Lexile Chart

The Reading Intervention World

As a reading teacher, I hear all about the different types of reading programs that are offered to schools. What I also hear is that "this reading program is better than the others that are offered" or "there is not enough information on this program for it to be successful". It is a win- lose situation. No matter what program we are using in our classrooms, there is always someone or something out there who does not believe in its abilities to help students become better readers. 

Honestly, these programs all do the same thing from what I have seen. I have taught all three programs that are currently offered to reading intervention students in Orange County. (Yes, I know there are more programs in elementary schools but I am talking about the ones offered in middle and high school.) Each program has it up and downs, some programs have more detailed lessons as what you should be doing with your students. Others have you build your own lessons, since you are the one who know what each student in your class needs to work on. These two things could be considered those ups and downs.

The first program I would like to talk about is Read180. This program was rolled out by Scholastic some time ago and is constantly changing with the new standards and regulations our schools should be following for reading intervention students. The program works with the new Florida State Standards. It has very detailed lesson plans and multiple resources that can be used throughout the lessons to better help students. Unfortunately, this program is only used for students who are considered much lower than their peers in their other classes. For example, if a student is in the sixth grade they should be reading on 800 to 1050 lexile level. This program usually only works with students ranging from 400 to 600. So what about the other students left out of that range?

The next program which targets the lower children is called System44. This program also comes to us from Scholastic. This software works with the student who have gaps missing in their phonemic awareness. Meaning students whose lexiles range from BR (beginning reader) to 399. Helping them work on those areas before moving onto the reading comprehension portions. Working mainly with words and its sounds comes back as a set back because this is just more time these students are missing out on the reading instruction they need to become more successful. I know it is important for them to close the learning gap but there should be some reading comprehension involved in this program as well so that they do not fall further behind.

Finally, Achieve3000 is the last program offered to students in the reading intervention programs at middle and high schools in the area. This programs services students from lexile levels 601 til they reach a grade level equivalent lexile, which considers them proficient on their grade level. They will be working with text that is on grade level while working with new vocabulary each time they are one the computer. This programs gives the teacher more freedom when planning the lessons. Since they will be the one building the curriculum for their classes. Unfortunately since this program is so free and open to build what you would do, others see it as not effective and not structured enough for the students. They also have a lack of resources available to the students and teachers working with this program. Also, there is not much training provided for the teachers either.

The changes we have seen over the many years of reading instructions have been huge. These programs have become all computer based and the teacher has pretty much become a resource to the program. Changing what we do in the classroom based off of what the computer data is telling us is needed in the classroom instruction. 

In my opinion, these programs all have its perks but there will never be a perfect reading intervention program. There will always be some kind of flaws someone or something can find. It is up to the teacher to make the program and the students within the program successful.