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Success Story: Kayenta Middle School, Kayenta, AZ

When poor reading skills threatened the academic careers of students at Kayenta Middle School, educators there recognized the critical need for an effective reading intervention program. They chose the AutoSkill Academy of READING software program.

Common reading problems are made doubly difficult for children whose parents speak a language other than English. Such is the case with many of the pupils at Kayenta Middle School near Monument Valley in Arizona. Ninety percent of Kayenta's 300 students come from Navajo homes where English is a second language. The remaining 10 percent of Kayenta's students are of Hispanic descent. Many of these children have had a tough time learning to read, and the rest of their curricula have suffered as a result.

"Without reading skills, it is impossible to achieve academic success in other subjects," says Kayenta's Principal, Ilona Anderson. "We needed a balanced approach that would facilitate overall academic achievement."

Part of Kayenta's balanced approach included the Academy of READING software program. Educators were immediately impressed and encouraged.

"It's certainly proving to be an innovative tool," says language teacher Bekki Stupey. Stupey is particularly delighted with the program's attention to automaticity. "We've had experience with other programs," she says, "but their creators don't seem to grasp this important principle in the same way that the Academy of READING does. The program simply won't allow students to progress to the next reading level until they have mastered the one before it."

Ilona Anderson appreciates the fact that the Academy of READING allows many students to learn independently under one teacher. "The teacher can work with more students at different levels," she says. "Students, meanwhile, can see for themselves the progress they're making-which motivates them to succeed even more."

Some students have improved their reading by as much as 2.4 grade levels. Perhaps even more important, however, is the fact that, for the first time, many of the students like reading. "It's no longer a chore," says Bekki Stupey. She adds, "students are opening up-and are eager to learn."