Philadelphia Expands Alliance With McGraw-Hill to Enhance Literacy Instruction for Thousands of Students

NEW YORK, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- McGraw-Hill Education announced today that the School District of Philadelphia has adopted two of its core literacy programs – Imagine It! and Glencoe Literature – for use by thousands of students in the city's Empowerment Schools. The agreement makes McGraw-Hill the primary provider of literacy content to the thousands of K-8 students in the city's under-performing schools for the next six years. District Superintendent Arlene Ackerman designated the schools as Empowerment Schools in 2008 to signify the district's commitment to providing the resources and support needed to transform them from under-performing into high-achieving learning environments.

Students in grades K-6 will use the Imagine It! reading and language arts program, and students in grades 7-8 will use Glencoe Literature. Imagine It! and Glencoe Literature will be employed in tandem with McGraw-Hill's Direct Instruction programs, which have been used by Philadelphia's Empowerment Schools since September 2009. The district has cited the success of Direct Instruction programs, which feature explicit, research-based instructional methods designed to help struggling learners.   District officials noted that both Imagine It! and Glencoe Literature would very effectively complement and extend this type of instruction through grade 8.  

"Improving the performance of students in our Empowerment Schools is our top priority, and that begins with developing strong basic skills," said Superintendent Ackerman. "We've found that our students in these schools respond best to a highly structured curriculum that provides explicit direction and sets clear expectations. By introducing McGraw-Hill's core literacy programs, we will build on our recent success and continue to enhance student achievement."

In addition to providing the core and intervention reading programs for Philadelphia's K-8 students, McGraw-Hill will conduct a comprehensive professional development program for teachers in participating schools. The training sessions will offer teachers extensive guidance on how to design lessons and ensure alignment with state standards.

"Philadelphia's schools are committed to providing the proven and effective learning resources that ensure student success," said William Oldsey, executive vice president of McGraw-Hill Education.  "McGraw-Hill is extremely proud to share in this commitment by extending our partnership with the district in terms of literacy programs and professional development."  

Imagine It!, an Open Court program, is the product of extensive research and 50 years of proven results. The program combines explicit, easy-to-follow instruction with frequent progress assessments to meet the needs of every student. Field-testing has shown that its explicit, systematic instructional approach is more effective for at-risk students than other approaches as measured by a variety of tests.

Glencoe Literature is an inquiry-based program that gives students significant, contextual reasons for learning. The program contains a comprehensive collection of engaging literature and connected, relevant nonfiction with integrated skill development and targeted differentiated instruction. Glencoe Literature offers explicit instructional approaches for teachers and students. Throughout the program, there is strong, integrated skill instruction in literary analysis, literary elements, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary.

For more information on Imagine It!, please visit: http://ImagineItReading.com

To learn more about Glencoe Literature, please visit: http://www.glencoe.com

About McGraw-Hill School Education Group:

The McGraw-Hill School Education Group, a unit of McGraw-Hill Education, is a leading innovator in the development of 21st century teaching and learning solutions for K-12 education markets, offering traditional and digital instructional, assessment, and reference content and tools for teachers and students. The School Education Group addresses critical areas in primary and secondary education through Learning Solutions Centers focused on improving student learning outcomes and promoting digital innovation in literacy, STEM, college and career readiness, and intervention and special needs education. All of McGraw-Hill's content for elementary schools and secondary schools is available in digital form. McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies:

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a global information and education company providing knowledge, insights and analysis in the financial, education and business information sectors through leading brands including Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2009 were $5.95 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education