LAKE ORION COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT • MICHIGAN
Lake Orion Community School District in Michigan is a district of 7,337 students spread across six elementary schools, three middle schools, one high school and one alternative school. Already a high-performing district, they ensure no struggling reader is left behind with the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution®.
STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS
88% White | 2% Black | 6% Hispanic/Latino | 2% Asian | 2% Two or More Races
CHALLENGE
While the Lake Orion Community School District has had a great deal of success, garnering multiple awards from the state of Michigan and National Blue Ribbons for their six elementary schools, some students still lagged below grade level in reading. To ensure that these below-level readers were not lost in the relative success of the district, Lake Orion sought to create a movement around integrated, targeted reading intervention that would provide struggling readers with access to content in the core curriculum across all grades from K-12.
IMPLEMENTATION
Tamura Oberle, the District Teacher Consultant, became a champion of the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution®. With guidance and resources from her Learning Ally Implementation Success Manager, Oberle was able to share the information she knew would pique the interest of principals, teachers, consultants, and parents, and demonstrate not only the purpose of the audiobook solution but also its impact on learning outcomes.
As the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution was established in Lake Orion’s high school, Oberle knew that getting the word out to all of the district’s stakeholders was necessary for a successful implementation at the Elementary and Middle School level. The first phase of implementation was logistical and technical issues; Oberle collaborated with the district Technology Department, alleviating download and permissions issues that often prevented teachers from integrating other technology-based tools like the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution into their classrooms.
In order to sustain the acceleration of the program through the middle and elementary schools, Oberle became a leader in the discourse around enhancing existing reading intervention and implementing the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution. She facilitated conversations with leaders and teachers to explore and talk about objectives, discuss what their students were learning, and present any information needed to advance the fidelity of usage. Oberle believed that the most powerful strategy to drive effective programming was to continue sharing the good news about the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution and expand the support network, designating a point person in each building to answer any questions regarding the solution and its integration into the classroom and intervention program.
“Kids are feeling better about themselves and getting more interested in reading.” – TAMURA OBERLE, CERC-SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER CONSULTANT FOR LAKE ORION PUBLIC SCHOOLS
OUTCOME
This deliberate, positive, and supportive approach paid off for Lake Orion, as previously struggling students became engaged readers and learners at a rapid pace. In only the second year of using the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution, every school across the district had adopted it, with more than 600 students registered and almost 90,000 total pages read. Those voracious reading appetites have generated great results for the district. “Now kids are logging on, they’re adding books to their own shelves,” Oberle said, describing some of the ways the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution has engaged readers in the district. Students with attention issues read with the audiobook when struggling to engage with the text, moving forward through the confidence; teachers have found content-rich texts for social studies and science among the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution’s library; English learners with reading deficits have especially benefited from the increased exposure to vocabulary; and all students have enjoyed the ability to take the solution mobile, listening from home, at the mall or anywhere they like.
“Providing access opens up a huge world. Learning Ally provides access to literature that helps break down barriers— allowing students to participate with classmates.” – TAMURA OBERLE, CERC-SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER CONSULTANT FOR LAKE ORION PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Learn more about the Learning Ally Audiobook Solution and how it can make a lasting impact on students reading below grade level.