Lexia Intros Self-Paced Digital Program for Grade 4-8 Educators Teaching Literacy Skills
- By Kate Lucariello
- 01/19/23
Literacy
company Lexia
has introduced Lexia
Aspire Professional Learning to help educators of
grade 4-8 students teach literacy skills, focusing on helping them
transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.”
Aspire Professional Learning is digital, self-paced, and flexible. It
expands on Lexia’s existing LETRS
(Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling)
program, which teaches the fundamentals of reading instruction. The
Aspire program aims to equip educators with the knowledge and skills
to support varying levels of literacy competency in their classrooms,
the company said.
With
the 2022 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) data
showing that “69%
of students aren’t reading at a proficient level in grade 8,
and 67%
of students are below proficiency in reading levels in grade 4,”
Lexia said educators have wanted more help with how to teach literacy
skills. “With this program, educators can quickly build the depth
of skills they need to support their students who are reading to
learn but may still have gaps in the foundational reading skills
developed when they were learning how to read, comprehend, and
articulate their ideas across various subjects,” said Lexia’s
Chief Learning Officer, Liz Brooke.
The
program accommodates all upper elementary and middle school educators
and includes content area teachers, classroom teachers,
interventionists, speech pathologists, and English language arts
educators, according to a release. It takes about 40 hours to finish
and focuses on three areas: word recognition; language comprehension;
and reading comprehension and writing. Educators take a few
foundational courses and then choose which area they wish to begin
with. They can work in any order and will receive individual content
and additional support in areas they need more help with. “The
courses are practical and immediately transferable to the classroom,”
Brooke said.
The
program provides district administrators a data dashboard to follow
educator progress. This information can help leaders decide how best
to support their educators, the company said.
Visit
the Lexia Aspire Professional Learning Page to find out more.
Lexia
is part of the Cambium
Learning Group company, which was founded in 2003 and
provides education technology and PreK–12 solutions to education
challenges.
About the Author
Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.