How our adaptive reading program is boosting reading proficiency in K-3 students.
As the Zoom call connects, third grade teacher Jennifer Sparks and second grade teacher Stephanie Fabin sit side-by-side in Stephanie's classroom. School is out for the day at Williamson PK8, and they’ve stayed late to tell me their story.
“I will tell you,” begins Ms. Fabin, “that right off the bat, we went to the training and thought, ‘Oh, they’re giving us another program, you know?”
I do know. As a former teacher myself, I can relate to Ms. Fabin’s concern. Another resource that won’t last.
“But within the first month,” she continues, “I had a student gain a year and eight months of reading proficiency.”
Now, they want the program to stay.
Fast ForWord, a ClearLiteracy solution
Ms. Fabin and Ms. Sparks are sharing their experience using Carnegie Learning’s ClearLiteracy solution, Fast ForWord. Fast ForWord is an online, adaptive reading program with intensive, 1-on-1 instruction in foundational language and literacy skills. The program also builds the cognitive capacities that support strong reading and learning, like working memory, processing, and sequencing.
Ms. Fabin and Ms. Sparks are teachers in West Virginia’s Mingo County School District. The district, which serves 3,900 students, implemented a pilot program of Fast ForWord last March in a bid to improve K-3 reading proficiency. Despite their initial hesitancy, Ms. Fabin and Ms. Sparks were awed by their students' progress during the pilot.
“We worked together [during the pilot] and kind of waded through the program,” explains Ms. Sparks, who teaches third grade. “And it gave these kids the nuts and bolts and the foundation they missed either because of COVID or a learning deficit. They recouped those skills and got on target pretty quickly.”
Students can catch up on missed skills quickly because Fast ForWord adapts reading exercises to each student's level, allowing them to progress at their own pace from simpler to more complex tasks. As students work, the program carefully monitors their responses and adjusts the difficulty accordingly. This maximizes time on task while ensuring high success rates, which boosts motivation.
“When the [pilot] program was over last year, we begged them to let us keep it until the end of the year,” said Ms. Fabin. “And they let us!”
The district formally adopted Fast ForWord for a three-year implementation starting in the fall of 2023.
Early success in raising reading proficiency
After the first 40 days of use in the 2023-24 school year, 322 students in Mingo County made a six-month jump in their reading proficiency. In the same time frame, the number of students scoring above the 55th percentile for reading proficiency jumped from 30 to 96.
Meanwhile, 93 students moved out of the bottom percentile into higher-ranking proficiency levels. At their current progress rate, Mingo County students are expected to increase their reading proficiency test scores by at least 16%.
Fast ForWord is uniquely effective at delivering such rapid gains because its neuroscience-based design simultaneously targets reading skills and the cognitive and language skills needed for reading comprehension.
“I have a second grader,” shares Ms. Fabin, “He struggled at the beginning of the year. But once he started Fast ForWord, he began volunteering to read out loud in class in front of everyone. That’s a big deal.”
“Fast ForWord keeps all levels of readers engaged,” adds Ms. Sparks. “I have a third grade student completing activities at a sixth grade reading level. She’s challenged by exercises asking her to sequence events from a reading passage.”
Dr. Johnny Branch, the district superintendent, offered: “Fast ForWord is backed by the science of reading, and it does so much to bring equity to students. We are doing away with ‘You can only read at this vocabulary level.’ All our students deserve access to a rich vocabulary at grade level, and Fast ForWord is grade level WITH support.”
Gains in executive function
Executive functioning skills refined by Fast ForWord are improving, too.
Explaining the benefits of the 30-minute sessions, Ms. Sparks observed: “Fast ForWord is helping my students pay attention to one thing and stay on task for 30 minutes. It’s helping them build up that stamina. It’s helping them keep their attention focused. It has carried over to other things.”
As they progress, activities in Fast ForWord become longer, so students transition from simply paying attention for a short task to building sustained attention. Fast ForWord deliberately builds attention skills in activities like its “Flying Fish” exercise.
“It’s the science of reading in action—just waking up those sections of the brain,” explains Ms. Sparks.
Continued growth and improvement
Given their early success, Mingo County educators have every reason to be optimistic about the three-year implementation of Fast ForWord. Early data indicates that the county is on track to having its most successful K-3 reading proficiency scores this year. That result is expected to improve continually.
“I’ve been teaching for 30 years. I’m National Board Certified. This is one of the best programs I’ve seen,” says Ms. Sparks.
We couldn’t put it better ourselves.
Before joining Carnegie Learning in 2023, Kelly worked in education for ten years as a classroom teacher and an administrator. She holds both a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in French and began her career writing for the press office at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. She is a certified ACTFL OPI rater, an AP French Exam reader, and taught out of Carnegie Learning's T'es Branché? curriculum for six years.
Explore more related to this authorI’ve been teaching for 30 years. I’m National Board Certified. This is one of the best programs I’ve seen.
Jennifer Sparks, third grade teacher at Williamson PK8
