Special Education Students at California Elementary School Achieve AYP With Direct Instruction

Virginia Primrose Elementary, a Title I school in Fontana, California, adopted McGraw Hill's Reading Mastery and Corrective Reading programs in the 2004-2005 school year. The school serves 830 students in grades PK-5, with a student population that is 80% Hispanic and 55% English Learners; all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Following the implementation, the school saw significant reading proficiency improvements, particularly among its special education students. It became the only school in the Fontana Unified School District where special education students achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in both 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. The percentage of students scoring Proficient or Advanced in English Language Arts on the California Standards Test (CST) more than doubled in Grades 2 and 3 during the 2006-2007 school year compared to the 2004-2005 results, prior to the programs' adoption.