The report presents evaluation studies conducted during the 2001-2002 school year in Augusta, GA, Birmingham, AL, Orlando, FL, and Richmond, VA. More than 9,000 kindergarten and first-grade students from 384 classrooms in 96 schools were measured.

Further evidence proves that achievement gaps in inner-city schools can be quickly and effectively closed using research-based reading instruction and curriculum. A study of economically disadvantaged students in Orlando, FL showed that kindergarten students using ULS for three months showed up to a 22-percent advantage over a control group in literacy related skills. The number of English Language Learner students identified as established readers increased 127-percent in four months, effectively closing the achievement gap in their classrooms.

The full evaluation report is available here.

The Voyager Universal Literacy System® curriculum is built upon the five essential reading skills for K-3 reading curriculum, identified in the 2002 No Child Left Behind law. Created with teachers for teachers, the Universal Literacy System combines proven strategies to engage and motivate students, including small skill-alike instruction groups; extended time for struggling readers; early and continuous progress monitoring; engaging literature materials; and activities to build oral, vocabulary and listening skills. Voyager's focus on professional development ensures that teachers receive the necessary skills and support to effectively teach children to read. Students who are still struggling at the end of the school year are automatically enrolled in an 80-hour summer reading intervention program.

Extensive research conducted on extended time academic instruction consistently proves that students who receive additional focused, strategic lessons improve academic performance, are more likely to graduate high school and pursue further education, develop a greater appreciation for learning, improve school conduct, increase school attendance, and are less likely to participate in high-risk behaviors. After school focus on reading instruction shows greater prevention of reading difficulties and an increased interest in "recreational reading."

The resulting increase in attendance rates and decrease in grade retention and in remedial and special education enrollment rates can show a significant economic benefit.

A 1999 national study of 2,121 students participating in Voyager extended time programs showed a 75-percent gain in academic performance on a pre- and post- reading test. Other independent studies have shown dramatic results in New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Houston, New Orleans, Milwaukee, and Memphis.

In partnership with the Council of the Great City Schools, a four-year longitudinal study of ULS is being conducted in two large, urban districts by the independent research firm Westat. In addition, forty-one school districts throughout the nation have conducted independent studies, and five separate universities have participated in evaluation of the Voyager programs.

"Learning to read is the single most important factor determining a child's success in school and progress in life. Not to be a reader in the 21st century is as disabling to a child as any of the diseases against which we regularly inoculate. Today, the reality is that 70-percent of children in many high-poverty schools cannot read," said Randy Best, Chief Executive Officer, Voyager Expanded Learning. "Voyager programs have been thoroughly evaluated by numerous evaluators and researchers. The outcomes are consistent - Voyager provides immediate and dramatic improvement in children's reading skills. With Voyager, schools can change the reality and dramatically improve the future for children who today are unable to read."

Voyager Expanded Learning is a provider of K-3 in-school reading programs, as well as K-8 reading intervention programs for school districts throughout the United States. Creating the first comprehensive reading system to consistently deliver success, the Voyager Universal Literacy System® ensures that students who begin using ULS in kindergarten will read at grade level by the end of third grade. Founded in 1994, Voyager has delivered extended-time reading and basic skills intervention programs to more than 1,000 school districts and large-scale reading programs in cities such as Houston, New York and Washington, DC, resulting in dramatically improved student performance. In partnership with institutions such as the Discovery Channel and the Smithsonian Institution, Voyager provides the most timely and powerful curricula available in the American classroom.