Program information¹

Developer and contact

Developed by Dustin Heuston, Ph. D., at the Waterford Institute, The Waterford Early Reading Program™ is distributed by Pearson Digital Learning. Address: 6710 East Camelback Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. Email: pdlinfo@pearson.com. Web: http://www.pearsondigital.com/waterford. Telephone: (888) 977-7900.

Scope of use

The program was initially developed in 1990, and the first level of the Waterford Early Reading Program™ was launched in 1995. According to the developer, it is currently used in more than 13,000 sites across the United States and serves 350,000 students.

Teaching

Waterford Early Reading Program™ is divided into three levels, each designed for individualized, year-long instruction. The first level is taught in kindergarten and includes print concepts, phonological awareness, and letter recognition. The second level is taught in first grade and includes letter sounds, word recognition, and beginning reading comprehension. The third level is taught in second grade and builds on levels one and two with an emphasis on content meaning of text and fluency in reading. Each level contains hundreds of songs and game-like activities with color graphics, digitized voices, and animation.

The Waterford Early Reading Program™ curriculum includes the Waterford software, assessment materials, classroom lessons, homework materials, and classroom posters, as well as student take-home books, CDs, and handouts. On-site training and online "webinars" are available for initial training in addition to a detailed teacher's guide.

Cost

Program materials for the Waterford Early Reading Program™ cost approximately $300 per student. Cost of training is not available.