Oregon District Expands Blended Reading Program

The Hermiston School District is expanding its use of a blended reading program to all eight of its schools following a successful pilot at two of them.

The district began using Scientific Learning's Fast ForWord with struggling readers and students with special needs at Rocky Heights Elementary and Armand Larive Middle School in the most recent school year.

"Previously, we had multiple interventions. Each was helping a small cross-section of children but nothing met the needs of students across the district," said Special Education Director BJ Wilson, in a prepared statement. "After examining several independent studies, we found that Fast ForWord showed the best overall effectiveness, and we decided to pilot it in two schools. We saw tremendous gains, and soon, teachers from other schools began asking for it."

"Students who have used the Fast ForWord program say they're better able to read and understand what their teachers are saying, in all their classes. It has really boosted their confidence," added Wilson.

The program will be used in summer school this year and rolled out district wide to struggling readers and students with special needs beginning in the fall.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

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