DALLAS, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- After using the Voyager Universal
Literacy System(R), 19 of the 21 schools in the Richmond Public School
District that implement the core reading program made Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) for the 2005-2006 school year. Before implementing the
Voyager Universal Literacy System in 2001, only 5 out of the 21 schools
made Adequate Yearly Progress.
"I believe strongly that literacy is the gateway for each child's
future learning and ultimate success. Therefore, I am pleased that Richmond
Public Schools has formed such a strong partnership with Voyager, because
our teachers have used the stellar training and materials to maximize our
students' reading achievement," says Dr. Deborah Jewell-Sherman,
superintendent for Richmond Public Schools.
An article in the winter 2007 issue of City Journal, a quarterly
magazine on urban affairs, also noted that since the implementation of
Voyager Universal Literacy System in 2001, Richmond's test scores have
skyrocketed. By 2003, the total number of district schools achieving full
state accreditation had climbed to 22. The next year, it rose to 39 and has
now reached 44. In addition, since enacting district reforms, Richmond has
moved from 114th in the state in reading (out of 132 districts) to 50th.
Dr. Yvonne Brandon, associate superintendent for instruction and
accountability for Richmond, also recently testified before the U.S.
Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee as part of
a roundtable discussion on strategies that promote school improvement.
In her statement to the committee, Brandon noted: "Under the leadership
of our new superintendent Dr. Deborah Jewell-Sherman, we started charting
our course to excellence. We had to create a culture of continuous
commitment to student success. The vision provided the foundation for
excuse-free education and high expectations for all. We committed to being
on board, on purpose and on message. We also vowed to show that our
students would excel not in spite of who they were or where they lived but
because of who we are."
Due to the leadership demonstrated in Richmond by both Dr.
Jewell-Sherman and Dr. Yvonne Brandon, in October 2006, the administrators
were honored with the Voyager Founder's Award. The award is bestowed upon
educators who are helping to win the battle to achieve unprecedented,
measurable gains in moving low-performing students and schools to standard,
and substantially closing the achievement gap.
Richmond Public Schools has been using the Voyager Universal Literacy
System(R) since 2001 and because of its success added additional Voyager
programs, including Voyager Passport(TM), Passport Reading Journeys(TM) and
TimeWarp(R) Plus.
About Voyager Expanded Learning
Voyager Expanded Learning provides core, intervention and supplemental
reading programs, as well as math intervention and ongoing professional
development programs, for school districts throughout the United States.
Founded in 1994, Voyager has delivered extended-time reading and basic
skills intervention programs, and large-scale reading programs to more than
900 school districts in cities such as Dallas, Phoenix, New York,
Philadelphia and Los Angeles, resulting in dramatically improved student
performance. Voyager Expanded Learning, L.P. is part of ProQuest Education,
based in Dallas, Texas. For more information, please visit
http://www.voyagerlearning.com or call 1-888-399- 1995.
SOURCE Voyager Expanded Learning
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Related links:
http://www.proquestcompany.com
http://www.voyagerlearning.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/108291.html/
CONTACT:
Media Contact, Shannan Overbeck of Voyager
Expanded Learning, +1-888-399-1995 ext. 9476, or
soverbeck@voyagerlearning.com; or Investor Contact, Jennifer
Chelune, Investor Relations Manager, of ProQuest Company,
+1-734-997-4910, or jennifer.chelune@proquest.com
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