When considering the passages and books included, one educator noted that her students were uneasy with some of the content included in the fables unit of RISE Up, noting that some stories felt a bit dark for her students. With the nature of fables being retold and having multiple widely-accepted endings, editing certain stories for themes that could be difcult for students would preclude educators from working through both the material and mitigating emotional responses to it. Finally, multiple educators noted that, while they appreciated the organization and detail of the resources included in the RISE program, managing the various moving parts of an individual intervention could get “busy,” as one teacher noted. Administrators echoed this concern, noting that material management sometimes overwhelmed teachers. With cards, whiteboards, markers, erasers, individual student journals, pencils, and books all potential parts of any RISE/Up lesson, switching between stations or activities within one station requires transition time that takes practice to hone efciency. Writing Benefts An integral part of the RISE/Up program, writing was efortlessly woven into lessons to support overall literacy mastery. The program’s ability to provide writing activities that complement reading skills empowered students to take academic confdence gained in interventions back to their classrooms. Students had multiple means of practicing their writing skills across genres and to various degrees of difculty. Some of this practice included brief activities, such as students writing down complete words after having an instructor dictate phonemes and letter sounds. More intensive writing assignments required students to answer questions about a previously read text orally and collect supporting evidence from the text in graphic organizers. Including writing work centered around both fction and nonfction texts provided an avenue by which they could perform the same task in tier-one activities and on standardized testing. Marketing & Product Enhancements During in-person observations, educators repeatedly noted their strong impressions of both Scholastic as a brand and the RISE/Up intervention program. The bulk of their positivity centered on the organization of the materials, the fow of daily lessons, and the feeling that the material was challenging enough for their students. The quality of the print materials and dedication to providing high-interest texts in diferent genres were widely mentioned strengths; the usage rate of both the trade books and the Short Read Cards supported these claims. When considering resource usage by program, RISE teachers incorporated trade books more than any other resource in their lessons. Lessons often focused on one book for multiple sessions, giving students multiple attempts to process and discuss the text. Rime Magic Cards were also a
LXD Research -RISE and RISE UP Winter 2022-Spring 2023 Report
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