Districts Across Wyoming Choose Neuroscience-Based Fast ForWord Program to Target the Root Causes of Difficulty for Struggling Readers

Achievement, growth, and equity are key indicators of school quality on the Wyoming state accountability reports. To help students improve their performance and close achievement gaps for those who are most at risk — including struggling readers, students with disabilities, and English language learners (ELLs) — several Wyoming districts are turning to the neuroscience-based Fast ForWord® program from Scientific Learning Corp. (OTC PINK:SCIL).

Recent Wyoming school districts to implement the Fast ForWord program include Fremont County 25, Albany County 1, Goshen County 1, Laramie County 1, Park County 1, and Sheridan County 1. Alta Vista Elementary, a Title I school in Laramie County, began using the Fast ForWord online intervention in the fall of 2017 after participating in a free trial.

“I had a student who had been through several interventions, but nothing was working. I did some research, found the Fast ForWord program, and requested a free trial,” said Chrissy Pecenka, a teacher at Alta Vista. “The student made more than half a year’s growth in only one month. The Fast ForWord program worked for him when nothing else did and helped him get to grade level in a short amount of time.”

Fast ForWord is now used by struggling readers, students receiving special education services, and ELLs in grades 1-6 at Alta Vista. “We carefully target individual students with the Fast ForWord program to help them achieve growth in specific language, cognitive, and reading skills so that they can become proficient readers,” said Brent Young, principal.

Developed by neuroscientists, Fast ForWord uses a unique three-step approach to deliver fast gains to struggling students. It provides students with the foundational language and cognitive skills, intensive practice, and guided reading support that they need to catch up, once and for all.

“Many of our students have had tough lives early on. They may not have been read to or had any type of academic stimulation until they arrived to our school, so there’s a lot of ground to make up,” said teacher Holly Lawson. “I have never seen a program that does what Fast ForWord can do or that gives us results as quickly as this program seems to be doing.”

For information, visit www.scientificlearning.com.

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