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These comments were written by educators who have used the Caldwell Reading Program progressively more and more in their schools over the past few years.

A Principal's Comments

Teacher Comments

There's not a day that goes by that you don't hear my class say, "That's a Mr. Caldwell unit!" It is one of the most exciting things that has happened in my 21 years of teaching. The children look forward to learning new units and words and more importantly they retain what they have learned. Their reading skills have improved greatly--because this program makes sense! Thank you for giving me the tools to make even my slower readers successful.

The Caldwell program really works! Students learn quickly to apply units when attacking new words! I also enjoy teaching the program. Thank you for your efforts!

When I was teaching fourth grade I had a student move into the area who was assigned to my room. He was unable to read even on a first-grade level. I started the Caldwell Reading Program with this student at the beginning of the year and by Christmas he was reading on a third-grade level. By the end of the year, he was up to grade level. His reaction to his success was an improvement in his self esteem and a manifestation of better behavior in school. He was a foster child and had been a child who showed many behavior problems at the beginning of the year. My biggest joy was the next year when he made the honor roll in fifth grade every nine weeks. This year, I have followed him and he made the honor roll this first nine weeks period in middle school. I feel that his success is due entirely to his exposure to the Caldwell Reading Program.

It was my privilege last year to participate in a classroom study to determine the effectiveness of the Caldwell Reading Program. During the study, the effectiveness of Caldwell was compared with the Harcourt Brace Reading Series. The results showed Caldwell to be an extremely effective reading series. The following comments are why I found this series to be by far the most effective reading series I have taught in my 25 year teaching career:

1. Extremely cost effective - the entire series costs only a fraction of what other series cost
2. Volunteers are easily trained to use this series with readers - our teenage Mennonite volunteers had only minimal training and yet were able to understand both the philosophy behind its construction and the manner of its implementation
3. The series was effective with a wide range of abilities--it addressed the needs of EMI, LD, average and gifted students
4. Parents were able to help their child with reading assignments because they easily understood how to work with their child
5. Students became independent readers because the skills were easily transferred to all types of written materials
6. Planning time was shortened because implementation took place easily.
7. Can effectively be used with students who have hearing problems or speak a foreign language

This series deserves serious consideration for use with illiterate students because it works and can be easily taught by volunteers.

My elementary school principal became interested in the Caldwell Reading Program after I insisted on using the program in my classroom in addition to the state-adopted program. She saw very quickly how effective it is. After a couple of months of using the program with my class, she came in to observe and was amazed at how well the children were reading. My class had two students who were above average students, five or six who were average and twelve who were below average, and some of them were far below average. Even the above average students commented that they knew they could read better than they could after a few months of work with the CRP. Average students improved to the point that most of them were making above-average grades. The below average students improved so much that they were making average and above average grades. I am convinced that with the CRP any student can learn to read.

My principal was so impressed with the program that she managed to purchase sets of the CRP books so that teachers in grades one and two are using the program each year. There definitely is an improvement in the students' reading level.

In a meeting with our new superintendent to acquaint him with the Caldwell Reading Program, I related the following. "As a special education teacher, I have tried every program I have found to try to help students learn to read. Until I became acquainted with the Caldwell Reading Program, my only comment to parents was, "I will do my best to teach your child to read." After using the CRP, I now say, "Your child will learn to read."^* A child never has trouble learning to read. The excitement a child shows when he/she realizes success in learning to read is wonderful. One student in the third grade had told his teacher, "Don't bother trying to teach me to read. I can't learn." After going through the CRP he reads well and on grade level. At Christmas time, he wrote a thank-you note to me thanking me for teaching him to read. Parents have reported that for the first time they are able to help their child at home and many have learned to read themselves. We had a family move into our town from Yugoslavia and only the father spoke English. We used the CRP with the children and they and their mother learned to read English.