SRA/McGraw-Hill Honors Schools with Greatly Improved Reading Scores

Elementary publisher SRA/McGraw-Hill has named its recipients of the 2008 Pride of SRA Academic Recognition Awards for achievements in reading: Brunswick County Schools in Bolivia, N.C.; Oakland Unified School District in California, and H.B. Stowe Fine & Performing Arts Academy in Chicago.

The annual awards program, established in 2001, recognizes schools and districts that are models in reading education. Honorees have demonstrated significant improvement or consistently high reading test scores through the implementation of a reading curriculum, such as SRA's Open Court Reading or Direct Instruction's reading programs -- Reading Mastery or Corrective Reading. The winners will be honored May 6 during a ceremony that coincides with the International Reading Association annual conference held this year in Atlanta.

Visit SRAonline.com/pride.html to learn more about the Pride program and award winners.

  The 2008 winners are:

    -- Brunswick County School District, Bolivia, N.C.
       Brunswick County School District has over 11,600 students in Grades
       Pre-K-12. The district's population is 23% African American, 6%
       Hispanic, and 70% Caucasian. Its free and reduced-price lunch
       population is 51%. In 2004, after failing to meet Adequate Yearly
       Progress in reading, three Title I elementary schools in the
       Brunswick County School District began school-wide implementations of
       SRA/McGraw-Hill's Direct Instruction programs Reading Mastery and
       Corrective Reading. By 2006-2007, each school met all reading targets
       for the very first time. Belville Elementary's Hispanic subgroup
       increased over 24%.  Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary's overall scores
       increased over 15%.  Lincoln Elementary's male subgroup increased
       nearly 9%.

    -- Harriet Beecher Stowe School, Chicago
       The Harriet Beecher Stowe school is a Grades Pre-K-8 fine and
       performing arts academy with 1,140 students. This school serves a
       population that is 6% African American, 92% Hispanic, and 2%
       Caucasian. The school offers 99% of the students free and
       reduced-price lunch and 30% of the students are English language
       learners. Stowe students have participated and won many competitions
       such as Joffrey Ballet, Latino Film Festival, Outstanding Latina
       Scientist, the Area Academic Olympics and Young Author, the City
       Spanish Oratory, Science Fair, and Chicago Young Filmmakers of the
       Year. The school has used SRA/McGraw-Hill's Open Court Reading and
       its companion Spanish language instruction Foro abierto para la
       lectura since 2003. Grade 8 reading proficiency scores increased from
       43.9% in 2005 to 70.9% in 2006.

    -- Oakland Unified School District, Oakland, Calif.
       Oakland USD is an urban Pre-K-12 district with 38,544 students. The
       student population is 37% African American, 34% Hispanic, 16% Asian,
       7% Caucasian, and 6% multicultural. More than 31% of students are
       English learners. Prior to implementing SRA/McGraw-Hill's Open Court
       Reading and Foro abierta para la lectura district-wide, teachers in
       the district were using a variety of programs exposing students to
       many different pedagogies. Administrators and teachers within the
       district now appreciate having a consistent and cohesive program and
       student results are showing the impact, with Academic Performance
       Index scores steadily increasing every year, from 568 in 2002 to 658
       in 2007.


  About Direct Instruction

Direct Instruction is an explicit teaching method based on nearly 50 years of educational research and classroom verification. It is used in classrooms of all types throughout the world, with students ranging from those with learning difficulties to very bright students. Direct Instruction's programs are based on two beliefs: All children can learn regardless of their learning histories, and all teachers can be successful when given effective materials and presentation techniques. These programs have been proven to work even when other programs fail. They provide a structured learning process that helps students learn "how to learn" while they build specific skills in reading, math, spelling, and language arts. Today, more than 1 million students in a third of the country's schools use a Direct Instruction program.

About Open Court Reading

Open Court Reading is a leading Pre-K-6 reading and language arts program published by SRA/McGraw-Hill. Developed from 45 years of intense study and field-testing, Open Court Reading incorporates sound teaching practices from scientific research. In the schools and districts where the program has been implemented, not only have students' reading test scores increased, but teachers and principals also are seeing gains in student achievement overall. The latest edition was published in 2008 as Imagine It!

About SRA/McGraw-Hill

SRA/McGraw-Hill is the top provider of specialized research-based educational programs and professional development for the elementary market. Leading programs include SRA Imagine It! reading program, Direct Instruction, and additional core and supplemental programs. SRA is part of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP). McGraw-Hill Education is a leading global provider of instructional, assessment, and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 40 languages. Additional information is available at mheducation.com. For more information on SRA/McGraw-Hill's products, call 1-888-SRA-4543 and visit SRAonline.com.

  Contact:  Amy Tillinghast                     Melina Metzger
            SRA/McGraw-Hill                     Paul Werth Associates
            (614) 750-7285                      (614) 224-8114 Ext. 236
            amy_tillinghast@mcgraw-hill.com     mmetzger@paulwerth.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

SOURCE: SRA/McGraw-Hill

CONTACT: Amy Tillinghast
SRA/McGraw-Hill
+1-614-750-7285
amy_tillinghast@mcgraw-hill.com
or
Melina Metzger
Paul Werth Associates
+1-614-224-8114 Ext. 236
mmetzger@paulwerth.com

Web site: http://www.sraonline.com/
http://www.sraonline.com/pride.html
http://www.mheducation.com/