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Scott Lane is a high-needs (70% poverty), extremely diverse school (students there speak 21 different languages) which implemented the Waterford Early Reading Program™ in 1998 as part of its daring initiative titled "1000 Days to Success". In this program, Scott Lane issues a written guarantee to each incoming kindergarten student promising that he or she will be reading at or above grade level by the end of the second grade. The Waterford Early Reading Program is integrated into an overall, intensive, school-wide literacy plan. Daily usage of the program is verified through weekly generation of student reports, as well as through teacher observation by the Literacy Coordinator and Literacy Coach. On average, students use Waterford about 90% of the recommended time in kindergarten and 82% of the recommended time in first and second grade.

Implementation Highlights Staff Supported All students involved K-2 Daily use of program Books integrated across curriculum Home components utilized

Numerous activities at Scott Lane promote literacy in the classroom and the home. Each week during the "Reading Buddies" session, first and second graders read their Waterford books to their Big Buddy, a fourth or fifth grade student. Waterford stories are integrated into science and social studies lessons. In the second grade, Waterford stories started on the computer form the basis of a Writer’s Workshop. To encourage reading in the home, an annual Kindergarten Gala familiarizes parents with all the books, tapes, and videos that will be coming into their home. Literacy classes are held for parents to coach them in ways to help their children learn.

  
Evidence and Results

By June 2000, it was evident that including Waterford as part of Scott Lane’s overall literacy plan was a success: 56 out of 59 students (95%) were reading at or above grade level, as determined by Reading Recovery level 22. Based on this success, a new study was designed specifically to look at the effect of Waterford on English Language Learners. During the 2001-2002 school year, Waterford students reached the end-of-the-year benchmark on the Literacy Observation Survey (LOS) at a faster rate than control students. By March 2002, 66% of Waterford second graders had reached the June benchmark on the LOS, whereas only 28% of the control students demonstrated the same success. Similarly, students in the Waterford group showed higher pre- to post-test gains on the Student Oral Language Observation Matrix (SOLOM) assessment than the control group. Second grade Waterford students gained an average of 4.44 points (on a 25 point scale) versus a 1.7 point gain by the control group.

  
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