Andy Franko, Superintendent of the iConnect Zone in Colorado District 49, will present his district’s success with K-12 blended learning models

(Salt Lake City, UT) April 10, 2017 — Reading Horizons, a multisensory curriculum used to rapidly increase reading skills, today announced its upcoming webcast, Closing the Achievement Gap in Reading: The Future of Blended Learning.

The webcast will take place on Wednesday, April 19 at 6:00 p.m. ET and will be presented by Andy Franko. Franko is the Superintendent of the iConnect Zone in Colorado District 49, which offers three models of blended learning in three schools serving 685 students.

The webcast will provide a clear explanation of blended learning as well as essential components of the model that can effectively close the achievement gap in reading. The district currently provides K-12 blended learning instruction through the Springs Studio for Academic Excellence, Patriot High School, and Pikes Peak Early College program. Video clips from the three schools will allow viewers to see the enriched virtual, rotation, and flex models of this approach in action.

“Blended learning offers the best opportunity to meet the needs of all students,” said Franko. “Regardless of the grade or reading level, all students are able to access curriculum content and receive the instruction and intervention they need. Blended learning is flexible, individual, and customized to address gaps in learning and provide the support to rapidly close those gaps.”

The iConnect Zone began with an entirely virtual school and quickly discovered the importance of face-to-face interaction with an educator and peers. They shifted to a blended learning model that incorporates this collaborative environment within the structure provided in a school building. Students in the iConnect Zone attend school from two days a week to five days a week, depending on the model in which they are enrolled.

“Blended learning combines access to consistent, high-quality instruction through online curriculum and more time for teachers to engage with students and provide support. The iConnect Zone offers the best of both worlds,” said Tyson Smith, the President of Reading Horizons. “Good reading skills are crucial for all students, particularly in settings where part of every day is spent working independently. Blended learning is an ideal solution for meeting the literacy needs of regular education, special education, and ELL students.”

Educators interested in viewing the webcast can register at readinghorizons.com/webcast to receive updates and the link to access the live presentation. This is the fourth webcast in a professional learning series for educators offered by Reading Horizons. Previous webcasts and a range of webinars can be viewed here.

About Reading Horizons
For more than 30 years, Reading Horizons has dedicated its time and effort to perfecting a reading method that has proven successful for beginning readers, struggling readers, and students learning English. Reading Horizons products are research-based and use a multisensory system that provides explicit, systematic, and sequential decoding instruction. For more information, please visit ReadingHorizons.com.

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