Sacramento, CA. June 27, 2005 -- Pearson Scott Foresman has published an extraordinary early intervention program centered on the compelling research of two of the most respected authorities in early literacy. Based on Project Optimize, a five-year longitudinal research study by Dr. Edward J. Kame’enui and Dr. Deborah C. Simmons, Pearson’s Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention identifies at-risk children in kindergarten and first grade (age 5 and 6) and provides intervention to improve reading achievement.

Research shows that 97 percent of kindergarten children who were taught with Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention experienced faster achievement rates and were able to sustain that level of achievement into second grade.

Pearson Scott Foresman President Paul McFall said that "Early Reading Intervention aligns with the U.S. Department of Education’s Reading First Program (NCLB) guidelines, and the requirement that assessments must identify students who may be at risk for reading failure or who are already experiencing reading difficulty."

Demonstrated Results: Ocean View School District - California Ocean View School District in California is bridging the literacy gap for its at-risk kindergarten students with an early intervention reading program whose critical diagnostic tool informs instruction that accelerates the development of reading skills.

The Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention (ERI) program helps teachers differentiate those students entering kindergarten with deficiencies in their reading skills from students with cognitive or developmental issues who may qualify for special education. The ERI program is helping a majority of Ocean View’s struggling students quickly catch up to their peers while saving the school district added costs in special education funding.

During the past two years, College View Elementary in Huntington Beach has piloted this early intervention and assessment program in kindergarten and first grade. It identifies students requiring intervention, and then tracks a student’s performance throughout the school year enabling teachers to address and modify the program based upon the individual needs of the child

The stellar results for Early Reading Intervention have demonstrated significant performance gains, as documented by the Ocean View School District:

• The number of children identified as at-risk in kindergarten and first grade decreased by nearly 28 percent from the beginning to the end of the 2003-2004 school year.
• In five Title 1 Schools in the 2002-2003 school year, 44 kindergarteners and 22 first graders were retained; while in 2003-2004, the same five Title 1 schools implementing ERI reduced retentions in kindergarten by 66 percent and in first grade by 23 per cent.
• In 2003-2004 school year, the number of kindergarten and first grade students retained in the District’s College View Elementary School decreased 77 percent with the use of ERI.

In sharing their compelling results, Ocean View School District officials substantiate that Early Reading Intervention has enabled students who might have struggled in school (including English language learners) to break through the inhibitors that were barriers to grasping literacy comprehension and to perform at and above benchmark levels. Many of these students would have likely been classified as requiring special education, but by utilizing ERI the true issues facing a student can be identified and addressed in the classroom.

" The ERI program is saving College View School money because we are retaining fewer students and don’t have to pay the additional costs of special education for students that don’t really need those services," says Principal Susan Kemp.

ERI results are further validation of independent research findings that indicate by first grade, children in low-income families have 5,000-word vocabularies while children from more affluent families have 20,000-word vocabularies; and the average child from a middle class family has been exposed to 1,700 hours of one-to-one reading while the average child from a low-income family has only been exposed to 25 hours.

According to Superintendent Dr. James Tarwater, "We have found that students most benefit from early literacy intervention in kindergarten when they first enter the education system. We can identify and overcome any deficiencies early on before a child falls so far behind that it’s difficult to get them up to grade-level proficiency."

The Ocean View School District first implemented the Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention program in all five Title I schools in 2003 and expanded it to include two non Title I schools this school year. Due to the program’s success, it will be implemented district-wide for the coming school year.

NOTE FOR EDITORS:
Facts: At-Risk Children and Literacy

• 35% of American kindergarten children enter school unprepared to learn. (Carnegie Foundation's Starting Points Report)
• 50% of low income children enter first grade up to two years behind their peers in preschool skills. (Brizius & Foster)
• Children from low-income homes enter school with one-fourth of the vocabulary of students from middle-class homes.(Children's Defense Fund)

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Edward J. Kame’enui is an international authority on learning problems and special education. He has directed federally-funded centers, including the Oregon Reading First Center, which provides technical assistance to the Reading First school districts in Oregon, and Project CIRCUITS, a national reading research center designed to examine a three-tiered prevention model for beginning reading problems.

Dr. Kame’enui has published numerous college textbooks on topics related to teaching reading, curriculum design, and managing classroom behavior. Has had also published research articles in the Reading Research Quarterly, Scientific Studies of Reading, American Educational Research Journal, and the Journal of Learning Disabilities. He also served on the advisory boards for the PBS television show "Between the Lions" and WETA’s "Reading Rockets."

In addition to authoring the Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention program, he is an author for the new Scott Foresman Reading Street basal program. On May 18, 2005, Dr. Kame’enui was appointed the Department of Education’s First Commissioner for Special Education Research.

Dr. Deborah C. Simmons is a well-respected researcher in the areas of literacy acquisition and development and intervention for children at risk of reading failure. She has published numerous books and research articles which have appeared in the Journal of Educational Psychology, Reading and Writing Quarterly, Reading Today, the Journal of Learning Disabilities, and the Journal of Educational Research.

Dr. Simmons serves on editorial boards for several professional journals, including the Journal of Special Education, Learning Disabilities Quarterly, Exceptional Children, and Reading and Writing Quarterly. She also served on the Assessment Group of the Reading First Initiative for the U.S. Department of Education.

In addition to authoring the Scott Foresman Early Reading Intervention program, she is an author for the new Scott Foresman Reading Street basal program. Formerly professor of Special Education and Associate Director of the Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement at the University of Oregon, Dr. Simmons is currently Professor of Special Education at Texas A&M University.

About Pearson Education
Educating 100 million people worldwide, Pearson Education (www.pearsoned.com) is the global leader in educational publishing, providing scientifically research-based print and digital programs to help students of all ages learn at their own pace, in their own way. While virtually all students in America learn from a Pearson program at some point in their educational career, about three million college students are currently pursuing their courses online using Pearson Higher Education’s products. In the U.S., nearly 25,000 schools use Pearson technology to help instruct preK-12 students and manage how they are doing. Pearson provides schools customizable services to create, deliver, score and report educational assessments, both in print and online, that help promote learning. The company is home to such renowned publishing brands as Pearson Prentice Hall, Pearson Longman, Pearson Scott Foresman, Pearson Early Learning, Pearson Learning Group, Pearson Digital Learning, and Pearson Addison Wesley. Pearson Education is part of Pearson (NYSE: PSO), the international media company. In addition to Pearson Education, Pearson’s primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.

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