SRA Open Court Reading Launches Dillsboro Elementary K–6 Students to New Levels of Reading Success

Dillsboro Elementary School in southeastern Indiana implemented SRA Open Court Reading, a comprehensive literacy program designed around the Science of Reading. The program provides systematic, explicit instruction across core literacy components including phonics, phonemic awareness, decoding, sight recognition, and reading comprehension.

Dillsboro Elementary is the only K–6 school in the South Dearborn Community School Corporation and serves fewer than 300 students. Approximately 53% of students qualify for free or reduced price meals and minority enrollment represents 4% of the student population.

School leaders adopted Open Court Reading for the 2024–2025 school year after identifying gaps in students’ foundational literacy skills, particularly vocabulary understanding and comprehension. The program provides structured lessons and a clearly sequenced scope that guides teachers through modeling, guided practice, and application activities.

Student outcomes were monitored using interim assessments and the NWEA state assessment. Mid year checkpoint data showed passing rates increasing from 28% to 59% within the first months of implementation. 

By spring 2025, NWEA results indicated that 31% of students were at or above the 60th percentile and 18% were at or above the 80th percentile. Reading scores improved across all grades, with year over year gains including 42% improvement among kindergarten students who had been below benchmark and improvements of 28% in grade 1, 17% in grade 2, 15% in grade 3, 32% in grade 4, and 3% in grade 5.

Educators also observed improvements in other academic areas, including math, which were associated with stronger vocabulary and comprehension skills developed through the program.