Despite many millions of dollars spent on reading instruction and intervention, two-thirds of U.S. students still lack proficiency and at least one-half of these students lack adequate basic word recognition skills. This is a national crisis with lifelong implications

NAEP research shows, of every three students, two are likely not proficient in reading and at least one of them lacks basic reading skills.

This means, on average, in every classroom there are at least 9 students who are “stuck,” whose learning has stagnated, and who are unable to make progress.

The Foundations Learning System is the solution. The Foundations Learning System applies recent advances in learning science to address this crisis. We can quickly identify, diagnose and help struggling readers and get their academic careers back on track.

Who are these students?

Students who are “stuck” exhibit some or all of the following reading challenges:

• They struggle with comprehension and fluency
• They struggle with decoding
• They read slowly, with great effort and difficulty
• They are unable to easily identify and distinguish vowels
• They do not understand how syllables work or have difficulty breaking words into syllables
• They cannot quickly and automatically apply the rules of phonics to new words or to connected text

What is the Foundations Learning System?

The Foundations Learning System is an assessment/intervention solution designed for students who struggle with reading comprehension and fluency due to poor word recognition skills. The Foundations System is designed for students in grades 2 and above and has been proven effective for persistently struggling readers, special needs students, English language learners, and students who learn differently.

Educators choose our system to determine which students lack foundational skills, identify specific problem areas, and provide successful and efficient interventions.

Screening

Determine which students have foundational reading skill deficits with our brief online screener.

Diagnosis

Identify each student’s specific deficiencies in basic reading skills such as decoding and automaticity of word recognition.

Intervention

Provide differentiated reading instruction for each student. Monitor progress with the teacher dashboard. Students typically complete the curriculum in six to nine months.

Applying Learning Science to Reading Instruction

The Foundations Learning System applies recent advances in learning science – proven effective in other disciplines – to address this crisis. We can quickly identify and help struggling readers, getting their academic career back on track. The application of the learning framework known as the “Varied Practice Model” to the area of reading is especially relevant to the millions of students who are “stuck” despite current approaches that are well meaning yet ineffective. Just as this learning model enhances automatic skill development in many other domains (eg, sports, music, language, math, perception), it has now been applied to the development of automatic word recognition skills, an essential precursor of fluency and reading comprehension.

Our system is the best way to build foundational literacy skills. Our approach is:

Here’s what teachers are saying about the impact on student performance:

Foundations in Learning can help you reach many types of struggling readers

Students at Risk for Language & Literacy Development

English Language Learners

Special Needs Students

Students Who Learn Differently