Statewide, Four-year Contract Provides Educators Access to Adaptive Literacy Tool to Support K-12 Students
WINOOSKI, Vt., July 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Reading Plus, an evidence-based online program that uses personalized instruction to improve students’ reading proficiency, today announced its selection as an academic intervention vendor by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). The four-year agreement expands Reading Plus’s presence in the state, making the supplemental literacy solution accessible to all K-12 educators within Mississippi’s 155 school districts.
To ensure students’ academic and behavioral needs are met, MDE required programs with proven track records that are designed to “address student learning with quality classroom instruction and opportunities for intervention.” Among other features MDE sought in its vendors, Reading Plus includes a diagnostic assessment, generates reports for decision making, and monitors student progress.
Reading Plus develops comprehension, fluency, stamina, vocabulary, and motivation to read in students, including Tiers 1-3 and multilingual learners. The literacy solution received the highest Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) evidence of effectiveness ranking—level one for “strong evidence”—demonstrating a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes. Its InSight assessment, which provides a holistic view of student’s progress and gives a composite reading proficiency grade-level score, is strongly correlated with national and state reading assessments. Reading Plus is used by more than 1 million students across the country and improves reading proficiency by 2.5-grade levels in a single school year.
“We’re proud to further our partnership with Mississippi and serve its public schools statewide as an approved literacy resource,” said Steven Guttentag, CEO of Reading Plus. “As a reading tool founded on decades of research, Reading Plus shares the MDE’s strong commitment to evidence-based instruction and intervention solutions. It is crucial for producing real results in students’ skill development that educators and administrators can rely on.”
MDE evaluates and approves programs for academic intervention by scoring the following criteria: offeror qualifications, special qualifications, overall rating, intervention overview, effective intervention practices, intervention components, developmental appropriateness, and digital components.
To learn more about the benefits of Reading Plus, visit www.readingplus.com.
ABOUT READING PLUS
Reading Plus is an evidence-based, online program that provides personalized instruction and intervention for students, improving reading proficiency by 2.5 grade levels in a single school year. The adaptive literacy program develops fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary, while also measuring student motivation. It supports students with diverse needs, including multilingual learners, students who qualify for special education services, RTI/MTSS Tiers 1–3, and advanced readers. Reading Plus provides educators with an easy-to-use management and reporting system, extensive resources to guide differentiated instruction, professional development, and highly rated customer support. Used in more than 7,800 schools, the Reading Plus program is helping over 1 million students become confident, lifelong readers. For more information, visit www.readingplus.com.
