Case Study: Walker Elementary boosts reading proficiency with Renaissance

How to read 352 million words in five years: Walker Elementary beats the odds with successful reading campaign

Walker Elementary in Santa Ana, California, was struggling to raise ELA proficiency among its largely Hispanic, high-poverty student body, with fewer than 35% of grades 2–5 reading at grade level. Renaissance worked with the school using Renaissance Star Reading® and Renaissance Accelerated Reader 360® to help teachers assess students, set goals, and provide targeted reading practice.

With Renaissance’s tools, Walker Elementary launched a schoolwide reading campaign that dramatically increased student engagement and achievement. The school exceeded its first-year goal by reading 40 million words, later grew to more than 117 million words in a single year, and improved its Academic Performance Index by 50 points from 2011 to 2013, while grade-level readers rose to over 42%; the school also earned a 2016 California Department of Education Gold Ribbon award.

Walker Elementary

Mariana Garate

Principal