Nineteen Voyager Universal Literacy System Schools in Richmond, Virginia, Make AYP for 2005-2006 School Year
February 22 2007 - 5:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
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.
DATASOURCE: Voyager Expanded Learning CONTACT: Media Contact,
Shannan Overbeck of Voyager Expanded Learning, +1-888-399-1995 ext.
9476, or ; or Investor Contact, Jennifer Chelune, Investor
Relations Manager, of ProQuest Company, +1-734-997-4910, or Web
site: http://www.proquestcompany.com/
http://www.voyagerlearning.com/ Company News On-Call:
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