8. "I highly recommend Fast
ForWord to other parents
"After the Fast ForWord whose kids have sequencing
program, Josie has more and audio response problems.
interest in reading, more And it's invaluable for kids
fluency, and is a happier kid.” who have ADD tendencies,
Josie's Mother, Michelle because with this product,
Bowles they really learn to focus.”
Catherine's mother, Sharon
O'Neill
“Getting Garrett to read used to be like pulling
teeth. Now he reads for his own enjoyment.
He’s also more confident and it’s no longer
stressful doing homework in the evenings.”
Ken Marlowe, Garrett's father
18. LESSONS LEARNED
1. Products Must Produce Value
for All Customers
2. All Customers Must Attribute That
Value Creation to the Product
Editor's Notes
CB Insights Series A Crunch Data
This graph shows the percentage of fourth graders each spring who achieved a performance rating of Basic or Above on their initial LEAP English Language Arts, or ELA, test. The blue line indicates the St. Mary Parish fourth graders and the red line indicates the fourth graders in all of Louisiana. Fast ForWord was first used in the district during the 2006-2007 school year, shown by the orange shading. Since that school year, as you can see in the graph, fourth graders in the St. Mary Parish Public School System have shown dramatic improvements in their English language arts achievement as measured by the LEAP. In 2008, for the first time in a decade, the district exceeded the state average for the percentage of fourth graders performing at or above the Basic level on the English language arts exam. In the five years of Fast ForWord implementation in the elementary schools, the percentage of fourth graders in the district performing at or above Basic on the initial LEAP English Language Arts test increased from 55% to an impressive 81%.