and how to intervene. The ease of use has really helped our teachers be successful and see children grow in their reading skills.”
Felecia Evans, the principal of Lander Elementary School, one of Mayfield’s four elementary schools, noted how Core5 had helped improve instructional practices. “Our teachers have learned to identify when individual students or groups of students are struggling and to pull relevant instructional materials from myLexia,” she said. “Our ESL teacher, for example, has students in grades K-5, but is able to group students who are within the same Core5 level to teach similar skills.”
Core5 is a research-proven, technology-based program that accelerates the development of fundamental through advanced literacy skills for students of all abilities in grades pre-K-5. Following a rigorous scope and sequence built for college and career ready 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.
# # #
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.