Lightspan Launches New Program to Help Young Readers
Lightspan Early Reading Program Provides Educators
With Assessment and Curriculum Tools
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Lightspan, Inc. (Nasdaq: LSPN), a leading provider of quality curriculum-based software and Internet products and services used in schools and homes, today announced the launch of the Lightspan Early Reading Program, a research-based approach designed to help teachers develop students' reading skills during the critical kindergarten through third grades.
Built upon scientifically-based reading research, the Lightspan Early Reading Program is a comprehensive solution that includes motivating curriculum CDs, Internet activities, lesson plans, a thorough assessment program, extensive curriculum support materials and professional development. At the core of the program is the Internet-based Lightspan Reading Center that provides assessment, interactive game play, engaging stories and motivating characters to provide systematic instruction in key areas that lead to reading mastery, all aligned to state standards.
Bernice Stafford, Vice President of School Marketing and Evaluation at Lightspan, and a former teacher and early childhood administrator, says, "Reading is a foundation for all learning and research shows that it is vitally important for children to develop solid reading skills by third grade. But, it is often very difficult for teachers to find effective tools to meet the challenge of helping all students become good readers in these crucial early years. The Lightspan Early Reading Program brings those tools together in one place for educators. This includes assessment, curriculum and professional development."
The program, created in partnership with the Allen, Texas Independent School District and funded by a U.S. Department of Education Technology Innovation Challenge Grant, was designed to support the key strategies that the National Reading Panel has identified as effective instructional reading approaches including phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding instruction, guided oral reading instruction to improve fluency and reading comprehension, vocabulary development and background knowledge, comprehension strategy instruction, increasing the amount of time children spend reading and professional development.
The many advantages of the Lightspan Early Reading Program include:
-- Research-driven -- Hundreds of studies document measurable success for
Lightspan's reading content.
-- Standards-based -- The Lightspan Early Reading Program is aligned to
all state standards
-- Flexibility -- The program is designed to work in conjunction with the
reading initiatives already taking place in each school or district.
-- Built-in Assessment -- Interactive Early Reading Behaviors Checklists
allow teachers to track student progress on observable behaviors
throughout the school year. Additionally, these checklists, combined
with built-in pretests, allow teachers to continuously monitor student
progress and make data-driven instructional decisions.
-- District-wide Implementation -- District implementation provides a
cost-effective solution for entire districts to help young students
achieve reading success.
-- Strong at-home component -- Reading activities can take place long
after the school day ends through Internet activities or Lightspan
Adventure CDs that can be used on a PlayStation(R) game console or a
home PC. |
