School Partnerships | Spotlight on Kentwood Public Schools

The research-validated programs authored by Lindamood-Bell’s founders address the imagery-language connection that is a silent partner to cognition and literacy, and is often the missing piece in helping students close the achievement gap.

Our unique programs can help diverse groups of students learn to read, comprehend, and compute to their potential, including students with minor to severe learning challenges and English Language Learners. Our instruction can be effectively implemented within a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework and is aligned with state and Common Core Standards.

We partnered with Kentwood Public Schools for the 2018-19 school year, during which time students achieved significant gains in reading through Lindamood-Bell instruction.

Superintendent Michael Zoerhoff provides an introduction to their diverse school district, which serves students from more than 60 countries who speak more than 70- languages:

Background

Kentwood Public Schools in Kentwood, MI, serves a large percentage of students who are at-risk of reading failure. During the 2018-19 school year, Kentwood Public Schools implemented Lindamood-Bell® instruction to address the specific needs of this student population. 223 students received an average of 83.8 hours of primarily Seeing Stars instruction to develop symbol imagery for reading. Instruction was delivered by Kentwood Public Schools’ teachers who received professional development in the programs created by Lindamood-Bell’s founders. Student gains were measured with a battery of reading assessments.

Results

On average, Seeing Stars students achieved significant improvements in reading. They made large standard score changes on several measures, including a 5.0-point change in Accuracy and a 3.9-point change in Fluency. Additionally, the 11-point percentile increase in Symbol Imagery placed these students within the normal range (25th-75th percentile). Their pre- to posttest results were statistically significant on nearly all measures. The results of this study illustrate that Lindamood-Bell instruction in the Seeing Stars program leads to improved reading, which is essential to achieving success with school curricula.

Additional Resources

Hear from Superintendent Michael Zoerhoff as he describes how the Kentwood learning community strives for excellence and equity, while celebrating its great diversity, in this podcast episode.

Kentwood Public Schools was also featured in one of our Leaders in Literacy webinars, Real-Life RtI. Learn more about how they successfully implemented an RtI framework and their focus on professional development by watching the webinar.

Explore more of Kentwood Public Schools’ results here.

Learn More

Schools partner with Lindamood-Bell for our expertise in research-validated programs that work within a Response to Intervention (RtI) framework and are aligned with state standards, including Common Core. 

Explore our professional development workshops and contact us with questions or to discuss how your school can get started: 800-233-1819.