Explore · I4I

Sound Partners

2010

Sound Partners is a phonics-based tutoring program that provides supplemental reading instruction to elementary school students in grades K-3 with below average reading skills. The program is designed specifically for use by tutors with minimal training and experience. Instruction emphasizes letter-sound correspondences, phoneme blending, decoding and encoding phonetically regular words, and reading irregular high-frequency words, with oral reading to practice applying phonics skills in text. The program is delivered through one-to-one tutoring in 30-minute sessions, four days per week throughout one school year. Each tutoring session includes four to eight short activities, with the last 15 minutes allocated for oral reading practice using Bob Books® beginning reading series and other primary-level trade books. Tutors can be paraeducators or other adults who are trained to choose reading methods (independent reading, partner reading, or echo reading) that match each student's reading skills. The tutoring can be provided as a pull-out or after-school program.

Kindergarten, 1st Grade

Spelling Mastery

2014

Spelling Mastery is a Direct Instruction curriculum designed to explicitly teach spelling skills to students in grades 1 through 6, specifically targeting students with learning disabilities. The program uses three strategies: phonemic (teaching sound-symbol correspondence), morphemic (teaching prefixes, suffixes, and word bases), and whole-word (teaching irregular words through memorization). Teachers deliver fully-scripted lessons in daily 15-20 minute sessions, with instruction provided in scaffolded steps. The program has six levels (A through F), each with 60 to 120 lessons. Teachers present exercises, listen to student responses, and provide immediate feedback. Students' progress is assessed using regularly scheduled tests. Each level includes a teacher presentation book, teacher/series guide, student workbook, and software.

2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade

SpellRead™

2007

SpellRead™ is a small-group literacy program for struggling readers in grades 2–12. The program consists of 105 lessons implemented in three phases over five to nine months, integrating phonemics, phonetics, and language-based reading and writing instruction. Students are taught to recognize and manipulate English sounds, practice and apply skills using texts at their reading level, and write about their reading. The program is delivered to small groups of five students with one instructor in 60–90 minute daily classes. The instructional cycle includes linguistic foundations (phonics and phonemic awareness), active reading (oral-reading practice), and writing connections. SpellRead™ includes professional development for educators: five days of initial workshops, two follow-up workshops, and regular onsite coaching visits.

5th Grade, 6th Grade

Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD)

2017

Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is an intervention designed to improve students' academic skills, especially appropriate for students with learning disabilities in grades 2-12. SRSD uses a six-step process that teaches students specific academic strategies (such as planning and organizing ideas before writing an essay) and self-regulation skills (such as goal-setting and self-monitoring). The intervention begins with teacher direction and ends with students independently applying the strategy. The six steps involve the teacher providing background knowledge, discussing the strategy with the student, modeling the strategy, helping the student memorize the strategy, supporting the strategy, and then watching as the student independently performs the strategy. The steps can be combined, changed, reordered, or repeated depending on student needs. Lessons generally occur at least three times a week and usually last 20 to 60 minutes. SRSD can be used in individual, small group, or whole classroom settings. Free SRSD materials are available through thinkSRSD, and professional development is available ranging from $100 for online courses to $495 for in-person courses.

2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade

Summer Counseling

2018

Summer counseling is designed to help college-intending high school graduates complete the steps needed to enroll in college and start their college careers. These programs provide services during the months between high school graduation and college enrollment (typically 1-2 months, approximately 1.5 months on average) and involve outreach by college counselors or peer mentors via text messaging campaigns, email, phone, in-person meetings, instant messaging, or social media. Summer counseling intervention services are typically set up through students' high schools, though some programs may be based in colleges or nonprofit organizations. These intervention services provide college-intending individuals with information about tasks required for college enrollment (e.g., finalizing financial aid, completing the FAFSA, arranging on-campus housing, signing up for placement tests, selecting classes, organizing transportation to campus), as well as assistance in overcoming unanticipated financial, informational, and socioemotional barriers that prevent college entry. The frequency of contacts with college-intending students ranged from once every 5 days to once every 2 weeks. Counselors or peer mentors are trained on how to review required college paperwork and are given tools to guide their interactions with students.

Postsecondary

Technology Enhanced Elementary and Middle School Science (TEEMSS)

2012

Technology Enhanced Elementary and Middle School Science (TEEMSS) is a physical science curriculum for grades 3-8 that utilizes computers, sensors, and interactive models to support investigations of real-world phenomena. Through 15 inquiry-based instructional units, students interact with computers, gather and analyze data, and formulate ideas for further exploration. Each unit contains two one-week investigations with a discovery question, several trials, analysis, and ideas for further investigations. All classroom units use handheld computers, and information is managed by software in the handheld computer that can be transmitted to other students and to the teacher. The program includes a web-based teacher-reporting tool that allows teachers to review student portfolios and gather student responses. Teachers' guides are included in the program, featuring discussion guides, background material on the content, ideas for assessments, information on the technology, and suggested timelines. Teachers have access to an online training course that provides information about the TEEMSS curriculum and technology.

3rd Grade, 4th Grade

Teach For America

2016

Teach For America (TFA) is a highly selective alternative route to teacher certification that places non-traditionally trained teachers in high-need public schools for at least 2 years. TFA targets recent college graduates and professionals, many holding bachelor's degrees from selective colleges and universities in fields outside of education. Before beginning teaching, TFA teachers receive 5-7 weeks of in-person training over the summer that includes teaching summer school under supervision, receiving feedback from instructional coaches, participating in small-group practice sessions, receiving instruction in lesson planning, and completing coursework in instructional planning and delivery, classroom management, diversity, literacy development, and leadership principles. This is followed by 1-2 weeks of regional orientation. During their 2-year teaching commitment, TFA teachers receive ongoing professional development and one-on-one coaching from TFA staff, may meet in regional learning teams, and have access to toolkits with sample tests and teaching resources. TFA teachers are full-time employees of their public schools and receive the same salary and benefits as other first- or second-year teachers in their district.

1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, 7th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade, 12th Grade

Accelerated Reader™

2016

Accelerated Reader™ is a guided reading intervention used to supplement regular reading instruction in K–12 classrooms. The program aims to improve students' reading skills through reading practice and quizzes on the books students read. Students select and read a book within a recommended readability range, then take a computerized quiz based on the book's content and vocabulary. The computer software provides teachers with information on students' quiz performance, allowing teachers to monitor student progress and identify students who may need more reading assistance. The recommended implementation involves a dedicated 30- to 60-minute block of time for reading practice. Initially, students take a norm-referenced, standardized measure of general reading achievement to determine their independent reading level. After reading each book, students earn points based on the number of correct responses, the length of the book, and the readability level of the book. Teachers use points to set individual student goals for the quantity and quality of student reading practice and to monitor each student's progress.