An Innovative Reading Methodology
“This is the first time in 24 years I have seen students make ANY kind of significant progress in developmental reading. The brain-based methodology seems to literally be revolutionarily effective.” John Herring, Coordinator of Tutoring, Testing, and Learning Development Services at Stark State College of Technology in Ohio, explains that the discovery of the Read Right methodology has enabled the college to meet an explosion of need for developmental reading instruction.
From Fall 2008 to Fall 2009 enrollment at Stark State increased 33%, and with over 12,000 students it is the second largest 2-year college in the country. Fifty to sixty percent of incoming students require developmental reading. “Our first level course,” describes Herring, “is based on 6th - 8th grade reading level; our second course is for 9th - 12th. However, we typically get 10% of each class at a less than 6th grade reading level.”
Colleges are challenged to provide instruction that spans the range of their students’ reading abilities. And colleges often struggle to match individualized instruction to classroom settings. But, as Stark State has found, Read Right’s methodology provides an ideal solution. The methodology works at a procedural level which means that, even while in groups, each student makes the unique experiments necessary to correct his or her reading problem—for each student, the brain is compelled to remodel the neural network that has been inappropriately established to guide the reading process.
“For the first time, we have a tool that is helping these students.” Herring illustrates the impact. “We have two students that started the semester at the 1st grade level, and both have persisted and are currently at 6th grade - AMAZING!”
Serving Disability and Developmental Education
Mary Hlavac, a Stark State reading instructor, offers another example of how transformative the methodology has been. “This semester we have at least two students with Asperger’s, and that has been very interesting. We are seeing significant improvement.”
Herring adds that, in fact, “Disability Services have become strong supporters because they’ve never seen any program, or any type of developmental instruction, that has created the same impact on disability service students as on general students.”
Adaptable and Effective, A Replicable Model
The program has also influenced the college itself. “It’s revolutionizing our approach to developmental education,” explains Herring. “Because of the students’ rapid progress in Read Right we’re able to move them through the sequence of our reading courses much more effectively. That is causing our college to really look at its systems, because we’re really pushing the envelope, meeting students’ needs on a more immediate and individual basis.”
By providing students an avenue for quickly accessing the opportunities offered at the college, Stark State hopes to become a model itself. “We want to model for the state how to meet the needs of developmental students,” Herring concludes.
Just as the methodology operates according to the inherent needs of each student, so too is Read Right able to adjust to the needs, structure and ideology of the project site. Read Right projects are active at over 230 sites around the country. If you would like more information about our innovative methodology, contact Jan Swinton at 509-385-8504 or Jans@readright.com.
Visit www.readright.com or find us on Facebook where you can view the video created by Ozarks Technical College about their Read Right project.
“This is the first time in 24 years I have seen students make ANY kind of significant progress in developmental reading. The brain-based methodology seems to literally be revolutionarily effective.” John Herring, Coordinator of Tutoring, Testing, and Learning Development Services at Stark State College of Technology in Ohio, explains that the discovery of the Read Right methodology has enabled the college to meet an explosion of need for developmental reading instruction.
From Fall 2008 to Fall 2009 enrollment at Stark State increased 33%, and with over 12,000 students it is the second largest 2-year college in the country. Fifty to sixty percent of incoming students require developmental reading. “Our first level course,” describes Herring, “is based on 6th - 8th grade reading level; our second course is for 9th - 12th. However, we typically get 10% of each class at a less than 6th grade reading level.”
Colleges are challenged to provide instruction that spans the range of their students’ reading abilities. And colleges often struggle to match individualized instruction to classroom settings. But, as Stark State has found, Read Right’s methodology provides an ideal solution. The methodology works at a procedural level which means that, even while in groups, each student makes the unique experiments necessary to correct his or her reading problem—for each student, the brain is compelled to remodel the neural network that has been inappropriately established to guide the reading process.
“For the first time, we have a tool that is helping these students.” Herring illustrates the impact. “We have two students that started the semester at the 1st grade level, and both have persisted and are currently at 6th grade - AMAZING!”
Serving Disability and Developmental Education
Mary Hlavac, a Stark State reading instructor, offers another example of how transformative the methodology has been. “This semester we have at least two students with Asperger’s, and that has been very interesting. We are seeing significant improvement.”
Herring adds that, in fact, “Disability Services have become strong supporters because they’ve never seen any program, or any type of developmental instruction, that has created the same impact on disability service students as on general students.”
Adaptable and Effective, A Replicable Model
The program has also influenced the college itself. “It’s revolutionizing our approach to developmental education,” explains Herring. “Because of the students’ rapid progress in Read Right we’re able to move them through the sequence of our reading courses much more effectively. That is causing our college to really look at its systems, because we’re really pushing the envelope, meeting students’ needs on a more immediate and individual basis.”
By providing students an avenue for quickly accessing the opportunities offered at the college, Stark State hopes to become a model itself. “We want to model for the state how to meet the needs of developmental students,” Herring concludes.
Just as the methodology operates according to the inherent needs of each student, so too is Read Right able to adjust to the needs, structure and ideology of the project site. Read Right projects are active at over 230 sites around the country. If you would like more information about our innovative methodology, contact Jan Swinton at 509-385-8504 or Jans@readright.com.
Visit www.readright.com or find us on Facebook where you can view the video created by Ozarks Technical College about their Read Right project.
Last modified: Friday, December 4, 2009, 08:56 AM