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 […]
Middle and High School Students Leap in Reading Skills with MindPlay
In her own words: Stacey Breaud, Adolescent Literacy Coach in Washington Parish School System, Franklinton, LA, tells the district story. District Profile: Washington Parish School System, Franklinton, LA Student Population: • 5,500 students in grades PreK-12 • 98% free/reduced lunch • Schools: 10 District Performance Score: C Graduation Rate: 81% (2017-2018) Reading Challenge Our district […]
Tech-Savvy Intervention Program Manager Harnesses Grapevine for Educator Buy-In
Reading Challenge: Promoting the use of MindPlay as a K-12 reading solution. Houston Independent School District’s Intervention Program Manager, Mary Miner, says it was viral communication about MindPlay’s success that inspired more and more schools to adopt it as a reading solution. “We never mandated the use of MindPlay but allowed word of mouth to […]
A Coordinator of Continuous Improvement Supports a Transitioning District
Reading Challenge: Guiding Reading Intervention Across 13 K-12 Schools As Coordinator of Continuous Improvement for the Manor Independent School District in Manor, Texas, Jennifer Brewer describes herself as the “middleman” between MindPlay and the district when it comes to reading intervention. Among the challenges she faces are ensuring buy-in and ongoing support for principals, coaches […]
Years of Academic Failure Reversed for Troubled High School Student
The Reading Challenge: A troubled teen had fallen through the cracks in learning to read. Darcell’s Story: When six-foot-four, 220-pound Darcell first entered the doors of the Carpe Diem Northwest Innovative School in Indianapolis, IN, he brought along with him an impressive record of arrests for battery, robbery, break-ins, and gang activities – not unusual […]
Exchange Student Masters the English Language
by Brandie Genske An Honors English high school exchange student is language-challenged. German exchange student Ella was a junior in high school when she came to Wisconsin to experience the American way of life and education. A good student, she enrolled in Honors English, a very rigorous course, and was earning B grades, not bad […]
The World Opens Up to a Cognitively Disabled High School Student
by Brandie Genske A cognitively disabled high school student is reading at the first-grade level. For Sarah, an 18-year-old severely cognitively impaired high school student, even trying to read was painful and something she hated to do. Again and again, she refused to read. No wonder, Sarah was reading at a first-grade level and there […]
Middle and High School “Critical” Readers Succeed on MVRC
From Carrie O’Donnell Students from our inner city school come to us missing a lot of reading skills. I see approximately 49 percent of our sixth through eleventh grade students. If students are at 190 or below in their Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) scores, they automatically come to me. These are the lowest reading students […]
