\u00ae<\/sup>, to assist struggling middle school readers, the students\u2019 standard test scores jumped dramatically, their reading gap with grade-level peers closed significantly, and the district embraced a new approach to teaching basic reading skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cStandard scores are generally very stable and predictable. If you raise the scores significantly, you\u2019ve done something very substantial,\u201d said School Psychologist Vern Bergkoetter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt makes a huge difference to catch the kids earlier and have them become functional readers earlier. We have kids who have moved out of needing an Individualized Education Program because of Just Words,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vern, who has prior training in the Orton-Gillingham method, was drawn to Wilson\u2019s programs, which are based on O-G principles, while working with a parent whose child was an older student with a learning disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Free tutoring through a community organization not only helped that student, but inspired widespread testing and the pursuit of Orton-Gillingham based instruction for other struggling readers within the district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
School officials discovered that many middle school students were not reading at grade level due to deficits in decoding and spelling skills. Working with Wilson accredited partner, Learning Techniques, Ltd., and its owner and Wilson Credentialed Trainer Dawn Hillstrom in Orland Park, school officials trained a group of faculty and staff members in Just Words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The district, which serves about 1,000 K\u201312 students, launched its pilot program in Fall 2013 with 24 sixth- and seventh-grade students at Mary Miller Junior High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we started, our target group\u2019s average standard score for overall decoding, sounding out real and nonsense words, was 84\u2014the 14th<\/sup> percentile. When we finished, the average standard score was 94 after three semesters. That\u2019s the 34th<\/sup> percentile. That\u2019s a 20 percent jump, and that\u2019s pretty astounding,\u201d Vern said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no question that something major happened with that group of kids. Statistically, that\u2019s not random. We did everything by the book and we\u2019re ever so glad. If there\u2019s a message, it is do this program as recommended and with fidelity. It\u2019s brilliant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Based on the pilot program\u2019s success, the district now uses Just Words as its middle school intervention program and provides the Wilson Reading System\u00ae for students in grades two and higher in need of intensive intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This academic year, the district began rolling out Fundations\u00ae<\/sup> for its supplemental early education phonics program. Now used in K\u20131 classrooms, Fundations will expand to include second grade next year and third grade in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cIt has nothing to do with the size of the district or whether kids are from the city or country. We are not a wealthy district and our budget is tight,\u201d Vern said. \u201cIf your district can just do one thing, Just Words is doable without changing the whole core curriculum. This is just the best system I\u2019ve ever seen for making sure kids have the ability to pick up on new skills.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A persistent parent. A determined school psychologist. A responsive administration and school board. When these forces converged in the rural Georgetown-Ridge Farm School District in Georgetown, IL, something extraordinary happened. After implementing Wilson\u2019s Tier 2 intervention program, Just Words\u00ae, to assist struggling middle school readers, the students\u2019 standard test scores jumped dramatically, their reading gap with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1489,"template":"","success-story-cats":[],"success-story-tags":[],"class_list":["post-1488","success_stories","type-success_stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n
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