Colorado School Implementing Lindamood-Bell Outperforms the State in Reading
Colorado, Colorado State Assessments, Elementary School Results, Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing, Seeing Stars, Visualizing and Verbalizing
Bessemer Elementary School in Pueblo, Colorado, serves a large percentage of students who are at-risk of reading failure. During the 1998-99 and 1999-00 school years, Bessemer implemented Lindamood-Bell® instruction to address the specific needs of this student population. Students received Seeing Stars, Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing, and Visualizing and Verbalizing instruction to develop symbol imagery, phonemic awareness, and concept imagery for reading and comprehension. Instruction was delivered by Bessemer teachers who received professional development in the Lindamood-Bell programs. Student gains were measured with the 4th grade state reading test and the results were compared to gains made by the state. In 1997, only 12% of Bessemer’s 4th graders were proficient in reading, which was the lowest in the state.
Results
In 1997, Bessemer 4th graders were 43 points below the state, but in 2000, three years after implementing Lindamood-Bell, they were 20 points above the state. Bessemer improved 68 points from 1997 to 2000 compared to a five-point improvement for the state. The results of this study illustrate that Lindamood-Bell instruction in the Seeing Stars, Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing, and Visualizing and Verbalizing programs lead to improved reading and comprehension, which is essential to achieving success with school curricula.
Profile
Grade Levels: 4th
Lindamood-Bell Programs Implemented:
· Seeing Stars®
· Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing®
· Visualizing and Verbalizing®
Outcome Measures: Colorado Student Assessment Program (reading)
