New York, NY, November 14, 2008—In a unanimous vote, the California State Board of Education adopted Scholastic’s READ 180® California Edition for use with students statewide in two categories:  2008 Intensive Intervention Program for English Learners, Grades 4-8 and the 2008 Intensive Intervention Program in Reading/Language Arts, Grades 4-8. Designed to meet and exceed California’s  standards, and developed by nationally recognized researcher, Dr. Kate Kinsella of San Francisco State University, READ 180 California Edition offers educators an expanded level of support for English Learners.

In addition to Dr. Kinsella, several other nationally recognized experts were brought in to develop READ 180, the California Edition, including READ 180’s creator, Dr. Ted Hasselbring, and Dr. Marilyn Adams, author of the seminal book Learning to Read:  Thinking and Learning About Print. The California Edition of READ 180 also includes System 44™, the new breakthrough technology for teaching phonemic awareness and phonics to older struggling readers.

Proven effective in 31 independent studies, READ 180 is a reading intervention program for older struggling readers that combines adaptive technology, teacher-directed instruction in whole and small groups, and leveled reading materials that reflect students’ interests and age.  READ 180 is published by Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, education and media company

“READ 180 has played an important role in helping California’s struggling readers since 2000, so we are thrilled that the new edition has been approved by the state board of education,” said Margery Mayer, President, Scholastic Education.  “Our goal with this edition was to provide even more comprehensive instruction for English Learners, which is why we assembled the most respected researchers and practitioners in the country to develop it.”

Currently in use in over 12,000 classrooms in all 50 states, READ 180 began as a collaborative effort between Vanderbilt University and the Orange County Public Schools in Florida in 1998.  Since then, the program has been implemented in schools across California with results from validation studies in Merced, CA, San Rafael, CA, Desert Sands, CA and numerous other districts unequivocal in their findings—implementation of the program has resulted in solid gains in reading scores for even the most hard-to-reach students.

For more information about READ 180 and Scholastic, please visit www.scholastic.com/read180.

Contact

Scholastic
Sarah Trabucchi
212.343.6424
strabucchi@scholastic.com