When Principal Lavanta Williams first came to Ridgegate Elementary School in Fort Bend, Texas, the school was considered “low performing” in math and reading proficiency and had failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets for both subjects. Today, state assessment tests show Ridgegate has met its AYP targets for both reading and math, with 90 percent and 86 percent of students meeting the standards respectively, with an increase of 12 percent in both subjects over the previous year. Principal Williams credits a customized intervention solution from EPS Literacy and Intervention, a division of School Specialty, for spurring these gains in math and reading among his students.
“These products worked wonders for my kids,” said Principal Williams. “It is amazing the progress we’ve seen. This customized intervention solution really provided a foundation for us and helped fill in the gaps of what was missing in the classroom.”
Reading specialist, Sandra Williams, who has been a driving force behind implementing EPS intervention solutions across Ridgegate Elementary, also believes these tools have made a difference.
“We have students who come in every year who struggle, who I feel like we have lost…and now that we have this very intense program – the Academy of READING® – these students are able to read.”
Williams’ colleague, math specialist Giorgette Ephriam, teaches “extreme strugglers,” and used Academy of MATH® as an intervention tool for students in tiers 2 and 3. With her use of Academy of MATH, Ephriam saw three of her students advance to being able to hold their own in a regular classroom. Lakeishia Hamilton has seen firsthand what Academy of READING can do for her son, Leamon; his reading proficiency went from the third grade level to a near sixth grade level—and he’s even become excited about reading.
“At first, it made me teary-eyed,” Hamilton said of realizing her son’s reading comprehension was improving. “It was a big experience. He tells me all the time now he’s going to be somebody.”
The EPS solutions implemented at Ridgegate Elementary include the following:
- Academy of READING®, an online intervention solution that helps struggling students improve their reading
- Academy of MATH®, intervention software that helps at-risk elementary, middle, and high school students build proficiency in foundation mathematics skills
- Explode The Code®, which helps young learners break the code with direct phonics instruction
- MCI (Making Connections® Intervention): Designed for middle and high school struggling readers, this program provides targeted literacy intervention.
- Wordly Wise 3000®, which offers students at all grade levels direct vocabulary instruction