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Four of Eight Recipients of U.S. Department of Education's Striving Readers Grants to Utilize Scholastic READ 180(R) Intervention Program

Posted on: Monday, 27 March 2006, 12:00 CST

NEW YORK, March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Scholastic READ 180(R), a research-based reading intervention program for struggling students in grades 4 and above, will be utilized by four of the eight recipients of Striving Readers grants, recently awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that the grants are being distributed to programs in eight states for the 2006-07 school year to help improve reading achievement in middle and high schools and measure the success of specific programs and approaches with this age group. Schools in Memphis, TN, Newark, NJ and Springfield-Chicopee, MA, and within state juvenile corrections facilities in Ohio will implement READ 180 as part of their grants.

According to recent reports from the National Association of Educational Progress (NAEP), 69 percent of 8th graders and 60 percent of 12th graders read below the proficient level. The Striving Readers program was created to raise reading achievement levels of middle and high school students and provides intensive literacy interventions to struggling readers. READ 180 is based on over ten years of extensive research and development and has been consistently proven to raise reading achievement among these students. The program will undergo rigorous evaluations conducted by independent researchers as part of its use with the Striving Readers grants.

"Reading holds the key to all learning and success in school. Striving Readers places an important national focus on older students who struggle to read proficiently and on the need to provide programs that raise the reading achievement of these students and prepare them for success in school and in life," said Margery Mayer, President, Scholastic Education, a division of Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company. "We look forward to continuing to partner with schools in Memphis, Springfield-Chicopee, and Newark and with the Ohio Department of Youth Services to continue to validate the effectiveness of READ 180 and to help middle and high school students break the failure cycle and realize academic success, often for the first time."

About READ 180

Students enrolled in READ 180 receive daily, intensive and individualized reading instruction for 90 minutes through data-driven technology, teacher-directed instruction, and leveled reading materials that reflect students' interests and ages. The software provides ongoing differentiated instruction to continuously adjust instruction based on students' mastery of skills and also provides support for students in five languages including Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Hmong, and Haitian Creole.

READ 180 features the Scholastic Achievement Manager(TM) (SAM), an innovative management system that continuously captures data on student performance and provides teachers and administrators with robust technology tools to easily manage student data, run reports, and locate resources. Using SAM, teachers can link directly from these reports to standards-aligned resources for differentiating instruction among each student in their class. SAM also allows educators to disaggregate student data by AYP groups and chart progress at the classroom, building, and district levels.

In addition to the teacher resources embedded within READ 180, the program also incorporates ongoing professional development to help teachers become successful instructors of reading, particularly important for many middle and high school teachers who are not specifically trained to teach reading. READ 180: Best Practices for Reading Intervention, a course developed by Scholastic Red Professional Development, offers anytime, anywhere access to online videos of researchers, modeling of best practices, and research-based teaching strategies and resources to help raise reading achievement.

Currently in use in over 7,000 urban, suburban and rural schools around the country, READ 180 began as a collaborative effort between Vanderbilt University and the Orange County Public Schools in Florida. Response from numerous large-scale validation studies in Phoenix, AZ, Santa Rosa, FL, Los Angeles, CA, and Des Moines, IA are unequivocal in their findings -- implementation of READ 180 has resulted in solid gains in student reading scores. READ 180 has also been proven to raise the reading achievement of English Language Learners and Special Education students. Scholastic continues to conduct long-term research on the program's effectiveness in school districts around the country.

For more information on the Striving Readers program visit http://www.ed.gov/. For information on READ 180 visit http://www.scholastic.com/read180.

About Scholastic Education

Scholastic Education is a leader in the education marketplace, providing learning solutions for students through research-based technology products and multimedia supplemental instructional materials that support student achievement in grades pre-K through high school. Grounded in the most current scientific research, Scholastic Education develops technology products and services that include instruction, intervention, assessment, instruction, data management and professional development.

About Scholastic

Scholastic Corporation is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and the Company's Internet site, http://www.scholastic.com/.

Scholastic Inc.

CONTACT: Jennifer Slackman, +1-212-343-6427, jslackman@scholastic.com,or Kyle Good, +1-212-343-4563, kgood@scholastic.com, both of Scholastic

Web site: http://www.scholastic.com/http://www.scholastic.com/read180http://www.ed.gov/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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