Elementary School
Frequently Asked Questions
Instructional Design
Q: Is the Academy of READING research-based?
A: Yes. The Academy of READING's instructional components are derived from comprehensive research studies initiated in 1981 to examine the causes and treatments of reading difficulties. From this research, the company founders developed the instructional philosophy that forms the basis of the Academy of READING:
- Task analytic approach – break skills into subskills and focus on mastery
- Fluency – make skills automatic so the student can free up cognitive resources to handle higher-level tasks, such as comprehension in reading
- Motivation – provide positive feedback as part of the skill mastery approach to build confidence and learning behavior
AutoSkill continues to validate its instructional approach through ongoing efficacy studies in multiple locations and environments, such as elementary, middle and high school. Results from those studies are used to create requirements for ongoing product development.
Q: How does the Academy of READING work?
A: To build fluency in foundation reading skills, the Academy of READING offers a sequential "tutorial, practice, train" methodology and uses positive reinforcement to move students through content levels that align to the core skill areas defined by the National Reading Panel.
- Step One: Prescribe – The Academy of READING placement test provides a snapshot of each student's reading abilities relative to their grade to prescribe an individualized training program.
- Step Two: Monitor – The program monitors common errors, response times and total time on task. This information is captured in student, classroom and school reports, which can be accessed at any time by teachers and administrators.
- Step Three: Intervene – Based on student responses, the patented, adaptive intervention engine modifies the training in real time to meet individual needs. For example, the program may accelerate training if mastery is demonstrated, review concepts when the student begins to struggle, or pause training for teacher time. Positive reinforcement elements and customizable "buddy" characters provide support as students move through their programs.
Q: What skill areas does the program cover?
A: Academy of READING aligns to the five core areas as defined by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Once the student is assigned his individualized training program, he works on skill areas, beginning with phonemic awareness then working up through increasingly difficult skill areas and exercises as he demonstrates mastery:
- Phonemic awareness – sound matching, sound-symbol association (graphophonemic awareness)
- Phonics and decoding – visual-sound match and auditory-visual match with automaticity as part of skill mastery criteria
- Fluency – through development of automaticity and mastery of subskills training
- Vocabulary – development of vocabulary through repeated exposure to a wide variety of words (orthographic awareness)
- Comprehension – using words in context and developing fluency as a bridge to comprehension
Q: Can the program be used with students in K-1?
A: Yes. The Academy of READING provides teachers in K-1 with an effective instructional enrichment tool that helps them to reinforce concepts being introduced in the classroom. By using the program with younger students, teachers can isolate and solve areas of weakness before students develop a reading problem. Catching any issues early on can help to develop strong readers and avoid student frustration.
Students in K-1 will have a different experience with the program than those in the 2nd grade and higher. There is no placement test and students are presented with fewer questions and smaller puzzles for each skill area.
Q: Does training differ for older elementary students?
A: Yes. The Academy of READING provides individualized instruction tailored to each student's grade and skill level. Based on their placement test and grade level, students will be automatically entered into a training stream. There are different training streams available for students of varying skill levels in K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-7 and 8th grades. In addition, students can customized their user interface and motivational characters by choosing from a number of age-appropriate options. Question content is also age-appropriate.
Q: How does the program address the needs of English Language Learners (ELL)/Hispanic students?
A: The Academy of READING is ideally suited to help school and district administrators meet the needs of English Language Learners (ELL). Combining structured and sequential skill development, individualized training streams and positive feedback, the Academy of READING extends the effectiveness of a reading specialist to every student.
In addition, AutoSkill provides an optional instructional module for the Academy of READING that is designed for Spanish-speaking students learning to read English, The program enables Spanish-speaking students to build foundation reading skills, and accelerates overall literacy gains in schools and districts with large Spanish-speaking populations. Spanish audio is provided for all tutorials and motivational elements.
Q: Is the program effective for students with special needs?
A: Yes. AutoSkill products were developed from scientific research into the causes and treatments of reading difficulties. As such, its systematic methodology is well-suited to the requirements of special-needs students, such as those with dyslexia and ADD/ADHD. For example, the Academy of READING's prescribed sequence (tutorial-practice-train), short training trials, and motivation elements are well-suited to help ADD/ADHD students improve their focus and reading scores.
Q: How does the Academy of READING placement test work?
A: The placement test generates a baseline score that is used to assign each student to an individualized training program based on their skill level and grade. The test is struggling-reader friendly to ensure that the program can determine the appropriate training stream for a broader range of students.
The Academy of READING placement test uses a series of Cloze passages in an adaptive process to determine the student’s current reading level and the best training stream.
The test can be completed in one 30-minute class period.
Q: Does the program provide vocabulary and comprehension components?
A: Yes. The Academy of READING provides a sequential, structured program that builds foundation skills from simple letter sounds to word recognition to comprehension. In working through the program, students have the opportunity to build their vocabulary through repeated exposure to a wide variety of words and by using the built-in dictionary feature. In addition, the program's comprehension content enables the student to develop foundation comprehension strategies.
Q: Why does comprehension training come at the end of the program?
A: Comprehension is regarded by experts as being a higher-order reading skill. Struggling readers who haven't mastered foundation reading skills must apply a greater amount of cognitive effort to process the meaning of words, since they are still decoding the individual parts.
The Academy of READING program is designed to train students to automaticity in decoding so they can free up cognitive resources to process the meaning of words in context. As such, students work upwards through the reading "pyramid," mastering skills at each level before tackling more difficult content. Once they reach the top comprehension level, they are prepared to process words in context. By developing fluency in foundation reading skills, the program effectively builds a bridge to comprehension.
In addition, students are already exposed to comprehension activities in the standard curriculum. The Academy of READING training helps to reinforce those concepts.
Q: How does the program align with our state standards?
A: State standards are defined as criteria to which a solution must adhere in order to be added to a state approved list. Over the past 24 months, most states have focused on specifications for curriculum solutions and have not considered intervention in their state list requirements.
Curriculum-based standards outline what should be taught and achieved in a particular grade level. With the recent focus on literacy rates and the large proportion of students not performing at grade level, attention is now turning to literacy intervention products. As the policies develop, AutoSkill will continue to assess the requirements for inclusion on state lists, which by their regional nature will vary from state to state.
AutoSkill remains committed to following established, recognized standards in its product development. For example, the instructional content covered by the Academy of READING® addresses the five core skill areas as identified by the National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Implementation
Q: How much training does the Academy of READING require?
A: The recommended training schedule for the Academy of READING includes a one-day teacher training on the program and a one-day live startup with teachers and their students. Training is delivered by the AutoSkill network of professional trainers. In addition, we advise a minimum of two follow-up consultations by an AutoSkill representative to ensure that teachers and students are optimizing their use of the program.
Students can begin using the program right away, under the supervision of trained teachers and facilitators.
Q: How often should students work in the program?
A: An ideal training schedule for the Academy of READING is 15 to 40 minutes per day (shorter times for younger students), three to five times per week. With only 10-15 hours of time on task (or about 30 hours of time in program), students can achieve significant gains in reading. Typical training sessions would break down as follows:
- K-3: 15 minutes per day, three days per week
- Grade 4-8: 30 minutes per day, 3-5 days per week
- Grade 9+: 40 minutes per day, 3-5 days per week
Q: What kinds of results should I expect with the program?
A: Numerous efficacy studies with various age groups and segments – from elementary to middle to high to ELL – have demonstrated that schools can expect to see significant improvements in level gains in just 10-15 hours of time on task. Here are some results from Academy of READING schools:
- W.B. Goodwin Elementary School, North Charleston, SC – 1.5 grade level gains in 4 hours of TOT
- Los Arcos Learning Center, Salida, CA – 2 grade level gains in 20 hours of TOT
Q: How does this program complement my curriculum?
A: The Academy of READING can help teachers to reinforce concepts being taught in the classroom. Teachers can monitor students while they work independently on specific areas of weakness. Teachers can also use student training results to help plan their lessons, such as incorporate more instruction on common areas where students are struggling. The graphical training monitor gives teachers an at-a-glance view of each student's progress, right down to the individual skill and trial.
Since the Academy of READING is a supplement to regular curriculum, teachers can run the program without adapting their teaching style or spending all their time on administration.
Q: Does the program need to be run by a reading specialist?
A: No. The Academy of READING supplements teachers' curriculum and extends the effectiveness of a reading specialist to every struggling student. Individualized training programs enable students to work at their own pace and focus on areas of weakness. Teachers can use data from their students' progress to provide additional support.
Q: What would you suggest we do to ensure a successful implementation?
A: Successful implementations begin with an introductory, one-day training session for all literacy educators and administrators. The training session covers implementation best practices, an overview of the program's instructional merits, and basic training on the student interface. Following the software installation, we recommend that teachers reference the Professional Development Kit Instructor's Resource Guide to review the concepts and implementation tips.
During training, teachers can regularly monitor student and class results using the in-product reporting capabilities. Using the training data, teachers can proactively zero in on areas of weakness in each student and provide assistance where required.
Follow-up consultation with AutoSkill product experts to answer questions and review best practices will also help to ensure that the implementation will be successful. AutoSkill offers tailored support and staff development packages for schools and districts through the Advantage® Program. The AutoSkill representative will assess your requirements and recommend the appropriate level of support.
Finally, post-testing is a critical component to gauging gains from the program. Teachers need to be aware of the post-test schedule, which will immediately follow the end of the training period. Teachers can make the most of their Academy of READING training by: reinforcing the importance of the post-test with students; making sure it's scheduled at the beginning of the day or week when students aren't rushed; providing at least 30 minutes to complete the test; and conducting third-party validation testing.
