Challenge

Tatum Elementary School in Farmersville, Texas, enrolls 253 students in pre-kindergarten through first grade. The school needed a program to help its at-risk students with reading and to motivate those students as they developed their literacy skills. After implementing Reading Eggs at the end of the 2011–12 school year, literacy rates increased, and students were inspired to learn.

Tatum Elementary had a high percentage of at-risk students who were having difficulty learning to read. Many students had disciplinary problems, not being motivated to work and only interested in having fun during school hours. Ginger Ketcher, principal at Tatum Elementary, knew that if she could capture their playful energy and redirect it toward educational development, the students could make progress. To do this, Ketcher needed to find a program that excited students and engaged them in their learning.

Solution

Ketcher’s daughter, who attended the intermediate second to fifth grade school in Farmersville at the time, mentioned that she loved learning to read with Reading Eggs. Ketcher contacted the principal at her daughter’s school and learned that Reading Eggs is a comprehensive, online supplemental literacy program for early learners in grades pre-K through second grade. She then purchased a Reading Eggs subscription for every student in kindergarten and first grade. Tatum Elementary made Reading Eggs available to students in the morning before school and encouraged students having trouble in class to come to school early. The school left the computer lab open during the summer for students to spend time on campus practicing and learning before school started again. Students now go to the computer lab to use Reading Eggs for thirty minutes every day.

The program is used in conjunction with other products during in-class instruction and as a motivational tool that students look forward to every day. Students also have the option of using Reading Eggs after they have finished their classwork or at home after school hours. “One of my favorite parts about Reading Eggs is the graphics because they grab the students’ attention,” said Ketcher. “They love having a visual aspect that allows them to see how things work together. The teachers love the user-friendly structure and have found Reading Eggs easy to add into their daily curriculum.”

Result

Several improvements were noticeable immediately after implementing Reading Eggs. Teachers could see the progress their students were making when viewing the online reports that the program offers and when adding grades to their gradebooks. Reading and spelling class grades increased, and students began proactively asking if they could practice their reading skills, rather than teachers requiring it.

Download the Story

One of my favorite parts about Reading Eggs is the graphics because they grab the students’ attention.

Ginger Ketcher,

Principal