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Formula-Three – What’s New? – Formula-Three
2004 — 2005
Formula-Three Spanish-to-English Reading, Spelling, Learning Program
Approved as a Supplement to Reading First Core Reading Programs in
California
In April, 2005, the California Reading First Technical Assistance Center at the
Sacramento County Office of Education added the Formula-Three Spanish-to-
English Reading, Spelling, Learning Program to the list of approved
supplements to core reading programs. The Formula-Three program
materials are designed to be used with native speakers of Spanish in third-
grade and beyond who are emerging speakers of English — students who in
most cases have been taught in either immersion or ESL programs. This
program teaches the same advanced code-emphasis phonetic information
and related reading, spelling and language processing skills as do the
previously adopted regular Formula-Three instructional materials.
The Spanish-to-English Program differs in that during each of the 40 audio-
cassette skills lessons the principal instructor who is teaching the lesson in
English is aided by a bi-lingual specialist who speaks to the students in both
Spanish and English. Her role is to facilitate — rather than translate —the
content of the lessons by clarifying them in both Spanish and English. Difficult
concepts are clarified and similarities and differences between the
phonetic/code elements of the two languages shown. While it is desirable
that a person teaching the Formula-Three course of instruction speak both
languages, the materials can be used successfully by an instructor who
knows little, or no, Spanish. Both programs are designed so that a teacher
learns the system as a product of teaching the 40 skills and eight transition
lessons.
When students complete the initial 48 lessons, they can be grouped in
reading and content area classes with English speaking student who have
been taught the system with the other program. When a new student enrolls,
or when one or more students in a schools ESL or immersion develop
enough oral English to profit from the instruction, they can be taught the
course of instruction by an aide or teaching assistant. Research in California
schools show that native speakers of Spanish students who completed the
Formula-Three Spanish-to-English course of instruction and then were
grouped with English speakers for advanced reading instruction made
significant gains on the same standardized tests taken by the English
speakers.
The California State Department of Education Reading First web site is: csbe.
ca.gov
To speak with an author call Colleen or Ted Vail: 888-333-7257 e-mail:
ils4pals@aol.com
To contact Formula-Three Consultant, Mr. John Massey:
Online: masseyj3@hotmail.com
Phone: 910-276-7869
Mail: Mr. John Massey
8041 Saint Andrews Drive
Laurinburg, North Carolina 28352
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Florida Foundation Funds Programs in Two Mississippi
Schools
In late February 2005, the Donald A. Burns Foundation in Florida funded two
Formula-Three programs in Mississippi schools. At Magee Elementary
School, a large K-4 school with 760 students in Magee, Mississippi — Title I,
80% free or reduced price lunch, 60% African-American and 40% white —, the
funds will be used for Formula-Three instructional materials and staff
development. At nearby K-12 Genesis One Christian School in Mendenhall,
Mississippi, the funds will be used to establish a 3-12 school-wide Formula-
Three Language Processing Chain Program.
In early March, staffs from both schools met together at Magee Elementary for
the first of three in-service sessions (skills). The initial session was
conducted by Wanda Stephens, counselor and Formula-Three program
coordinator at South Scotland Elementary School in Laurinburg, North
Carolina and John Massey, Formula-Three educational consultant for the
southeastern United States. A second in-service (application) will be held
later in the current semester. An advanced training session treating with
language processing will be provided for the two faculties before the opening
of school in the fall.
To contact Formula-Three Consultant, Mr. John Massey:
Online: masseyj3@hotmail.com
Phone: 910-276-7869
To contact Wanda Stephens
Online: jack_n_nc@yahoo.com
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Formula-Three and Reading First
In March 2004, the Reading First director at the Department of Public
Instruction in Raleigh, North Carolina, asked the Eastern Regional Reading
First - Technical Assistance Center to evaluate the Formula-Three Reading,
Spelling, Learning Program. The center is located at the Florida Center for
Reading Research, Florida State University at Tallahassee.
North Carolina: The evaluation was returned to the Raleigh Department of
Public Instruction in July, 2004. The department then determined to what
extent the Formula-Three program aligned with the state’s core-reading
programs. In late August 2004, the Formula-Three Reading, Spelling,
Learning Program was certified as a third-grade supplemental instructional
program for North Carolina schools with Reading First programs.
California: In January 2005, after it was determined that the social content of
the Formula-Three instructional materials is aligned with the Education Code
and the lesson content is aligned with the state’s core reading programs, the
California State Board of Education adopted Formula-Three as a supplement
to core reading programs and for Special Education Referral Reduction
instruction.*
As other states or school districts adopt Formula-Three as a supplement to
their core reading programs or for Special Education Referral Reduction
instruction, they will be listed here.
_____________________________
* Note that the evaluation of the Formula-Three program at the Technical
Assistance Center in Florida sufficed for the adoption of the program by
states
on both coasts.
Information concerning the evaluation is available at the center by contacting:
Stuart Greenberg, Deputy Director, Technical Assistance Center: Phone: 850-
645-1926 / Cell Phone: 850-597-1183 / Fax: 850-644-9085 / email:
sgreenberg@fcrr.org
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Third School in the Scotland County School District
Becomes a North Carolina Honored School of Distinction
End-of-Grade testing results in 2004 found that both South Scotland
Elementary School and Washington Park Elementary Schools are once again
North Carolina Honored Schools of Distinction.
Laurel Hill Elementary School, a Title I school, (74% free or reduced price
lunch, 53% white, 25% African American, 20% American Indian and 2% other)
also earned that honor and at the same time closing the achievement gap.
Their composite 3-5 reading and mathematics score the improved from 74%
in 2002 to 90% in 2004. Poverty and minority ethnicity, two factors often
associated with low achievement on standardized tests, showed little income
when all 3-5 students participated daily in the school’s Formula-Three
Language Processing Chain Program.
· Laurel Hill Elementary School – Cindy Goodman Principal
Phone: 910-462-2111 / www.scsnc.org/schools/laurel_hill.htm
· South Scotland Elementary School: Carol Fowler, Principal
Phone: 910-277-4356 / www.scsnc.org/schools/s_scotland.htm
· Washington Park Elementary School, Beth Ammons, Principal
Phone: 910-277-4364 / www.scsnc.org/schoolswashington_park.htm
Guilford Middle School in Greensboro, North Carolina
Becomes a North Carolina Honored School of Distinction
Guilford Middle School in the Guilford County Schools, Greensboro, North
Carolina became a North Carolina Honored School of Excellence when
90.6% of the school’s 4-8 students scored at or above grade norm in reading
and mathematics on the 2004 End-of-Grade Tests. This honor is all the more
newsworthy when it is learned that there is an accelerating rate of transience
at the school. For example, on the first day following the mid-winter break, 16
sixth-graders enrolled in the school, creating the need for a new Formula-
Three group so they could learn the system’s language processing skills
before they were placed in the proper sixth-grade performance-leveled
language processing group. By the middle of February, two of those new
students had moved! As is shown in Guilford Middle School Confounding
Researchers (below), the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced
price has increased to near 50% and the percentage of minority students
increasing as well.
The school is welcoming ever more visitors as word of its achievements
spreads. To arrange a visit or speak with the program’s director;
Guilford Middle School, Dr. Nan Bowles, Program Director
401 College Road
Greensboro, North Carolina 27419-5199
Phone: 336-316-5837 extension 148 / http://schools.guilford.k12.nc.
us/spages/gms/index.html
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South Scotland Elementary School Awarded $1,500
Peter Stenzel, General Manager of Umicore Cobalt Products, whose child
attends kindergarten at South Scotland Elementary School in Laurinburg,
recently attended one of the workshops for parents designed to help acquaint
them with the school’s Formula-Three instructional program. In a letter to
Principal Carol Fowler, Mr. Stenzel praised Counselor Wanda Stephens who
conducted the meeting. He told how much parents were involved with and
appreciated the program. He wrote: Formula 3 is practical and yet very logical
in how it is applied, making reading less of a chore and more enjoyable.” Mr.
Stenzel concluded his letter with these words, “In an effort to help you
promote
Formula 3 to other students and parents, Umicore Cobalt Products will
donate this year a lump sum amount of $1,500 to South Scotland School for
2005.
Peter Stenzel, General Manager
Umicore USA Inc.
The educators at South Scotland have decided that because of a single
parent’s interest in their Formula-Three program led to the award, certain of
those funds should be spent on the school’s Parent Outreach Program. The
first step will involve sending a Formula-Three Bookmark, with a cover sheet
explaining how the information it contains is used in reading, spelling and
language processing, to their student’s homes. Then, because a number of
parents have shown an interest in learning how to actually teach the Formula-
Three decoding, spelling and language processing skills to their own
children, two Formula-Three Instructor’s Albums and two sets of video
cassette training programs will be housed in the school’s library for parent’s
use.
To learn more about South Scotland Elementary School or arrange a visit
contact Principal Carol Fowler:
Online: carol.fowler@scsnc.org
Phone: 910-277-4356
Mail: South Scotland Elementary School
17200 Barnes Bridge Road
Laurinburg, North Carolina 28352-6310
Formula-Three Reading, Spelling, Learning, Program
