After its growth in student reading achievement plateaued, West Baton Rouge Schools (WBR) in Port Allen, LA, began looking for a research-based program to increase the number of its students demonstrating reading proficiency. The district sought a more explicit and systematic approach to literacy instruction that would reinvigorate student growth and move more students towards reading proficiency.
After a thorough vetting process, it selected Fundations®, a foundational literacy curriculum that uses a Structured Literacy approach. During the first year of implementation, WBR saw the percentage of students demonstrating reading proficiency increase from 57% to 68% as measured by the DIBELS 8 Screener.
Lindsey Williams, Literacy and Elementary Instructional Coordinator, credits the program for providing “a clear pathway to student success through its structured routines and lesson design.”
The veteran educator who has also taught kindergarten and first grade as well as serving as an instructional coach said, “The program’s consistent framework allows teachers to leverage their knowledge of students’ individual needs to plan intentional, targeted instruction. As a result, teachers can deliver lessons that support immediate improvements in student understanding and skill development.”
Students also benefit from the consistent instructional routines that build upon one another in a gradual release model. “As students become familiar with the routines, they’re able to focus more deeply on the content being taught rather than dividing their attention between understanding the task and learning the procedure,” Lindsey explained. “This structure allows students to engage more fully with the concepts and develop stronger mastery of foundational reading skills.”
Now in the second year of implementation, Lindsey sees students making better use of their resources during independent and group tasks and using the routines in other content areas. She has observed improvements in student writing, reading, and comprehension since the district began using Fundations.
“This growth highlights the significant impact that explicit, systematic phonics instruction can have on student outcomes in a relatively short period of time,” she shared. “The early success of the program has been encouraging, and we are optimistic about the continued improvement in student achievement as Fundations is implemented consistently over multiple years.”