We have just completed the spring progress-monitoring of DIBELS and have realized some incredible success with the first grade students who have been receiving intervention using the Barton Reading & Spelling System.

I snuck the Barton System in the back door of my school. I used it, as did my ESE and Title One Instructional Assistants. But now that I have data to show such incredible improvement, my principal has opened the front door in grand fashion and will allow K-2 intervention to take place next year.

In at least 95% of the cases, the PSF scores increased dramatically, and the NWF scores really took off. The kids were blending sounds into words, not just spitting out the sounds. Some of the kids who had been behavior problems in their classroom stopped acting out.

They actually began to understand this whole “reading thing” and began attending during classroom instruction. It’s been exciting for all of us to watch.

Some parents have even stopped the teachers and asked, “What is going on with my child? He tries to read everything now. Before, he would not even try.”