This program is a multi-sensory, comprehensive program for emergent, developing and advanced readers. It has been used successfully in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, New York and Georgia in one-on-one, small group, and classroom settings with Special Education and ESL populations. Program materials and activities are motivated by scientific research identifying the four necessary skills for emergent readers (oral language, phonological awareness, print awareness and alphabet knowledge) as well as the five key reading skills outlined by the National Reading Panel (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, reading fluency, and reading comprehension).
The Emergent Reader Component has five modules including: (a) Phonological Awareness, (b) Alphabet Knowledge, (c)Oral Language, (d) Print awareness, and (e) Writing . The program scope includes intense daily doses of naturalistic, meaningful interactions with oral and written language in conjunction with regular doses of direct, code-based instruction.
The Developing and Advanced Reader Components of Language to Literacy incorporate direct and explicit instruction in the five key reading areas outlined by the National Reading Panel in addition to grammar and writing. The Developing and Advanced Reader Components have six instruction modules including: (a) Phonics Instruction, (b)Phonemic Awareness Instruction, (c) Reading Fluency Instruction, (d) Reading Comprehension Instruction, (e) Vocabulary Instruction, and (f) Grammar and Writing Instruction. Goals and activities from program components are designed to support the program’s model and have a clearly defined sequence that is specified for tutors and teachers in the form of a pacing chart to record progress and goals as well as determine direction, clearly mapped lesson plans including a description of activities and materials needed, and training manuals with precise instructions and suggested scripts for introduction of activities. Tasks in the program are developmentally sequenced, beginning with introduction of easier skills and moving to more difficult ones as children advance.
Language to Literacy Program Results:
Table #1: Average Gains for District of Columbia Public School Special Education Students Receiving 60 or More Hours One-On-One Tutoring in Language to Literacy
Area Measured | Assessment Tool Used | Average Grade Level or Mental Age Gain |
Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Decoding Skills | Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-R, Word Attack Sub test | 3.27 Grade Level Gain |
Sight Word Recognition | Slosson Oral Reading Test-R | 3.03 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Accuracy | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 3.0 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Rate | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 1.35 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Fluency | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 2.35 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Comprehension | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 2.17 Grade Level Gain |
Spelling | Wide Range Achievement Test, Spelling Sub test | 2.0 Grade Level Gain |
Vocabulary | Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, IIIA | 1.375 Year Mental Age Gain |
Table #2: Average Gains for District of Columbia Public Charter School Special Education Students Receiving 25 or More Hours One-On-One Tutoring in Language to Literacy
Area Measured | Assessment Tool Used | Average Grade Level or Mental Age Gain |
Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Decoding Skills | Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-R, Word Attack Sub test | 2.63 Grade Level Gain |
Sight Word Recognition | Slosson Oral Reading Test-R | 1.64 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Accuracy | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 1.78 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Rate | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 1.23 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Fluency | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 1.42 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Comprehension | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 2.38 Grade Level Gain |
Spelling | Wide Range Achievement Test, Spelling Sub test | 1.2 Grade Level Gain |
Vocabulary | Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, IIIA | 1.39 Year Mental Age Gain |
Table #3: Average Gains for Maryland and Virginia Special Education and ESL Students Receiving 25 or More Hours One-On-One Tutoring in Language to Literacy
Area Measured | Assessment Tool Used | Average Grade Level or Mental Age Gain |
Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Decoding Skills | Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-R, Word Attack Sub test | 5.83 Grade Level Gain |
Sight Word Recognition | Slosson Oral Reading Test-R | 2.5 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Accuracy | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 1.47 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Rate | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 2.27 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Fluency | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 2.47 Grade Level Gain |
Reading Comprehension | Gray Oral Reading Test-3/4 | 2.57 Grade Level Gain |
Spelling | Wide Range Achievement Test, Spelling Sub test | 1.3 Grade Level Gain |
Vocabulary | Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, IIIA | 1.5 Year Mental Age Gain |
Table #4: Average Gains for Public Charter School Special Education and ESL Students Receiving 6-6.5 Months Classroom Instruction in Language to Literacy 2003-2004 Program Pilot
Area Measured | Assessment Tool Used | Average Grade Level or Mental Age Gain |
Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Decoding Skills | Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-R, Word Attack Sub test | 2.465 Grade Level Gain |
Sight Word Recognition | Slosson Oral Reading Test-R | 1.06 Grade Level Gain |
Vocabulary | Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, IIIA | 1.06 Year Mental Age Gain |
Instructional Supplements Description:
Educational Solutions, LLC originally added Instructional Supplements (“IS”) as a complementary resource designed to boost the emergent literacy focus of the core curriculum utilized by schools participating in an Early Reading First Grant project. IS was developed by Educational Solutions, LLC as a resource for classroom teachers to ensure that they were extremely familiar with the scope and sequence for teaching key emergent literacy skills. IS includes extra literacy activities appropriate for different settings such as small group or one-on-one (an area where core curriculum was lacking). Finally, IS was specifically developed to target at-risk students that weren’t progressing with the standard classroom curriculum. Literacy Partnership teachers use IS as a tool to help them plan and incorporate additional literacy activities for differentiated instruction to at-risk students.
IS includes explicit one-on-one and small group activities for at-risk learners in the areas of oral language, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, print awareness, and emergent writing. The IS manual contains a detailed scope and sequence, pacing and planning guidelines to support teacher- implementation, checklists to determine skill development, and tracking sheets to record and assess activities. Manipulatives which coordinate with a variety of activities are provided with IS, allowing for varied applications. Lessons and exercises from IS can be easily adapted based on student need, interest, and learning style (and suggestions for such adaptations are present in the manual). An abbreviated scope and sequence chart for Instructional Supplements is outlined below:
Instructional Supplements Scope and Sequence Chart | ||
Phonemic Awareness Scope and Sequence: 1. Listening (alertness, discrimination, memory, sequencing) 2. Rhyme (recognition, elimination, judgment, production) 3. Alliteration (recognition; elimination, judgment, production) 4. Blending (sentence, compound word, syllable, onset and rime, and phoneme) 5. Segmenting (sentence, compound word, syllable, onset and rime, and phoneme) |
Alphabet Knowledge: 1. Alphabet Recognition 2. Alphabet Identification 3. Differentiation (Upper/Lowercase) 4. Letter Sounds 5. Letter Formation/ Writing |
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Print Awareness Scope and Sequence: 1. Differentiating Print from Pictures 2. Identifying the Front and Back of Book 3. Identifying Where to Begin Reading 4. Directionality 5. Voice-Print Matching/Concept of Word 6. Concept of Letter 7. Concept of First and Last 8. Lower Case and Upper Case Letters 9. Punctuation |