California English Learners Receiving Lindamood-Bell Instruction Make Significant Progress in English Language Arts

California, California Standards Test, Elementary School Results, Seeing Stars, Visualizing and Verbalizing

Olive Elementary School in Vista, California, serves a large percentage of English Learners who are at-risk of reading failure. During the 2006-07 school year, Olive implemented Lindamood-Bell® instruction to address the specific needs of this student population. Students received an average of 81 hours of Symbol Imagery and Visualizing and Verbalizing instruction to develop symbol imagery and concept imagery for reading and comprehension. Instruction was delivered by Olive teachers who received professional development in the Lindamood-Bell programs. Student gains were measured with the state English arts test and were compared to the cut score for basic proficiency as established by the state.

Results
On average, Lindamood-Bell students made a significant improvement in English language arts from 2006 to 2007. The achievement gap was closed by 17 points. Additionally, 49% of Lindamood-Bell students increased proficiency levels. The results of this study illustrate that Lindamood-Bell instruction in the Seeing Stars and Visualizing and Verbalizing programs lead to improved reading and comprehension, which is essential to achieving success with school curricula.

Profile
Number of Students: 33
Grade Levels: 3rd-5th
Lindamood-Bell Programs Implemented:
·  Seeing Stars®
·  Visualizing and Verbalizing®
Outcome Measures: California Standards Test (CST), English Language Arts