L.A. County Office of Education Launches Reading, YES! to Help Educators Improve Teaching of K-8 Reading and Language Arts

The Los Angeles County Office of Education today introduced Reading, YES!, an online professional development program that enhances a teacher's ability to master reading techniques and enables them to impact the way students learn reading and language arts.

The program -- created by the Office of Education's Center For Distance and Online Learning -- has already successfully provided reading coursework to hundreds of teachers in the Los Angeles area. Reading, YES! will be available to educators nationwide through a special distribution agreement with McGraw- Hill Professional Development.

Reading, YES! offers participants research-based approaches in a systematic series of online lessons that include proven strategies for teaching reading and language arts specific to the needs of English language learners. The Reading, YES! program helps states meet the Highly Qualified Teacher requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, and provides teacher training that:

   * Improves the quality of classroom instruction;
   * Builds instruction on scientific research proven to work in the
     teaching of reading;
   * Provides educators with the resources and research that support NCLB;
     and
   * Provides graduate level continuing education credits.

"We are pleased to align with McGraw-Hill Professional Development to deliver an effective training solution for teachers," said Darline P. Robles, Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools. "This effort not only provides teachers with the latest research and information on reading, but supports them in a way so they can have a direct impact on student success."

Reading, YES! covers key concepts such as early reading, oral language and comprehension, and differentiated instruction applications. The easy-to-use program offers:

   * A 7-week online course, available for Grades K-3 and Grades 4-8, that
     incorporates video, audio and instructional activities to keep
     participants engaged;
   * Innovative technologies to help educators master techniques that
     support effective classroom practices and help them reflect on their
     own practices and experiences;
   * Online instructor support to guide each participant throughout the
     learning process; and
   * Online discussion communities, quizzes and journaling activities that
     foster a learning community environment and provide ongoing
     communication with peers.

"This is a great example of a public and private collaboration that maximized the resources of both organizations to meet an educational need," said Beth McBride, president of McGraw-Hill Professional Development. "The result is an innovative professional development program that utilizes emerging technologies to deliver targeted reading and language arts training to support the educational goals of NCLB legislation."

Reading, YES! is the latest professional development offering available from McGraw-Hill Professional Development. The company also offers Mathematics, YES!, a Pre-K to Algebra mathematics professional development program. Last year, McGraw-Hill Professional Development signed an agreement with Los Angeles Unified School District to launch a first-of-its-kind customized Mathematics, YES! professional development Algebra I program to help educators increase student success.

To learn more about these innovative approaches to professional development visit: http://mhpdonline.com/

About the Los Angeles County Office of Education

The Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) is a public agency headquartered in Downey, CA. LACOE provides hundreds of programs and services to the 81 public school districts in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the nation with 1.7 million school-age children. LACOE also operates a variety of alternative and specialized schools, including the award-winning Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, whose alumni includes actor Jenna Elfman and singer Josh Groban. In addition, LACOE serves as an intermediate organization between the school districts and the California Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education.

About McGraw-Hill Professional Development

McGraw-Hill Professional Development, a unit of McGraw-Hill Education, specializes in quality customized professional development programs for educators that fit district and teacher needs. McGraw-Hill Education is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), a global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's and Business Week. The Corporation has more than 322 offices in 33 countries. Sales in 2003 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.

Los Angeles County Office of Education

SOURCE: McGraw-Hill Professional Development;

CONTACT: Los Angeles County Office of Education:
Rick de la Torre
(562) 922-6492
delatorre_rick@lacoe.edu
McGraw-Hill Education:
April Hattori
(212) 904-2078
april_hattori@mcgraw-hill.com
Diane Lopez
(212) 904-3214
diane_lopez@mcgraw-hill.com

Web site: http://www.mheducation.com/
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/
http://mhpdonline.com/