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Success Story: Southbridge, Massachusetts

Educators in Southbridge, Massachusetts recognize that their small community is not immune to some of the challenges associated with larger cities. Through the Academy of READING software program, teachers have helped their students overcome some powerful educational obstacles and achieve impressive success.

As educators throughout North America know all too well, social factors can affect a child's education in profound ways. Teachers in Southbridge are certainly aware of that relationship. They found that students who struggled the most were those who lacked fundamental reading skills due to frequent moves. While a small community, Southbridge reports a 30 percent transience rate. More than 40 percent of its students receive free or reduced-price lunches due to poor family economics.

Something had to be done to address the academic problem. But the cost of providing one-to-one diagnostic prescriptive reading support for numerous children was prohibitive.

"After a long search," says Steven F. Dupuis, "we found the Academy of READING software program. We first trained six staff members to use it with their students, allowing four months to verify the program's effectiveness. It was so effective with our children that we trained 35 staff in our second in-service program."

Dupuis added that the expertise of the school's AutoSkill representative has been tremendously helpful to teachers attempting to use the system to its fullest potential.

With the Academy of READING, Southbridge continues to achieve strong results and raise student's reading scores. Many of its students are enjoying a new found sense of scholastic success.