Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's English Language Development Support Applauded in Illinois Elementary Schools

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, one of the nation's leaders in educational publishing for elementary schools, has achieved great success for English Learners (EL) in Gurnee, Illinois, with a research-based elementary reading and language arts program.

Kim Terry, EL teacher for Woodland School District 50, said EL students in her district are extremely successful with the program because it features built-in English Language Development (ELD) support to enable teachers to meet the needs of students at all reading language acquisition levels, in both English and Spanish. "The program provides a variety of lessons that allow EL teachers to effectively teach, review, and reinforce skills, concepts, and strategies," she explained. "It also allows teachers to differentiate instruction during guided reading through leveled readers."

Terry added, "We see a great deal of enthusiasm among students when they begin to make those all-important connections during reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities. We know the program is truly working because we assess EL students regularly, and their academic successes are evident."

Woodland School District 50 is located between Milwaukee and Chicago. Composed of Early Childhood through Grade 8, it is the seventh largest elementary school district in Illinois, encompassing 33 square miles and educating more than 7,000 students. Approximately 8 percent are classified as English Learners. Teachers piloted the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill program in Grades 1 and 2 in fall 2007 and unanimously voted to adopt it the following year.

Now Macmillan/McGraw-Hill has created an all-new elementary reading and language arts program specifically for California named California Treasures that incorporates the state-required ELD component to assist students transitioning from Spanish. The program includes 30 minutes of integrated EL instruction every day. In addition, differentiated instruction strategies help ensure language acquisition with a variety of leveled reading, writing, vocabulary, and oral practice opportunities.

For additional support, the program features a complete English language development program co-authored by Diane August, Ph.D., California Treasures English Language Development. This all-new program provides an additional 60 minutes of ELD instruction and seamlessly integrates with California Treasures to help EL students have access to the core curriculum.

California Treasures is a comprehensive reading and language arts program that includes differentiated instruction, an English language development program, writing support, and classroom management resources.

For more information about Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's California Treasures, please visit http://www.califtreasures.com/.

About Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill is part of McGraw-Hill School Solutions Group (MHSSG).

The group combines Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, which focuses on Grades PreK-6, and Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, which serves Grades 6-12. MHSSG is the only major educational publishing business to provide a comprehensive approach to the development of print and digital instructional materials from pre-kindergarten through high school. Additional information is available at http://www.macmillanmh.com/.

About McGraw-Hill Education

McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is a leading global provider of print and digital 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 60 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com/.

   Contacts:   Tom Stanton                   Yvonne Pentz
               McGraw-Hill Education         Paul Werth Associates
               (212) 904-3214                (614) 224-8114
               tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com   ypentz@paulwerth.com

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SOURCE: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

CONTACT: Tom Stanton
McGraw-Hill Education
+1-212-904-3214
tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com
Yvonne Pentz
Paul Werth Associates
+1-614-224-8114
ypentz@paulwerth.com

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