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"What I learned about Explode the Code is to practice my skills.
Getting butterflies is good. Airplanes are awesome."

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Spotlight on Success
 

ETC Online and Student Success
CW Student

“Explode the Code is an amazing tool that has helped students to reach extraordinary goals. This program has made readers out of those who could not read.”  Katie Meyer has been using ETC Online powered by CurriculaWorks for the past 3 years in her role as academic coach and head tutor in Pinellas Park, Florida.   

Katie’s enthusiasm for ETC Online comes from the dramatic results she has seen in her students.  She explains, “ETC Online has created self-confidence in children who were once behind the rest of their class. This program works for every child who is experiencing reading problems to become a confident, self-motivated, and proficient reader.  But the biggest achievement of Explode the Code that I have seen has to be the autistic child who when diagnosed was told that he was never going to fully read.”  Katie and her staff worked with this student for approximately 20 weeks.  The student spent 30 minutes of every 1 hour tutoring session using ETC Online

Soon the staff started seeing dramatic results.  The student’s grateful grandparents were also happily surprised by his progress.  “It was so rewarding for me to see him improve to the point where he now leaves my tutoring sessions with chapter books in his hands. That child and every other child have been given a chance to succeed in school because of their hard work and the remarkable help of this program.” 


 

 

Haley McGuire’s daughter started using ETC Online powered by CurriculaWorks when she entered kindergarten in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Her daughter loved using program and constantly chattered about the number of butterflies and airplanes she earned on a given day.  She used the program consistently over the next two years. 

When Haley attended the back to school night for her daughter as a second grader, she was told by her teacher that her daughter was one of the strongest readers in the class.  Haley was somewhat surprised later that year when her daughter’s teacher told her that her daughter had learning disabilities, including dyslexia.  “The teacher was surprised because her learning disabilities weren’t reflected in her reading skills.  My daughter was a strong reader.” 

Haley attributes her daughter’s strong reading skills to her use of ETC OnlineETC Online is the digital version of Explode the Code, the popular workbook series used by Special Education teachers across the country.  Haley explained, “The only thing my daughter did besides her ordinary school work was use ETC Online.  She spent a lot of time using the program because she liked it so much.”


 

 

Lucinda Willis uses ETC Online powered by CurriculaWorks when she tutors children in Oakland, California.  Lucinda feels that ETC Online is an important reading tool, “One thing I really like about Explode the Code is that it includes pictures so the students have something visual to go along with what they are reading.” 

Lucinda’s students also showed excitement when using ETC Online.  “Students enjoyed ETC Online.  One indicator is that they repeated what the voice says in the program.  They also liked that the program was on the computer.”  The students enthusiasm helped maintain strong team morale for the students in Lucinda’s tutoring group. 

Lucinda started keeping track of the number of airplanes badges her students received.  Airplane badges represent the highest level of achievement.  “Students got excited when they earned airplanes.  All the students in the class clapped and it was a big deal for them.”  The parents of the students Lucinda worked with were similarly excited about the program.  One parent noted, “[My son] is putting more effort to learn and understand his work and doing the best he can.”




CW Student
ETC Online and Success in the Classroom

Lydia Gomez has been a teacher, vice-principal and principal at Bay Area schools in Northern California for 20 years.  In her capacity as supervisor of an after school intervention for at-risk students, she was introduced to ETC Online powered by CurriculaWorks in an early release. 

Lydia had used the Explode the Code workbooks in previous years and was very excited about the introduction of an online version of the workbooks.  Lydia watched the use of ETC Online closely and gave input into how to improve the student experience.  One of her ideas was the addition of a “skip intro” button.  Students at Lydia’s school who used ETC Online made statistically significant gains on their annual state test, the California Standards Test (CST), in a control group comparison.  The principal at Lydia’s school made the following observation regarding ETC Online users at her school, “We have noted academic success for the participants through the analysis of our site’s informal assessments and the State’s CST results.  Students in the second and third grades showed the most gains.” 

Lydia has also had a positive experience with her own daughter who used ETC Online to boost her reading skills.  “She got immediate positive feedback as she worked step by step on the Explode the Code program.  I think that the see- it, hear-it, say-it, type-it system used in Explode the Code was the multisensory program she needed to give her a boost to get starting to read.”


 

 

Rachel Seton has observed many positive effects that ETC Online has had on her 2nd grade students.  Rachel, along with other teachers and parents were invited to a Training Meeting where they learned that they were able to monitor their students’ progress simply by logging on to their ETC Online account. 

Rachel was not only able to see the progress of her students through the curricula, but she was also able to see their progress during school hours while she taught class.  She could see that her students’ experience with ETC Online “helped them to identify certain skills.”  Rachel explained, “While teaching my own class, I noticed that my [ETC Online users] became familiar with Language Arts concepts and specific skills such as vowel sounds, rhyming words, letter blends, etc.”

 

 



ETC Online and English Language Learners
CW Student

Rita Garcia has worked with Enlglish Language Learners and their families for the past four years as an academic coach and head tutor in San Mateo, California.  Rita was part of a group of tutors that pilot tested the ETC Online powered by CurriculaWorks software.  She has used it extensively with her students over the past four years. 

Rita expresses great enthusiasm for ETC Online, “ETC Online allows students that are not English native speakers to learn the essentials of literacy in a fun and easy to follow format.”  Rita explains that the non-English speaking parents she works with like the easy to understand student interface and the symbols such as butterflies and bumble bees that represent student progress. 

Rita’s students also show strong enthusiasm for ETC Online.  At an annual awards event, students spoke about their experiences in the tutoring program in front of hundreds of parents, students and staff.  Many of them talked about the success they felt as their reading skills improved and the excitement of earning butterfly badges as they progressed through ETC Online.  One student exclaimed, “It is fun to do Explode the Code. It helps us learn to pronounce the words and helps us read.” 

Another student explained simply, “Explode the Code has helped me with my reading.”  Not only did Rita’s students enjoy using ETC Online, they also made statistically significant gains on their annual state test, the California Standards Test in a control group comparison. 


 

 

Emma Hanson has used ETC Online powered by CurriculaWorks for three years as a teacher who works with English learners in San Jose, California.  Emma believes ETC Online is a critical part of her strategy for supporting this population.  “Explode the Code provides the phonetic development necessary for English learners.  This program is a great tool for language acquisition, reading development and is fun for children as well.” 

Emma has numerous examples of students who have benefitted from the program.  One of her fifth grade ESL students tested at the Far Below Basic level before he started working with ETC Online.  After 15 weeks working with the program, he tested at Basic level on most strands in the California Language Arts Standards.  Emma explained, “He is very proud of his hard work.” 

A second grade ESL student also showed great gains going from a Far Below Basic level to a Basic and Proficient level on most strands in the Language Arts Standards.  Emma said, “Because of his ESL placement, he has spent a lot of time working on Explode the Code, which has greatly helped his phonetic and reading skills.” 

A fourth grade student who had used ETC Online for two years, also improved her performance from a Below Basic level to a Proficient and Advanced level on the strands in the Language Arts Standards covered in her work with Emma. This progress has produced more than stronger academic skills.  “Meeting with success has greatly increased her self-confidence,” observed Emma. 

Parents also remarked on progress they saw at home.  One parent observed proudly, “My son improved in pronunciation and writing in English.”

 


Results have been dramatic for English Learners. Among ETC Online users, the percentage of English Learners who performed at the Far Below Basic and Below Basic levels decreased by 37.5%. There was no change in the performance among English Learners from the same schools who did not use the software.
 
Reading Proficiency Scale
Reading Proficiency Scale


 
 


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