Category: Elementary Learners (K-5)

Long-Struggling Nevada ELLs See Great Progress with MindPlay

District Profile: Nye County (NV) School District Student Population: enrolled 5,393; special needs, 15%; ELL, 9%; economically challenged, 80% Schools: 17 District Characteristics: urban, suburban and rural; low performance Educator Profiled: Richard Wiley, Director of Student Achievement, Alternative and Adult Education When Richard Wiley assumed his role as Director of Student Achievement, Alternative and Adult Education in Nye […]

Homeless Students Find Hope For Reading Mastery

Children reading

MindPlay Reading Helps Homeless Students Advance Their Literacy Skills Interview with: Molly Petrus, Program Manager, Project ACT Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Cleveland, OH District Profile: 38,949 students; Grades Preschool to 12; 100% Free/Reduced Lunch Email: Molly.Petrus@clevelandmetroschools.org In 2017, The Director of Project ACT, Dr. Marcia Zashin, heard about MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach (MindPlay) from a […]

Special Education Facilitator Sees Broad Skill Growth with MindPlay

District Profile: Spring Branch ISD, Houston, TX Student Population: • 35,000 students • 54.4% at-risk • diverse, with a large percentage of English language learners • socio-economic: wide range, from high to low Julie White is the Special Education facilitator for Spring Branch ISD in the greater Houston area. With a background as a reading […]

Texas District Goes From D grade to B (Part 2)

Options and Innovations Propels a Texas District From “D” grade to “B” Part 2 of 2 from the series on district transitions District Profile:District: Manor, TX, Independent School DistrictStudent Population: • Primary populations: Hispanic/Latino: 65%+; African American: 20%+; White: 17%+ • Enrollment: 9,463 Pre-K-12 • Economically disadvantaged: 79% • New students annually: 600-1,000 After Superintendent […]

Texas District Goes From D grade to B (Part 1)

Options and Innovations Propels a Texas District From “D” grade to “B” Part 1 of 2 from the series on district transitions District Profile: Manor, TX, Independent School District Student Population: • Primary populations: Hispanic/Latino: 65%+; African American: 20%+; White: 17%+ • Enrollment: 9,463 Pre-K-12 • Economically disadvantaged: 79% • New students annually: 600-1,000 When […]

Working With MindPlay and Challenged Students: A Teacher’s Own Words

How 16 Learning-Disabled Students in Boca Raton (FLA) made huge strides with MindPlay. An Interview with Maria Laing, Elementary Special Education Teacher, A.D. Henderson School/FAU High School, Boca Raton, FL. When my principal introduced me to MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach (MVRC), I thoroughly researched the program. My students need a lot of repetition and explicit […]

New Hope for Students Facing Multiple Challenges in Reading

In the Fresno Unified School District in Central California, agriculture is the primary economic driver, many students come from transient families, most live in poverty, crime is high, and parental involvement is low. Lyle Patty teaches third grade at the K-6 Mayfair Elementary School, where 100 percent of the student population is on free or […]

Second Grade: Meeting Whole-Class Reading Needs

Reading Challenge: Teaching 19 Second Graders at a Range of Reading Levels School Profile: Dennis Elementary School, Springboro, OH Students: 843 students; Grades 2-5; 14% Free/Reduced lunch The Story After teaching fourth grade for 16 years, Jennifer Smith was assigned a second-grade class in the fall of 2017. She wanted to make sure she was […]

Ohio Middle and Elementary Students See Up to Four Times Greater Reading Growth with MindPlay

Reading Challenge: An Ohio district is faced with 129 identified middle and elementary school struggling readers. District Profile: 1100 students; Grades K-12; 40% Free/Reduced Lunch The Story At Cardinal Local School District, in Middlefield, OH, Speech Therapist Dr. Melissa Butler is in charge of screening and providing interventions for struggling grades three-through-eight students. In September 2017, […]