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Shiprock






Located in northwestern New Mexico, in the primarily Navajo town of Shiprock, named after the volcanic monument local Navajos call "Tse Bitai" meaning "the winged rock," is the Community School known as Atsa' Biya' a'zh. In 2005, Atsa' Biya' a'zh Reading First Administrators, Kami Glen and Julia Donald began looking for core reading and intervention programs that were based on scientific research and aligned with Reading First guidelines. Both programs had to motivate as well as engage students. They found that Voyager Universal Literacy System® and Voyager Passport addressed these needs.

After one year of implementing the Voyager solutions (ULS in K-3 and Voyager Passport in K-6), dramatic results were achieved. Kindergarten students increased their reading skills ending the year with 80 percent of students at Benchmark; first-grade students gained, on average, more than 63 letter-sounds per minute between the beginning and end of the year; second grade students ended the year nearly at grade-level goal, reading 88 words per minute; and third-grade students increased their reading skills ending the year with 91 percent of students categorized as either Strategic or Benchmark readers. In fourth though sixth grades, 43 percent of students entering in fall 2007 were at Benchmark, a 29 percentage point increase from fall 2006.

Due to the significant increase in reading results, a celebration of the student success was held on October 2, 2007, from 6-8 p.m. The celebration kicked off with a reception including a performance of numerous traditional Native American dances. As the entertainment concluded, Ms. Glen presented previous year benchmark results, as well as current year first benchmark results. As she read the results from each grade, the crowd cheered in response.

After her speech, to the surprise of everyone, Voyager representatives awarded Atsa' Biya' a'zh with the Voyager Partnership Award. The Voyager Partnership Award is given to districts or schools for their continued leadership and support during the implementation of Voyager Education Solutions in the ongoing effort to bring all students to proficiency in reading and math. After accepting the award on behalf of Atsa' Biya' a'zh, reading coach Julia Donald stepped to the microphone and proudly exclaimed, "Voyager rocks!"

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