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Voyager Universal Literacy System® was developed by Sharon Vaughn, Ed Kame'ennui, Deborah Simmons, Roland Good, and Jeri Nowakowski. Voyager Universal Literacy System® is a program of Voyager Expanded Learning and is owned and distributed by Pro Quest Education. Address: Voyager Expanded Learning, One Hickory Centre, 1800 Valley View, Suite 400, Dallas, TX 75234-8923. Web: www.voyagerlearning.com. Telephone: (888) 399-1995.
The program was first published in 2000. According to the developer, Voyager Universal Literacy System® has been implemented with students reading at all levels, including students who receive special education services. Since 2002, Voyager Universal Literacy System® has been used in 360 districts in 22 states across the US. Almost 17,500 teachers and over 331,000 students have used the program.
Sequenced lessons provide the teachers with tools and directions for instruction and assessment. Classroom activities include read-alouds directed by the teacher and students reading at different levels in whole group, small group, and independent settings. The program also involves computer-based practice in phonological skills, comprehension, fluency, writing, and language development. Voyager Universal Literacy System® involves use of a progress monitoring system four times a year to determine if any students are struggling. Struggling readers are provided with 10–20 minutes of supplemental in-school instruction and, if they continue to struggle, have the option of enrolling in an 80-hour summer reading intervention program. The program has a home study curriculum with 15-minute activities to use with parents. In addition, each child receives a take-home library to initiate the child's own book collection. The Voyager Universal Literacy System® program utilizes ongoing professional development and school-based reading coaches.
The cost for Voyager Universal Literacy System® is $244 per student for the first year and $160 for subsequent years. This includes curriculum materials—student books, home study guides, and assessment record sheets for each grade level, as well as daily lesson plans and teacher training materials, teacher's guides for reading intervention and enrichment activities, a classroom management packet, a literature library, and a teacher supply pack with manipulatives, CDs, puppets, games, and additional materials. Other elements of the program include a progress monitoring system with an online data management system, a Struggling Reader Intervention, and summer Advanced Reader Modules programs. The cost also includes initial teacher and reading coach training, done on-site. Costs can vary based on which elements are selected. Further training kits (using videos and tutorials) are also available.
|Institute of Education Sciences
