Jamestown Education Programs Improve Student Performance

McGraw-Hill Education has issued a new report called "Results with Jamestown Education," which features eight schools that have achieved student success with its reading programs. Jamestown Education is part of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, the leading provider of secondary school materials in the nation.

The schools in the report represent a wide range of socioeconomic, ethnic, and geographic characteristics, proving that all struggling readers can find success and get back on track. They include:

  * Ames Middle School & Sawyer Elementary, Ames, IA
  * Broome-Tioga, Binghamton, NY
  * Des Moines Independent Community School District, Des Moines, IA
  * Westminster, Marina, and Ocean View High Schools, Huntington Beach, CA
  * Miller Middle School, Durango, CO
  * Riverspring Middle School, Crawfordville, FL
  * St. Louis Park Junior High School, St. Louis Park, MN
  * Southwest Middle Schools, Palm Bay, FL

For 35 years, Jamestown Education has specialized in materials for middle school, high school and adult students. The instruction is research-based, and the texts are flexible enough to allow for different learning styles and interests.

"Jamestown has materials that our students can read and like to read. The stories are at their instructional level without being insulting or lacking content," said Heather Bates of Mary Meredith School in Arizona. "Jamestown materials provide you with very skill-specific targeted lessons to target problems in an age-appropriate way. That's the key."

Teacher Robyn Cornwell of Summit Middle School in Colorado echoed Bates' sentiment:

   "Jamestown provides the best reading materials for teaching struggling
   readers key reading skills that I have come across in my 18 years of
   teaching," said Cornwell. "Not only are the selections engaging to all
   students, but students clearly increase their background knowledge, learn
   and integrate new vocabulary, and most importantly, develop the key
   reading skills to become more strategic readers. I swear by them!"

The featured schools in the report share four critically important common characteristics. They have:

  * Recognized the importance of motivation and engagement for older
    struggling readers.
  * Used progress assessments during the school year to ensure effective
    instruction.
  * Provided time for explicit reading instruction during the day for
    adolescent learners.
  * Created exciting climates within their schools to encourage learning.

"It's truly inspiring to read how Jamestown Education helps all readers become better readers," said Dr. Thomas Houlihan, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. "It is essential that we continue to support the development of these kinds of materials, which impact academic outcomes and demonstrate positive results, if we are going to maintain high standards for schools across the country."

"Most importantly, all of the schools featured in the report maintained high expectations for all students, not just the brightest and most privileged," said Gene Carter, executive director and chief executive officer of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. "This moving report describes how both teachers and students take their challenges head-on, using Jamestown Education programs, to reverse trends of failure."

Review the Report

The entire report can be downloaded at http://www.mheducation.com/. To request printed copies of the report, contact: Charlotte Frank, senior vice president, McGraw-Hill Education Research and Development, (212) 512-6512, charlotte_frank@mcgraw-hill.com.

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education is a leading global provider of electronic and print products for the pre-K through 12th grade, higher education and professional markets. It 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. Founded in 1888, the Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2003 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.

SOURCE: McGraw-Hill Education

CONTACT: April Hattori Nancy Newton
McGraw-Hill Education Paul Werth Associates
(212) 904-2078 (614) 224-8114
april_hattori@mcgraw-hill.com nnewton@paulwerth.com

Web site: http://www.mheducation.com/