Insights

Earlier this year, we released our 2024 Impact Report, highlighting Cambium Learning Group’s collective work to ensure educators feel empowered and, in turn, accelerate learning outcomes. The report exemplifies how the Cambium Family has turned moments into momentum over the past year, demonstrated by real-world case studies from the Cambium brands. In this blog series, we will take a deeper dive into those featured case studies and the transformative impact of the Cambium family. Read on to learn more about how Lexia and Learning A-Z are working to ensure students achieve literacy proficiency, a skill that will sustain them beyond their academic career.

Literacy is a foundational skill for future success. The National Institute for Literacy reports that literacy is a pivotal determinant in shaping an individual’s career trajectory, as well as their ability to navigate life. According to the institute’s most recent data, the U.S. ranks 36th in literacy worldwide, with 54% of adults reportedly having a literacy below 6th grade level. 

Earlier this month, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released the latest Nation’s Report Card, which reported a drop in 4th, 8th, and 12th grade reading scores in 2024, with the results for 12th-graders’ declining to the lowest levels ever reported. This means that about one-third of students cannot draw general conclusions based on concepts presented explicitly in a text, and highlights the need for students to receive greater reading and literacy instruction. 

Cambium brands Lexia and Learning A-Z are working to improve literacy skills for K-12 students, with the goal of raising literacy proficiency rates among the rising generations. In honor of National Literacy Month, take a look at some of their recent literacy successes in Utah and Idaho as documented in Cambium’s 2024 Impact Report.  

Utah’s journey to reading success

Educators knew they needed a bold solution when Utah ranked 22nd in national grade 4 reading proficiency in 2013.

Rather than accepting the status quo, the state embarked on an innovative Early Intervention Reading Software initiative, allowing schools to select computer-based reading programs to supplement classroom learning in grades K-3. The state had a clear mission: help every student become a confident reader, starting with those who needed the most support. 

What began as targeted support for struggling K-3 readers became Utah’s gold standard for literacy education. Lexia Core5® Reading dominated usage metrics, ranking as the most-used program for three out of four pre-pandemic years, and maintained momentum even through COVID-19 disruptions. 

Outcome data from eight years of consecutive studies on Utah’s Early Intervention Reading Software revealed consistent, significant improvements in reading achievement across all grade levels. It showed that Lexia Core5 was:

• The most selected: It has been implemented more often than all other programs.
• The most used: 104,370 more students used it than the average of other programs in 2022-23.
• Highly effective: Students consistently showed the largest year-over-year reading gains in grades K-1.
• Implemented with high fidelity: It achieved higher program usage targets than all other programs in three of four comparison years.
• Driving significant impact: Large to medium effect sizes were seen for grades K-1 reading achievement across all eight years of the initiative.

Utah’s success offers hope to states nationwide, demonstrating what’s possible through systematic literacy support. By initially focusing on students who need the most help and then expanding to support all learners, the state has developed a sustainable model for enhancing early literacy outcomes.

Strengthening supplemental reading instruction in Idaho Wilder Elementary School teachers needed powerful supplemental instructional tools to use with their grades K-2 literacy intervention groups. The school faced significant challenges in finding cohesive materials for foundational literacy instruction within budget constraints.

The school served a rural Idaho community. Among the school population, 96% of students were experiencing poverty, 33% of students were emergent bilingual learners and 17% of students were students with disabilities. The absence of a cohesive approach rooted in the Science of Reading — a science-based literacy framework proven to be effective for students with varied learning needs — hindered student progress and resulted in low reading proficiency levels.

In December of 2022, Wilder Elementary School adopted Foundations A-Z®, a K-5 foundational skills solution built on the Science of Reading, to support their early readers. The program supplemented the district’s core curriculum with a closely aligned scope and sequence.

Because teachers were already familiar with Raz-Plus®, the school chose to adopt Foundations A-Z to help their students with foundational literacy skills.

Foundations A-Z significantly and measurably impacted student learning. Teachers observed marked improvements in their students’ literacy performance, and assessment scores showed an overall increase in skill growth for students in grades K-3.

Most notably, Foundations A-Z helped students in grade 2 who needed intensive intervention improve their scores significantly — reducing their need for additional support and bringing them closer to grade-level proficiency. Since intervention support requires more time and resources, this improvement represents a significant return on the investments Wilder made in selecting Learning A-Z materials.

Wilder Elementary demonstrated that research-based literacy programs deliver results, even with limited resources. Their success offers a compelling model for other schools, proving that effective literacy instruction is achievable regardless of constraints.

Raising literacy rates through continual, supplemental instruction

These case studies highlight the need for continual, supplemental literacy instruction in order to best support K-12 students. By providing students with opportunities to obtain literacy skills in ways that best suit them, we can help address the foundational issues impacting low literacy rates and help students, school districts, and entire states become literacy proficient.

To learn more about these case studies and other #CambiumImpact stories, read our 2024 Impact Report.