Passport Learning's Academy of Reading uses a
computerized test to pinpoint specific reading subskills that result in student
weaknesses in reading. Reading problems can be broken down into three
subtypes:
- S—scanning/sequencing
Students
experience difficulty in scanning words on a page.
- A—auditory/visual
Students have trouble
connecting what they see with what they hear.
- O—oral expression
Students struggle
with pronunciation and may have a slow speech pattern.
Once a student’s weakness has been determined,
he is given specially designed exercises that focus on the areas of his
difficulty. These skill-based exercises help the student by providing
intervention, offering acceleration, and developing automaticity.
Intervention
By providing intervention, we mean that
Passport Learning intervenes in a student’s regular reading instruction. It
comes along side of the student’s existing instruction and targets specific
needs identified by the initial assessment. Intervention is not intended to
replace reading instruction.
Acceleration
Acceleration does not mean "speed reading."
Instead it is intended to distinguish Passport Learning’s methods from those of
remedial programs. Remediation starts with the first area of difficulty and
laboriously moves through a long process of re-teaching all areas of reading.
Acceleration, in contrast, targets the specific need of each child, provides
pinpoint instruction, and moves quickly through the areas of
challenge.
Automaticity
Automaticity is the development of a response from the
student that does not require deliberate attention to basic reading elements.
Passport Learning’s methodology measures automaticity by measuring a student’s
accuracy and speed in responding to a series of computerized exercises. By
developing automaticity, students are then able to concentrate on comprehension
rather than the mechanics of reading.
