Fast ForWord and ELL (English Language Learners)
In its first semester with the Fast ForWord program, the School City of East Chicago is experiencing positive results, 1.5 years of gain in 25-39 days. While Fast ForWord is mainly used in schools, Gemm Learning has a licence for home use.
There are 43 languages spoken in this district making it a great opportunity for Fast ForWord to demonstrate one of its strongest applications, helping English Language Learners, children that either were born hearing a language other than English or who speak another language at home.
“We’re seeing average gains of 1.5 grade levels in reading in only 25 to 39 days of use, depending on the school,” said Superintendent Michael Harding. “We have one student who increased five grade levels in 44 days. That’s unheard of! We’ve also had tremendous gains for special needs and ELL students in this short period of time.”
Gemm Learning has had consistent success with Fast ForWord for ELL students. In these cases Fast ForWord is an immersion agent, giving a student an intense dose of the sounds of English in a short period of time, helping their brains map English for reading. In most cases we are dealing with otherwise healthy learners, just underexposed to English in the critical first three years of life. Hence the dramatic outcomes.