Midtown Academy Students Demonstrate Significant Growth in Reading After Seeing Stars Instruction

Dyslexia Intervention, Elementary School Results, Florida, Reading, Response to Intervention, RtI, Seeing Stars, Special Education, Specific Learning Disability, Tier 3

During the 2023-24 school year, Lindamood-Bell partnered with Pinellas County Schools to provide extensive job-embedded professional development including initial workshops, asynchronous coursework, and live, fully interactive support sessions to help teachers build capacity and maintain fidelity. Midtown Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida, implemented Lindamood-Bell instruction to address the specific needs of struggling readers in the district. Intensive, small-group instruction was provided by district staff in the programs developed 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 all measures, including word attack, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Additionally, the 24-point percentile increase in phonemic awareness put these students within the normal range (25th-75th percentile). Their pre- to posttest results were statistically significant on all measures. These results illustrate that implementation of Lindamood-Bell’s professional development model can lead to significant improvement in reading, which is essential to achieving success with school curricula.

PROFILE:
Number of Students: 43 Average Age: 8.7
Average Hours of Instruction: 78.0
Lindamood-Bell Programs Implemented: Seeing Stars®
Outcome Measures:
• Symbol Imagery Test
• Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Test-3rd
• Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-3rd (word attack)
• Wide Range Achievement Test-4th (reading and spelling)
• Gray Oral Reading Tests-4th (rate, accuracy, fluency, and comprehension)