Due to the success that its Pre-K-5 students have experienced with Lexia® Core5® Reading (Core5), the Pulaski County Special School District in Arkansas, in and around Little Rock, has expanded its use of the program to all of its 16 elementary schools. Several schools in Pulaski County had been using Core5 since 2013, with an increasing number of schools adopting it year after year as they saw the positive results that their colleagues were achieving.
Core5 provides a systematic and structured approach to six critical areas of reading. The research-proven program creates personalized learning paths for students of all abilities in grades pre-K–5 through an adaptive placement and scaffolded activities that align to rigorous standards.
“We recognized that our schools that were using Core5 with fidelity were seeing major growth. We decided to go districtwide with Core5 because it helps us provide equitable instruction across all students and all schools,” said Alesia Smith, the deputy superintendent of Pulaski County Special School District. “It levels the playing field for kids who have gaps, and challenges those who are ahead. If you use Core5 the way it is prescribed, you will see the growth.”
In fact, for students who consistently met the program’s usage targets, the 2018-2019 school year saw impressive student growth in Core5:
At the beginning of the year, less than half (48%) were working on material in or above their grade level in Core5.
By the end of the year, nearly double that percentage (93%) were working in or above their grade level in Core5.
This school year, Pulaski County Special School District schools are positioned to close reading gaps even more effectively with support from the district leadership. Each building has an instructional facilitator responsible for monitoring student progress through myLexia®, the educator dashboard, which enables consistency between classrooms, and district administrators like Smith have easy access to that overarching data. Lexia’s implementation experts partner with the district to promote consistency across schools through professional development, goal-setting and accountability at both the district and school levels.
With the success of its implementation of Core5, the Pulaski County Special School District has also increased its adoption of the Lexia® PowerUp Literacy® (PowerUp) instructional program, which is designed to help struggling readers in grades six and above. Last school year, one secondary school successfully piloted PowerUp. As a result, this school year the district has expanded PowerUp to 3,220 students at all four middle schools and two of its high schools. “We have seen widespread success time and again when we begin working with a few schools who are early adopters within a district - who go on to demonstrate strong gains. This gives the district confidence to expand to districtwide initiatives,” said Lexia Chief Learning Officer Dr. Liz Brooke. “Our research shows that when teachers have the implementation support they need to ensure students meet their usage targets, both from us and from colleagues within and across buildings, their students make remarkable progress.”
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