Ignite Reading: Closing the Gap

According to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, in the 2022-23 academic year, only 33% of fourth-graders were at a proficient reading level. Educators across america are expressing concern over the steep decline observed in children's literacy. However, a national reading program called Ignite Reading has stepped in and is quickly changing these statistics. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by the Payroll Department and Happy Pappy's Pizza-N-Wings. I'm Sadie Smith. Ignite Reading is a literacy program being integrated into classrooms that provides one-to-one virtual tutoring that teaches students the foundational skills they need to be confident independent readers.

Ignite reading is 15 minutes a day, five days a week, one-on-one virtual tutoring with a highly trained live tutor on the other end of the screen, who is trained in both the science of reading and in the evidence-based curriculum that we follow.

Currently, Ignite Reading serves 125 students across five Durango School District 9-R elementary schools, including Park Elementary, Needham Elementary Sunnyside Elementary, Florida Mesa Elementary, and Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary. Ignite Reading is resulting in significant improvements in children's reading abilities. Data from the 2022-23 school year shows that students achieved an average of 2.4 weeks of progress in fluency and competency for every week in the program with no achievement gaps across demographics.

Our data is showing that students in our program are growing by more than double what would be expected using the same exact curriculum in a small group setting. Our results have shown that we are transforming outcomes for all students in our program. Our results are showing no differences between proficiency levels of students who are multilingual learners, students and IEPs, and students on free and reduced lunch.

Following a baseline assessment, Ignite Reading initiates students at an appropriate level. Assign tutors, guide students towards confident and fluent reading. Teachers prioritize those on the verge of progress, evaluating key benchmarks to identify which students would gain the most from Ignite Reading.

We take a look at all of our own personal data from Dibble's aid or whatever it may be, and we really try to center mostly right now on the cusp kids that we need to move. And so again, taking into account all of our big benchmarks to make a decision for those students on who we think would most benefit from Ignite.

This highly personalized program allows students to accelerate their reading abilities inside the classroom. The tutors follow a highly scripted research-based curriculum using continuous data collection to determine the precise lesson each student needs at the right time.

I have seen kids definitely closing gaps, and then we're monitoring that on our own progress monitor data. So with the help of Ignite, we're seeing kids accelerate even more than we have ever in the past.

Ignite Reading officials joined 9-R school district leaders and students at Sunnyside Elementary on February 20th to showcase the nationally recognized program. The demonstration was followed by a Q&A session and panel discussion encouraging the implementation of Ignite Reading into more 9-R district schools. For more information about this and other stories, visit durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I'm Sadie Smith.