The Challenge
Situated within a rural community in Northern California, the Red Bluff Union Elementary School District (RBUESD) is home to a substantial population of migrant families. Within its student body, 14% are multilingual learners, and 73% qualify for free or reduced-priced lunch.
Student literacy levels were below proficient prior to COVID, but the pandemic left students within RBUESD — like many others across the country — with even more severe gaps in their learning. According to Cliff Curry, the superintendent of Red Bluff Union Elementary School District, “Reading skills across multiple grade levels were suffering.”
The district knew it needed a large-scale solution to get students caught up.
- District Partner: Red Bluff Union Elementary School District, California
- District Size: 1,872 students
- Ignite Reading Program Participants: 460
The Solution
In January of 2022, RBUESD kicked off the Ignite Reading program as a pilot across all three of its elementary schools.
As Curry explained, “Using funding specifically targeted to recover learning for students most negatively affected by those years, the district found an answer in the Ignite Reading program to begin to ameliorate the damage done, and eliminate the gaps created by lost learning opportunities.”
Baseline Diagnostics Identified Each Student’s Gaps
The Ignite Reading solution for RBUESD started with giving every participating student a baseline assessment to confirm that they did, in fact, need the foundational skills Ignite Reading’s program teaches.
The assessment overwhelmingly confirmed the need for intervention — 80% of participants in grades 1 through 8 had skill gaps that placed them at kindergarten and 1st grade reading levels.
Ignite Reading also administered more precise diagnostics to understand each student’s individual gaps, so every developing reader could start their lessons with the exact skills they needed.
Tutoring Adapted to Each Student and School
Ignite Reading paired each student with a certified literacy tutor. Students met with their assigned tutor one-to-one via a virtual video platform for 15 minutes every school day.
A baseline diagnostic was used to determine where each individual student’s intervention should begin, allowing students to receive instruction in the skill area that aligned to their needs.
Ignite Reading’s certified literacy tutors follow a research-based, differentiated-instruction curriculum and work with students until they have mastered all foundational reading skills.
Partnership Was Essential To Student Success
Another critical element of the Ignite Reading solution was regular data sharing with representatives from each school in the program.
Ignite Reading provided data reports encompassing a range of details, from academic to behavioral, including space for Ignite Reading literacy specialists and teachers to exchange information about specific students.
Ignite Reading literacy specialists shared observations with recommendations for how to address them. Whether the next steps were small, like moving a student’s workstation so they’re not distracted by their neighbor, or larger, like providing data to support a student’s recommendation for Tier 3 supports, all of the relevant data was clearly organized and readily available to school leaders, teachers, and parents.
The Results
Analysis at the end of the 2022-23 academic year revealed impressive reading gains for Red Bluff students.
Students made an average of 2.1 weeks of reading growth per week of instruction, with 6th–8th graders achieving even more growth.
Weekly Reading Growth By Grade Level
Reading advancement was also consistent across students of all ethnicities and language backgrounds — there were no opportunity gaps.
Making Progress Where It’s Needed Most
Ignite Reading majorly improved skills for all participating Red Bluff students, but the outcome of extending Ignite Reading into the upper grades was especially impactful.
One multilingual learner, Zuria, started the Ignite Reading program at Vista Preparatory Academy in January 2023. The 8th grade student’s diagnostic assessment placed her at the very start of the sequence of reading, still needing Basic Alphabet Knowledge.
In just 13 instructional hours with an 85% attendance rate, Zuria successfully completed all of her kindergarten foundational skills and started gaining 1st grade skills. For every week in Ignite Reading, Zuria gained 2.7 weeks of reading growth!
As a result of their incredible student skill gains, RBUESD continues to expand their Ignite Reading partnership, with a goal of serving hundreds more students across all four schools.
