Parlier in the Spotlight

In partnership with DataWORKS Educational Research, Parlier Unified School District is conducting an innovative, academic summer program designed to improve student literacy and math skills while also supporting teachers through classroom coaching.

Press Release

Read the Blog

Results

The Program

Academy Photo Galleries

Think of it as a boot camp for the brain!

Whether you are looking to remediate struggling students or looking to give students a boost in the coming year, the DataWORKS StepUP Academy is designed to immerse your students — and teachers — in a powerful training program that will help them step up to the next level of performance.

A Curriculum Coach is available to discuss your needs.

Student Focus

Throughout the StepUP to Literacy Academy, DataWORKS is quantitatively and qualitatively tracking a handful of students from each grade. Click on the students below to see their progress.

Press Release • April 28, 2016

PARLIER UNIFIED TEAMS UP WITH DATAWORKS EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH TO IMPROVE LITERACY

PARLIER, CA – In partnership with DataWORKS Educational Research, Parlier Unified School District is conducting an innovative, academic summer program designed to improve student literacy and math skills while also supporting teachers through classroom coaching. The six-week academy, which begins in June, will be called StepUP to Literacy.

A 2016 CAASPT assessment indicated that 94% of the students in third grade at PUSD were below state standards in literacy. StepUP to Literacy is designed to change those numbers. DataWORKS has used the latest research to design a click-and-go program which addresses the areas of phonics, phonemic awareness, reading fluency, vocabulary development, reading comprehension, and mathematics. During each day of the academy, participating students will receive two hours of “Learning to Read” instruction and one hour of math literacy instruction.

“In this academy, students will receive concentrated exposure to text,” said Dr. Silvia Ybarra, chief researcher at DataWORKS. “An intense focus on vocabulary development and textual analysis has been found to significantly improve student literacy.”

Because this academy has the potential to dramatically improve literacy for PUSD students, every step of the academy will be documented and studied. DataWORKS will select 8-10 students whose progress will be qualitatively tracked for the duration of the academy. A team of photo journalists and researchers will collect data, and take photos and videos of students and teachers in the classroom. The academic success will then be shared, through a series of blog posts and commentary videos, with the educational community in PUSD, across the US, and in countries such as Australia and China where they also have high populations of students struggling with English proficiency.

DataWORKS will provide digital and printed teacher manuals, pacing guides, and all student materials, making this a turn-key service for PUSD. This will allow teachers to focus on applying the latest evidence-based research in the classroom.

Dr. Ybarra also emphasized that teachers will be provided with coaching and support each day of the academy. Dedicated time has been set aside each day after school for professional development and high-level discussions of the research-based teaching strategies.

Follow the progress of the StepUP to Literacy academy on the DataWORKS Facebook page, at www.facebook.com/dataworksed.

CONTACT:

Joel Soto

Client Relations Manager
DataWORKS Educational Research
joel@dataworks-ed.com

About DataWORKS Educational Research

DataWORKS Educational Research was founded in 1997 with the single purpose of improving student learning. Since then, DataWORKS has steadily expanded to partner with more than a thousand schools around the world. Fundamentally, DataWORKS has a commitment to improving the effectiveness of the teacher in the classroom. That’s why DataWORKS offers various professional development trainings, workshops, and tools to maximize classroom, school, and district success. www.dataworked-ed.com.

The Educators

Parlier educators and administrators have volunteered their summer vacation to help students StepUP to Literacy! These teachers receive intensive coaching and support from DataWORKS educational consultant, Dr. Silvia Ybarra, throughout the duration of the academy.