Students with Disabilities Find Independence with ILE

Students with disabilities at Bryce Valley High School are now using Imagine Learning English with great success. Behavior problems are decreasing, scores are soaring, and confidence is on the rise. Special education teacher Phoebe Wiseman believes Imagine Learning English has helped her students gain greater confidence.

“They’ve found a place,” says Wiseman. “They’ve got something where they can put on earphones, and they can have this independent time where they’re learning at their own level--and they’re succeeding at their own level. They don’t have to be like the child next to them; they don’t have to be like the students in the other classes. They can just spend that time gaining for themselves. And because of that, they’re doing overall better in school."

Click here to see what high school special education teachers and coordinators are saying about Imagine Learning English.

Motivating Students: Three Tips You Can Try

Do your students suffer from a lack of motivation? In the midst of holiday parties and on the brink of a break, it’s difficult to focus student attention on learning rather than plans of vacation.

Before you reach your breaking point, try these tips to motivate students and keep them interested in their own learning. Because once they can see their progress, students are more likely to want to progress. Take a look at these tried-and-true ideas teachers across the country are using to motivate their students.

Denver's Turnaround Strategy

Imagine Learning English is now an important part of Denver Public School District's turnaround strategy. At Place Bridge Academy, students come from 40 different countries and need intensive language training. The following news clip shows students using Imagine Learning English to help bolster those skills.

In the Wake of Katrina: An Unlikely Success

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest to ever hit the Gulf Coast, left thousands of people without homes, jobs, and a sense of security. Eighty-five percent of homes and 90 percent of schools in Pascagoula School District of Mississippi were flooded.

Says Glynda Smith, ELL Specialist at Jackson Elementary, "people were living in tents in their yards. Parents were tearing out their walls, and we knew we had to get the kids back in school. They needed to be safe, have something to do, and be out of their parents' way." Twenty-seven days after the storm hit, schools reopened their doors to some new challenges.

Success at Discovery

Students at Discovery Elementary, and throughout all of Utah, are now enjoying the benefits of Imagine Learning English. With support from Utah legislators, the State Office of Education has offered Imagine Learning English free of charge to any English learner in the entire state. As a result of this offer, over 21,000 students in Utah now have access to the program. Click here to read Discovery Elementary's story.

Success in New York

"Our students are using Imagine Learning English, and their growth is overwhelming. The things taught are really mastered by the students. Very few are lagging behind. We noticed that the children who are hyperactive, have IEPs, and have emotional issues are very calm with this program.

"The program moves the students along at a pace that they are able to handle and they don't get bored. They are really absorbed by it and are constantly practicing English out loud. It's great to see them singing songs and responding to the machine. We love it! The students love to use Imagine Learning English!"

Teri Zenos
New York Public Schools

Building Friendships in Illinois

"At the beginning of our school year, I had two new girls come from different countries, and I started them on Imagine Learning English. Conveniently, I work in a computer classroom in our building that only has computers set up with the ILE software. Our ELL students (K–5) come every day to do their lessons with me.

"I randomly seated these two students next to each other. One student is from Germany, the other from Korea. A wonderful unexpected friendship has blossomed during their time spent sitting next to each other. They check each other’s computer screen to compete, and they wait for each other to walk back to their main classrooms. They are now speaking English with each other and have whole conversations; I hear them as they are walking out. Wow! I cried tears of joy. Imagine Learning English helped these two girls from completely different countries to have conversations and just express themselves as girls do."

Mary Augustine
ELL Assistant
Naperville, Illinois

Testimonial in Texas

"As the Kindergarten bilingual teacher of 24 wonderful students in an early exit district, life can be a little stressful. Imagine my delight when the time came to begin transitioning my students into learning their letters/sounds in English: Imagine Learning English had already gone before me and done just that!

"Even though I had spent relatively little time focusing on the English alphabet, most of my students knew most of the alphabet (letter and sounds)! In the third six weeks of school, most of my students are very successfully beginning to read in English. They have mastered the mechanics of reading in Spanish and continue making excellent progress in that area.

"What makes it even more wonderful is that they love to "play" Imagine Learning English. They have no idea that they are actually learning. Thank you for your hard work in helping my students to be successful in acquiring and mastering a second language. You are greatly appreciated!"

Marie Lowry
Bilingual Kindergarten
Royse City, Texas

Making Resolutions Reality

Another year has come and gone. And so have last year’s resolutions. That’s not to say you didn’t have some great ideas—even the greatest intentions fail without the right plan of action. But if one of your goals this year is to get your students learning, reading, and loving it all… well, we’ve got just the game plan to make your resolution a reality.

Take a look at yet another study that demonstrates students who use Imagine Learning English test better and learn more than students who don’t. Then renew your resolve to put your ELs on Imagine Learning English everyday. Because if you make time in 2009—Imagine Learning English will make results.

ClearVue Research Independent Assessment Study Research Results for an Illinois School District:

1. Kindergarten students using Imagine Learning English had a median improvement in the pretest to posttest ISEL score of 40%. In comparison, kindergarten students without Imagine Learning English gained less than 20% during the pretest to posttest period.
2. First grade students had a median improvement in their pretest to posttest ISEL composite scores of over 30%; while first grade students without Imagine Learning English gained 15%.
3. An additional measure of year-to-year differences validates the increased benefit of Imagine Learning English: Kindergarten ISEL pretest to posttest scores from the 2005-2006 school year (before Imagine Learning English was implemented) had a median improvement of 22% compared with the 40% growth achieved by Imagine Learning English students the following year (2006-2007).
4. Imagine Learning English has a gap-narrowing effect. Students selected to receive Imagine Learning English were the most needy as evidenced by pre-test scores. However, post-test scores show that this gap is narrowed considerably due to the progress of Imagine Learning English students.

And Illinois isn't the only state seeing these results. English learners across the country are closing the learning gap with Imagine Learning English. So while we can't help you with your other New Year's Resolutions, we can help your students with literacy and comprehension. This year, be sure to put Imagine Learning English on your priority list.

Four Months for Lizdalys

In September of this year, five-year-old Lizdalys Santiago of Puerto Rico entered Jackson Elementary feeling scared and alone. A recent immigrant to Mississippi, Lizdalys didn’t know any English or anyone’s name. With so many new faces and customs, the only thing she was sure of was that she was far from home.

After only four short months of using Imagine Learning English, Lizdalys has undergone a dramatic transformation. She not only can participate in class but now uses her newly acquired English skills to translate for another young girl who also recently emigrated from Puerto Rico. Though this fellow classmate doesn't yet speak any English, she's not alone. Lizdalys is by her side to show her the ropes and give her hope of what is to come. To watch a video on this remarkable story, click here.

Otay Elementary: An Update

Six months ago, Otay Elementary School of southern California received accolades for their ELL population’s improvement, made possible, in part, by Imagine Learning English. To see why teachers and administrators alike attribute this success to Imagine Learning English, and to see how Otay Elementary continues to improve today, click here.