Turnaround School in Colorado Outperforms the State with Lindamood-Bell

1. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Turnaround School in Colorado Outperforms the State with Lindamood-Bell
Center, CO, July 24, 2012- As a result of its School Turnaround efforts, Haskin Elementary
School’s 3rd Graders have outperformed the state average on the 2012 TCAP in reading. In 2011,
41 percent of Haskin’s 3rd graders scored as proficient or advanced. This year, 76 percent of 3 rd
graders scored at proficient or advanced, whereas, the state average was 74 percent.
Haskin Elementary is in Center School District, located in the rural San Luis Valley of
southwestern Colorado. According to the Colorado Department of Education, the district has one
of the highest percentage of students in poverty in the state (94%) and is 94 percent minority.
The district also classifies 65 percent of students as English Learners. In 2010, the school
partnered with Lindamood-Bell to implement a comprehensive Professional Learning
Community (PLC) based on literacy development.
Despite the many challenges facing its population, Haskin Elementary School has demonstrated
that with an effective Turnaround plan, low-performing schools can significantly increase
student achievement. Following the first year of its Turnaround model with Lindamood-Bell, the
percent of 3rd graders at proficiency in reading increased from 28 percent to 41 percent.
After the second year, 3rd graders have increased from 41% to 76% proficient/advanced. In two
years, Haskin’s 3rd graders have made a 48-point improvement, the largest of any school
involved in the School Improvement program in the state.

2. Principal Kathy Kulp observed, "Lindamood-Bell has had an enormous impact on our school and
on our students. The training our teachers received impacted all areas of their instruction and led
to increased student achievement across the content areas."
All instructional staff, including the school principal and Director of Instruction for the district,
received Lindamood-Bell® professional development in programs that develop reading and
comprehension. Lindamood-Bell’s sensory cognitive programs are integrated throughout the
school’s curricula and Response to Intervention (RtI) framework.
Lindamood-Bell’s professional development model includes job-embedded support for all
teachers. District Superintendent George Welsh noted that “having somebody who is here, living
in the community, spending the extra hours with you, who you can go to for an immediate
answer, who, when you have a teacher struggling can go to support them, that’s an outstanding
model.”
Haskin is now focusing on sustaining their success. Several instructional leaders in the school
have completed the Lindamood-Bell® Certification program, aimed at increasing teacher
effectiveness and maintaining program fidelity. One of those instructional leaders, Melissa
Garcia, is confident about reaching every student in the building: “I truly believe that choosing to
implement Lindamood-Bell at Haskin Elementary was a great decision. Our students are being
challenged more than ever before and our teachers have the tools, the metacognitive strategies,
and support to reach them.”
About Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes:
Since 1986, Lindamood-Bell has been an internationally recognized leader in the research and
development of programs for reading instruction and remediation. The organization partners
extensively with school districts to offer innovative literacy solutions and professional
development. It is an approved professional development provider in the states of Colorado,
Tennessee, Ohio, and Arizona, with emphasis in the areas of school improvement and
turnaround/transformation initiatives.
Lindamood-Bell has received national recognition from CNN, Newsweek, Time, US News and
World Report, and the neuroscience journal Neuron, and has been featured on the PBS special
The Secret Life of the Brain. More information on Lindamood-Bell is available online at
www.lindamoodbell.com.
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