Press Releases

 

New Study Reveals High Minority and High Poverty Children
Can Rise to Meet the Requirements of No Child Left Behind

Lindamood-Bell Press Release
February 28, 2006


SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA As high poverty and high minority schools continue to struggle to close the achievement gap, one Title I district in Pueblo, Colorado has achieved unprecedented results.  Over the past eight years, Pueblo School District 60 (PSD60) and Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes have proven that low socio-economic status is not a social liability. PSD60 is a 65 percent free and reduced lunch and minority district. Findings from a new study published in the spring issue of the prestigious American Education Research Journal confirm that PSD60’s district-wide literacy reform model has significantly closed the student achievement gap.  In 1998, results on the state achievement test ranked near the bottom in Colorado.  Representative of this effort from 1998 to 2005, PSD60’s third-grade students have improved 16 percentage points, to 83 percent proficient or above reading proficiently, while the state (35 percent free and reduced lunch and 37 percent minority) has only improved 5 percentage points, to 71 percentage proficient or above.

With accountability being a main concern for school districts under the new mandates of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, this study offers scientific evidence on what works for students.  The NCLB Act stresses that programs must be grounded in research.

The authors of the study, Dr. Mark Sadoski and Dr. Vic Willson from Texas A&M University, cited PSD60’s success in carrying out school reform measures, including effective practices in teaching, learning, management, high-quality staff development and the use of scientifically-researched methods.  They noted that, “In effect, PSD60 went ‘by the book’ in producing large-scale reform with unparalleled success.” PSD60 did this by allowing Lindamood-Bell to train over 1200 professionals in the district over the researched period of time and assist the district with over 4300 children receiving intensive remedial instruction in reading.

PSD60 was chosen for this study as a result of its dramatic increase in student achievement after it partnered with Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, a private literacy and research organization with years of success in improving reading and comprehension skills.  “We always believed that these students could perform academically,” said Paul Worthington, Lindamood-Bell’s Director of Research and Development.  “Based on the typical expectations for high poverty schools, PSD60 is a statistical improbability,” referring to the fact that these students from poor areas are performing so well.

“The centerpiece of this intervention was the Lindamood-Bell materials, with teacher training being exclusive to these materials and corrective instruction utilizing these materials,” according to the study.  PSD60 Superintendent, Dr. Joyce Bales, agrees.  She has been the superintendent since the inception of the partnership with Lindamood-Bell and is convinced that the district has figured out what works best.  “It does not take more money to do what we are doing!  We quit doing things that didn’t work.  We used resources that were already in the district.  We used our Title I funds to focus on professional development for our teachers."

Since partnering with Lindamood-Bell in 1998, PSD60 has received state and national attention for student achievement.  Honors have included three National Blue Ribbon Schools, two National Title I Distinguished Schools and three Governor’s Distinguished Improvement School Awards.  Its district reform model has been recognized by President George Bush and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.  For more information on Pueblo School District 60, visit them on-line at www.pueblo60.k12.co.us. 

Lindamood-Bell is an internationally recognized leader in education, owing to its scientifically-based reading research and instructional success.  It has over 30 years of success with students, including those diagnosed with dyslexia, hyperlexia, ADD/ADHD, and autism.  It selectively partners with schools and districts each year to provide professional development and school reform models.  Lindamood-Bell’s research and instructional programs have received national attention in U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, Time, the neuroscience journal, Neuron, and on CNN.

Please click here for more information on Lindamood-Bell's comprehensive district reform.