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For Immediate Release
The Journal of Education for Students Placed
At Risk Publishes Study on Voyager
Universal Literacy System
Dallas,TX., February 15, 2006 –The Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk (JESPAR), a peer-reviewed journal, recently published an independent study on the effectiveness of the Voyager Universal Literacy System®. The study showed that students enrolled in the Voyager program outperformed students enrolled in other reading programs.
Voyager Expanded Learning® co-sponsored the study with the Council of Great City Schools and commissioned Westat Research Corporation to undertake a longitudinal study of the Voyager Universal Literacy System. The first year of the study compares the reading achievement of Kindergarten students participating in Universal Literacy with that of students participating in other reading programs in a matched sample of schools over eight months during 2002-2003.
According to the study, "the Voyager program has statistically significant, positive impacts on student achievement."
"The Voyager Universal Literacy System was built on the most current and converging scientifically-based research," Dr. Jeri Nowakowski, executive vice president of product development, research and marketing for Voyager said. "The study provides additional evidence of what we already know; our program works consistently for at-risk students across districts and populations and brings them to proficiency,"
Overall, a large and significant difference was found in favor of the Voyager students. Effect sizes* of the program ranged from 0.23 to 1.32 in the seven test instruments used to measure student progress.
In addition, the average scores of Voyager students at the end of Kindergarten increased to near the national averages, whereas those of comparison students remained well-below the national average.
"Our study shows there is very convincing evidence that in urban environments with African American children, the Voyager program really pulled its weight and prepared children in a way different from the other reading programs to be proficient readers," Dr. Joy Frechtling said.
The Voyager Universal Literacy System is a scientifically based, K-3 core reading program that meets the requirements of No Child Left Behind legislation. Principal investigators of the study from Westat Research Corporation in Rockville, Maryland are Dr. Joy Frechtling, Dr. Xiaodong Zhang and Dr. Gary Silverstein.
The complete study is available online at: www.leaonline.com
*Change in test scores can be expressed in terms of effect size. An effect size (ES) is a value that reflects the standardized amount of change from pre- to post-test. Estimates of effect can be compared across studies and even across programs.
About Voyager Expanded Learning
Voyager Expanded Learning provides core, intervention and supplemental reading programs, as well as math intervention and ongoing professional development programs for school districts throughout the United States. Founded in 1994, Voyager has delivered extended-time reading and basic skills intervention programs as well as large-scale reading programs to more than 1,000 school districts in cities such as Dallas, Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia and the District of Columbia, resulting in dramatically improved student performance. Partnership and collaborations with the Discovery Channel enable Voyager to provide timely and powerful curricula for the American classroom. Voyager Expanded Learning, Inc. is a business unit of ProQuest Company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For more information, please visit www.voyagerlearning.com or call 1-888-399-1995 .
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