Readable Blog

SF Bay Area, CA/ Bloomington, IN (April 17, 2024) - Readable English, a literacy access and intervention software company that invented  an English language pronunciation guide that uses visual cues, called glyphs, to make the language phonetic without changing the spelling, today announced the appointment of edtech veteran Tim Waldron as its new Chief Executive Officer. Waldron succeeds Ann Fitts, the company's esteemed founder, who has stepped down from her CEO role after five years. Fitts will stay engaged in the company as a board member.

There's more to reading than just phonics and how to partner with Readable English to bring effective reading intervention to students.

The secret sauce for early readers has three main ingredients (hint, hint) and it really works. Readable English and MetaMetrics teamed up in an effort to solve the literacy crisis and early evidence proves the system is working.

Watch the webinar recording to learn:

• Why there’s more to reading than just phonics.

• How the Lexile scale can now measure skills beyond reading comprehension and how this can be applied to developing readers.

• The real-world impact these Lexile measures in Readable English have had with English learners, helping an Indiana school double their state ILEARN test scores.

• How edtech companies or districts can partner with Readable English to bring this reading intervention program to their schools or customers.

*We are happy to share the views of our guest writer, Melanie Nelson, MSD of Warren County District Instructional Coach. Her viewpoint after 2 years of Readable English implementation within her district is greatly appreciated. The district data she shares is a testimony to not only the Readable English program, but also to the dedicated and passionate teachers in MSD of Warren County that believe ALL students CAN learn to read on grade level! Thank you Melanie for allowing us to share this!

Imagine living your entire life with the inability to read. How many missed opportunities would arise due to illiteracy? Unfortunately, all of us know family members or friends that struggle with literacy skills; including the ability to read accurately and/or fluently, comprehend what’s been read, or write effectively. 

With the end of the school year quickly approaching, it is important to prioritize maximizing impact on student literacy growth with the tools that Readable English offers to teachers and students. Literacy is an essential skill that students need in order to succeed in all areas of their lives. Whether it is reading for pleasure, comprehension, or critical thinking, literacy is the foundation for learning and understanding.

By focusing on literacy growth, students are better able to understand and learn from the materials they are presented with. This leads to improved academic performance and better preparation for future success. 

The English language can be mastered… or can it? With the understanding of a few English idiosyncrasies, you soon learn that the language makes no sense at all.

Native English speakers seem to be able to pick up the oddities and mimic them well. But for non-English speakers trying to speak the language, it’s not long before they are scratching their heads in bewilderment.

When changing one letter changes the sound of a word, silent letters disrupt phonetics, homophones sound the same without being so, and odd phrases make literally no sense, confusion can prevail.

Ashlea Dunkerly, Bloomfield Middle School ELA teacher, understands the importance of using Readable English to help her middle school students close the reading gap while simultaneously closing the knowledge gap.

Last month, Ashlea joined our Readable English team at the Association of Middle Level Educators (AMLE) Conference to share her perspective on the importance of closing the reading gap for middle school students, and how she was able to begin to attain this by implementing a bold and innovative approach for her students with Readable English.

Kate Barrows, a Readable English Coach, knows that Readable English is what many students need because she has spent her career working to ensure other students aren’t overlooked.

She continued to move through elementary and middle school despite report card notes like:

• "Not paying attention or progressing"
• "We are hoping Kate will buckle down and do what she is capable of by the next grading session."
• "I've never met someone work so hard to be a nonconformist."
• "Caught by teacher for forging grades, AT celebration dinner for improved grades"

Her experiences from middle and high school included consistent academic failure and a narrow escape from juvenile incarceration and dropout status. Thanks to her transition to an alternative high school program, she was able to not only graduate from high school but is now an alternative school educator and advocate of 20 years (and counting). Kate knows the delicate but necessary balance between repairing educational trauma while tackling decoding and comprehension strategies with a sense of urgency in middle and secondary classrooms.

For this reason, she joined the Readable English team so other students did not need to go through the struggles she experienced. When she saw how easy it was for students to read grade-level material after learning the 21 glyphs that represent the letters' nontypical sounds, she wanted to be part of the solution to illiteracy with Readable English.

Oral reading fluency, reading comprehension and listening comprehension measures across the literacy construct will help accelerate the development of reading fluency and comprehension skills.

DURHAM, N.C. & Bloomington, IN — November 15, 2022 — MetaMetrics® today announced a new partnership with Readable English, making it the first education product to report Lexile® measures for oral reading, listening and reading comprehension.

The results were so positive that ICCS is using the program for all students for the 2022-2023 school year! Listen to what the ICCS teacher has to say about her experience with the program.