While literacy is a cornerstone of success across all subjects, many upper elementary and middle school students lack the literacy skills they need to learn effectively. In fact, the most recent 2022 NAEP results indicate that 69% of students aren’t reading at a proficient level in grade 8, and 67% of students are below proficiency in reading levels in grade 4.To help educators accelerate literacy skills in all learning among students in grades 4-8, Lexia, a Cambium Learning Group brand, introduces Lexia Aspire™ Professional Learning.

As the first professional learning solution specifically designed for educators of adolescent students, Lexia Aspire Professional Learning is a flexible, self-paced digital solution that is grounded in the science of reading. Its focus is on the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” With this program, educators can quickly build the depth of skills they need to support their students who are reading to learn but may still have gaps in the foundational reading skills developed when they were learning how to read, comprehend, and articulate their ideas across various subjects.

Formats/platforms used:

Aspire is on demand. After setting the foundation for educators with a few prerequisite

courses based on their interests and needs, educators can choose which domains they

engage with and the sequence in which they complete the courses. Educators can also

revisit the courses as many times as they would like.

Primary website’s URL:

https://www.lexialearning.com/aspire

Problem solved:

Lexia Aspire Professional Learning gives educators the agency and flexibility to choose content that’s most relevant to improving their students’ literacy outcomes. The courses are practical and immediately transferable to the classroom.

Grade/age range:

All upper elementary and middle school educators, including content-area teachers, classroom teachers, interventionists, and ELA educators.

Does product address core/supplemental/special needs/extracurricular/professional development?

Professional development

Standards:

Lexia Aspire Professional Learning courses are aligned with the International Dyslexia Association’s Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading, and “Bridge to Application” resources are aligned with the Common Core State Standards.

Lesson time needed:

The program takes approximately 40 hours to finish.

Pricing models:

Contact a Lexia Professional Learning Expert.

Additional services:

Educators with a participant license have the opportunity to earn graduate-level credits from ACE. Districts can also provide up to four literacy CEUs upon completion of all courses.

What makes Lexia Aspire unique?

Lexia Aspire is designed by Lexia’s team of literacy experts using the science of reading as its foundation. Lexia has been in the literacy field for nearly 40 years and, leveraging Lexia’s expertise in developing and providing evidence-based literacy and professional learning solutions, Lexia Aspire aligns with the needs of educators who work with adolescent students.

The program helps all upper elementary and middle school educators build literacy skills among their students. Educators have limited time even to cover their core coursework, so Lexia Aspire trains educators to weave in literacy skills and strategies in their areas of expertise. The content and execution are unique. The course is backed by solid pedagogy and deliberately designed to benefit educators and learners in upper elementary grades and middle school. That way, literacy skills are no longer a barrier to learning content and skills across disciplines and instead influence significant, overall improvement in learners’ academics.

Characteristics:

Lexia Aspire is based on the principles of the science of reading and Lexia’s expertise in literacy for K–12. The program is designed to address educators’ needs for improving student achievement by helping educators support learners in how to read, comprehend, and articulate their ideas across various subjects.

To accommodate educators’ busy schedules, Lexia Aspire provides an on-demand, self-paced digital professional learning program that focuses on training for Word Recognition, Language Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, and Writing. To start, all participants complete the prerequisite requirements. Educators can then select the domains and course sequence they’d like to attempt. There are a total of three domains, with 29 courses that have 137 bite-size modules, collectively.

Here's what users are saying:

“I love that Lexia Aspire is based on the science of reading and is specifically designed for educators working with adolescent students. The training has helped my educators weave in literacy skills in their classrooms and equipped them with the right skills to fill in the learning gaps that students had.”

--Katherine Y. Leonard, Acting Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction