Summer Literacy Initiative Highlights the Impact of Seeing Stars

A summer intervention program in Barbados is demonstrating how targeted, evidence-based instruction can help students make meaningful gains in a short period of time.

Following a decline in national English assessment scores, education leaders launched an intensive Summer Learning Pod to support students entering secondary school with significant reading challenges. The pod utilized Gander Publishing's Seeing Stars® and Visualizing and Verbalizing®  programs to strengthen reading, spelling, and comprehension through daily, small-group instruction. Lindamood-Bell provided training in the programs, diagnostic assessment, and teacher coaching. 

Early results have been encouraging. Educators reported measurable progress in just a few weeks. Project consultant Isabel Medellin shared the story of Jayden, a student who advanced from single syllable words to reading passages with more complex two-syllable words within three weeks time. "It’s been really great to see that within just barely three weeks, he has gone from struggling to decode words at two or three letters to now he can take on two-syllable words and decode them back to back," Medellin reported.   

The program's success reinforces what decades of research have shown: intensive, evidence-based instruction delivered in small groups can accelerate literacy growth for struggling readers. As schools continue seeking effective interventions to close learning gaps, Seeing Stars remains a proven solution for developing the foundational reading skills students need for long-term academic success.

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(Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla)