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Success Story: Ocosta School Distict, Westport, WA

When Ocosta School District found that the reading skills of many of its students fell below the Washington State average, educators recognized the need to improve their reading intervention system. The AutoSkill Academy of READING software program has helped their students become more literate and, in some cases, discover the joy of reading for the first time.

Ocosta School District had tried various reading intervention methods without great success. When statewide reading tests indicated the seriousness of students' reading disabilities, teachers decided a solution had to be found. They turned to the Academy of READING.

"Tests conducted by the Washington State Assessment of Learning (WASL) indicated that far too many of our students did not meet the necessary standards of reading proficiency," says Ocosta District reading specialist, Lucinda Wiser. She adds, "In one year's time, all 219 students who used the Academy of Reading showed growth averaging three grade levels. The growth was clearly indicated by pre- and post-program cloze testing provided by the Academy of READING program itself."

Wiser can provide charts and graphs that illustrate how the Academy of READING has improved students' reading skills. She prefers, however, to let the students' successes speak for themselves, pointing to the example of one third-grader. "Functionally, he was a non-reader when he started the Academy of READING program," Wiser says. "He was disruptive in class and had a difficult time sitting still for any length of time."

He would, however, sit still to use a computer. He found the Academy of READING phonemic puzzles and monster guides appealing. As Wiser explains, the school eventually established a system whereby students could choose to work in the program's phonemic room, the reading room, or they could read a book at their level and then take an Accelerated Reader test. Wiser's third-grade student chose the third option.

"He read and read and read," she says. "He has since graduated from picture books to chapter books. When we reprimand him now, it's to say, 'Put down that book and pay attention.'