Program Description
Magnetic Reading Foundations is a comprehensive foundational skills program for students in grades K – 2 intended to be used 30-45 minutes a day in conjunction with the existing reading curriculum. It covers all the foundational skills standards, including phonological awareness, concepts of print, letter formation, phonics, high-frequency words, word analysis, and fluency. Educators are also granted digital access to program materials such as lessons and assessments to differentiate instruction for individuals and small-groups, plus digital interactive tutorials and supplemental resources to support student achievement.
Program Outcomes
The impact of Magnetic Reading Foundations was examined in a quasi-experimental study that took place in 11 schools from two states in the Northeast, 6 schools from one state in the Midwest, and 24 schools from one state in the West during school year 2022-23. Across the 41 schools, after matching and attrition, a total of 822 second grade students using Magnetic Reading Foundations were compared to 793 students, enrolled in comparable schools, using different literacy curricula.
The use of Magnetic Reading Foundations had a positive and statistically significant effect on spring i-Ready Diagnostic scores after controlling for baseline demographics and achievement. Students in schools that used Magnetic Reading Foundations scored higher than similar students in schools that did not use Magnetic Reading Foundations (effect size =+0.15). These results qualify Magnetic Reading Foundations for a Moderate ESSA rating.
Staffing Requirements
No additional staff are required to use Magnetic Reading Foundations. Implementations do require points of contact to assist with the initial set-up of Magnetic Reading Foundations and disseminate communications to other staff members. These points of contact are guided by i-Ready Partners who offer assistance throughout the implementation period and beyond.
Professional Development/Training
Curriculum Associates offers research-driven professional learning for new, practicing, and advanced users. Its professional learning focuses on preparing teachers to utilize program resources, including strategic routines, content-rich decodable texts, and targeted assessments, to teach foundational skills efficiently and effectively. On-site development days are six hours with the annual recommendation for number of sessions varying depending on implementation length. For continued training, Curriculum Associates offers free professional development through its OEL platform. Digital courses teach product features, suggest implementation best practices, and share ways educators across the country use Curriculum Associates’ products in their classrooms. To learn more about Curriculum Associates’ professional development offerings, please visit https://www.curriculumassociates.com/professional-development.
Technology
Digital access for Magnetic Reading Foundations (K–2) may be attained via the educator-facing Magnetic Reading Foundations Teacher Toolbox. In this Toolbox, educators can find digital versions of program materials to support remote or blended learning, as well as Interactive Tutorials to further engage their students.
Magnetic Reading Foundations Teacher Toolbox is accessed through a digital platform: i-Ready Connect. This can be accessed on a variety of Windows, MacOS, and Chromebook™ machines with browsers that enable JavaScript®, cookies, and pop-ups. To learn more about the technical requirements, please visit https://www.curriculumassociates.com/support/technical-requirements.