Reaching All Readers: Strategic Reading Intervention

New K–3 reading intervention program from Zaner-Bloser supports struggling readers as they develop fluency and proficiency

COLUMBUS, OHIO (April 24, 2009)—With the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Acts (IDEA) in 2004, there has been a major effort to reduce the number of students being identified as "learning disabled." Lyon (1995) demonstrated that approximately 80% of these students are reading disabled.¹ A relatively new tiered approach to intervention referred to as Response to Intervention (RTI) is gaining attention. RTI is geared to prevent academic failure through early intervention, frequent assessment of progress, and increasingly intensive instructional intervention for students who continue to have difficulty.

To meet the growing intervention needs of reading classrooms, Zaner-Bloser introduces Reaching All Readers, a research-based intervention program that provides two tiers of intervention in a single package. The classroom-tested program was developed by reading intervention specialists Barbara Marinak, Ph. D.; Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator for Literacy Education at Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg; Susan Mazzoni, M. Ed., independent literacy consultant; and Linda Gambrell, Ph. D., Distinguished Professor of Education in the Eugene T. Moore School of Education at Clemson University. Dr. Marinak currently serves on the RTI Commission of the International Reading Association, while Dr. Gambrell has served as an elected member of the Board of Directors and president of three leading professional organizations: the International Reading Association, National Reading Conference, and College Reading Association.

Reaching All Readers is

grounded in No Child Left Behind (NCLB) best practices.
designed to complement any basal reading program.
highly interactive for use at school and at home.
flexible and cost-effective.

"If children who are struggling in their literacy learning are to succeed, they need instruction that both accelerates learning and goes beyond what are commonly regarded as the 'basics' of reading instruction," said Dr. Linda Gambrell, Consulting Author.

The lessons provided in Reaching All Readers are designed to support struggling readers as they develop fluency and proficiency. The lessons are grounded in best evidence and include the following elements:

Goal-directed instruction focused toward specific reading goals
Deliberate scaffolding via strategic prompting to encourage students to build metacognitive awareness and increase their confidence
Explicit teacher modeling to make "visible" the why, how, and when of strategic reading
Multiple practice opportunities to provide repeated exposure and reinforcement of new learning
Motivational components that respect the learner
Active learning experiences that lead to reading engagement
Formative, diagnostic, and summative assessments to place, monitor, and exit students from intervention

Reaching All Readers provides intervention that is systematic, strategic, and intensive to accelerate students to grade-level reading. Research shows that students often regress in skills upon exiting an intervention program. To ensure student success, Reaching All Readers recommends that students exit the program when they can perform one level above the current core reading placement.

For more information about Reaching All Readers, contact Patricia Bailey at 614.487.2211.

About Zaner-Bloser
Zaner-Bloser, Inc. is one of the nation’s leading publishers of reading and language arts instructional materials for grades K–8. Zaner-Bloser is a wholly owned subsidiary of Highlights for Children, Inc. and is located in Columbus, Ohio. For more information, call 800.421.3018 or visit www.zaner-bloser.com

¹ Lyon, G.R. (1995). Research initiatives in learning disabilities: Contributions from scientists supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Journal of Child Neurology,10(suppl.1), S120–S126

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