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"Who doesn’t believe in Waterford? I see what it has done for our children. I am just tickled and amazed to watch our students work on the Waterford program. You have to be here to see it. It is amazing!"
     —Nancy Mettler, Principal, Rio Calaveras Elementary

Highlights

• With help from the Waterford Early Reading Program from Pearson Digital Learning, there was a 31 point API (Academic Performance Index) increase at Rio Calaveras Elementary in 2002.
  
• API growth at Rio Calaveras increased 98 points to their target 15 points for the years Waterford has been implemented, representing a 553% increase total over 4 years.
  
• During the period that Waterford has been optimized, CELDT (California English Language Development Test) scores show a dramatic increase in cohort students’ proficiencies at intermediate and higher. In 2001, 89% of ELL students were intermediate and below; that number fell to 20% in 2002.
  
• On the SAT 9 test from 2000-2002, Rio Calaveras second grade students outperformed the district average by 68%. Rio Calaveras averaged a 9% year over year improvement, out placing the district average of 5% for that time frame.
  
• Of 135 third grade students tested in spring 2002 who optimized the Waterford lab for two years, only 3 were designated for the school’s REACH program.
   

Profile

Rio Calaveras Elementary School is located in the city of Stockton, in California’s central valley. There are 1,002 students who attend the school, and 17 percent are English language students. Rio Calaveras is one of 49 schools in the Stockton City Unified School District.
 

Challenge

The challenge at Rio Calaveras was searching for a program to help the older students and ELL students who are struggling in reading to develop their phonemic awareness and other incremental reading strategies and skills.
 

Solution

Rio Calaveras Elementary implemented the Waterford Early Reading Program in 1999. The 20 station Waterford lab is set up in an intimate room and serves more than 340 students throughout the school year. The lab is well organized and utilized from as early as 8 a.m. to well after the school day is over.
 

A Principal’s Perspective – In the words of Nancy Mettler

Principal Nancy Mettler, far left, accompanied by Dennis Flynn, incoming principal, lights up when asked about her school’s Waterford lab.

"In the late afternoon there is a small block of time for older students and ELL students who are struggling in reading to log on and start working at their own pace on their phonemic awareness and other incremental reading strategies and skills. These are the students who have never had any type of phonemic awareness programs and who need to start at the beginning with letter and sound recognition. Since some of our ELL students may be new to the country and need many different experiences to develop their understanding of our language, letters, and words, the Waterford lab has enriched their experiences. While other students may have moved many times, had poor attendance or some health issues, and have severe gaps in their education, the Waterford lab has given them an opportunity to work at their own pace and fill the gaps. The Waterford reading lab has provided daily opportunities for these students to reinforce and strengthen their reading skills. If students are absent of skills, the program helps them succeed by starting them at their own level and providing needed repetition and rebuilding of skills. The Waterford program is a fun way for our students to learn and feel successful.

How do we maximize our Waterford Lab for all Students?

"After several months, I was continually seeing the same small group of students being sent out of the classroom or from recess. As I became more familiar with them, I realized they were having trouble reading and experiencing problems socializing. So one day I just got tired of seeing them waste time being out of the classroom. I marched them down to the Waterford lab during their recess time and said ‘We are going to try something now.’ I want each of you to start working on the computers during your recess. Now, we have children who are willing to give up their playtime to be on Waterford. We are talking about students in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. They are happy to be here because they are achieving success and learning core skills.

"Everything they learn in the Waterford computer lab, they are able to use, transition, and supplement with what they are learning in the classroom. Sometimes when we do phonics or reading, I wonder how they knew that word. It motivates them to learn the word back and forth with our programs, Waterford helps them blend and have better growth."
     —Caroline Thom, Kindergarten

"Waterford is a really inventive way that kids have a lot of fun learning and it has a lot of music and song that stay in their heads. You see students when they are testing and they are singing songs to themselves."
     —Crystal David first grade, first year teacher

How does Waterford extend learning past the school grounds?

Certificates from the Waterford Early Reading Program

"What has been very positive, too, is that the students can make and take their own story books home and receive positive reinforcement through a certificate for each accomplishment. Some of the proof is in the parents comments. Not only do the students love the certificates, but I have parents come and tell me that they have their walls covered in certificates from the Waterford lab. It is very important to the children to be able to show how important education is to the rest of their family. Parents are so proud because their child received a certificate. If you look through your own career as a student, how many certificates did you receive? Some of us may have received one or two certificates during our school years. Do you remember how proud you and your family were? Waterford provides our students with immediate positive reinforcement after they have completed a lesson or a project, and that’s really great.

How does Waterford contribute to each child’s learning success?

"We had one seventh grade student who is a non-English speaker at our school who would not try to speak with anyone. Since nobody spoke his language, we tried to enhance his learning by providing opportunities to participate in an enriched oral language program. The Waterford program was included in his daily schedule. After observing him in class and in the Waterford lab, I kept saying, ‘he knows more than we are giving him credit for.’ While I observed him in the Waterford lab, he mouthed every word and letter. He could talk back to the Waterford computer and feel safe. I also watched him with silent and coral reading in the classroom, and again, he mouthed each word. When tested in his own language, he was above grade level."

"Students really like it. Very, very rarely do we miss Waterford. They ask for it; Waterford is part of our daily routine. The strength I see in Waterford is the continuity of doing it every single day."
     —Patty Underwood, First Grade
 

Results

The graph below shows that STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) scores for second grade ELL students who were proficient at Basic and above were significantly higher than the district averages.

Rio Calaveras Elementary School
Stockton City USD

The comparison graph below shows the growth in CELDT proficiencies among cohort students in one year—a year that Kindergarten and a first grade class participated in the daily Waterford opportunity. Note the massive shift in students at Intermediate and higher.

The Waterford Early Reading Program is creating success in classrooms throughout the country, from a single student’s life changing daily opportunity to an entire class’s triumph in reading. Rio Calaveras Elementary in Stockton City Unified School District is no exception.

  
Contact us for additional information on how Pearson Digital Learning can help you achieve results with Waterford Early Reading Program and Waterford Early Math & Science.