The Colorado Department of Education has named Lexia Reading Core5™ as an approved instructional program, eligible for inclusion in grant applications under the Colorado READ Act.
A technology-based reading program developed to meet the Common Core State Standards, Lexia Reading Core5 provides scaffolded instruction in the five areas of reading for students of all abilities in grades pre-K–5. The program begins with oral language development and early reading skills, and culminating with fluency and comprehension in grade 5.
The Colorado READ Act established a competitive grant, open to all districts, including BOCES, district charter schools, and Institute Charter Schools, for the purpose of establishing scientifically-based instructional for teaching of reading for all students in grades K–3. Grant applications are due to the state by May 15, 2013.
Currently, five of Colorado’s largest districts including Jefferson County, Pueblo 70, Brighton 27J, Boulder Valley and St. Vrain are using Lexia Reading to advance foundational reading skills development.
Students of all abilities work independently in Lexia Reading, receiving structured learning on foundational reading skills. Each of the age-appropriate, skill-specific activities conforms to the Common Core standards. The engaging program advances students to higher levels as they demonstrate proficiency. Educators are provided ongoing performance data that prioritizes the students who are most at-risk, as well as resources for teacher-led, direct skill instruction to address specific skill gaps.
“For teachers who direct their students to access Lexia for their prescribed amount of time, we have seen great growth,” said Leslie Gaiser, instructional specialist, Boulder Valley School District.
In addition to supporting foundational reading skills development, the program also reduces schools’ dependency on traditional testing methods. As students work in the program, Lexia’s proprietary Assessment Without Testing® technology gathers norm-referenced, criterion-referenced performance data and adjusts each student’s learning path accordingly. Lexia’s assessment measures are correlated to outcomes on other commonly used assessments such as DIBELS®, AIMSweb® and MAPS®. With this data, the program then automatically identifies and prioritizes students for small group or individual instruction and provides educators with a targeted action plan for each student, including instructional strategies and structured lesson materials to help each student improve performance on grade-level assessments.
Gaiser concluded, “Lexia is easy to manage and a great progress monitoring tool. It has worked wonders in our district to provide the repetition that students need in order to become proficient in their individualized reading skills.”
