Texas District Rolls Out Reading Intervention Across All Schools

Mansfield Independent School District in Texas is looking to improve achievement among its struggling readers with the help of technology. The district signed a $1.7 million contract with Scientific Learning to roll out the company's Fast ForWord family of technology-assisted reading programs.

Fast ForWord is a line of research-based, standards-aligned digital learning tools designed to develop cognitive skills to improve reading comprehension. It's targeted toward students who are characterized as struggling learners.

Mansfield ISD launched a pilot program last year in one elementary school for 334 students in grades 2, 3, and 4. Mansfield has since decided to roll out the program district-wide after seeing some improvement on student test scores. Bob Morrison, Mansfield ISD superintendent, said he credited a part of this to the Fast ForWord implementation, along with other changes implemented at the school.

"If I go to the gym, I get stronger every time I go. That's what Fast ForWord does, but it challenges your brain,"Morrison said in a statement released this week. "Lots of programs are trying to help children, but Fast ForWord builds connectivity from the front brain to the back brain. It's the connectivity that's the issue. Therefore, the more you do, the stronger the brain gets."

District staff will begin to receive training on the software this month and next. Full deployment will happen in the 2009-2010 school year.

Mansfield Independent School District serves nearly 31,000 students in 21 elementary schools, six intermediate schools, six middle schools, and four high schools, as well as one alternative education center and one career/technical academy.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


Featured

  • laptop on a clean desk with digital padlock icon on the screen

    Data Privacy a Top Concern as Orgs Scale Up AI Agents

    As organizations race to integrate AI agents into their cloud operations and workflows, they face a crucial reality: while enthusiasm is high, major adoption barriers remain, according to a new Cloudera report. Chief among them is the challenge of safeguarding sensitive data.

  • sunlit classroom with laptops on every desk, each displaying a glowing AI speech bubble icon above the screen

    Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot to Become Available for Teen Students

    This summer, Microsoft is expanding availability of its Copilot Chat and Microsoft 365 Copilot products for students aged 13 and older. Administrators will be able to grant access for students based on their institution's plans and preferences, the company announced in a blog post.

  • horizontal stack of U.S. dollar bills breaking in half

    ED Abruptly Cancels ESSER Funding Extensions

    The Department of Education has moved to close the door on COVID relief funding for schools, declaring that "extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion."

  • tablet and notebook on a desk with floating holographic icons

    Integration Brings Pearson Assessments to McGraw Hill's K-12 Curriculum

    Education companies McGraw Hill and Pearson have partnered to integrate the latter's assessment capabilities into McGraw Hill's K-12 curriculum solutions.