California's Atwater Elementary School District Chooses SRA's Imagine It!

ATWATER, Calif. (June 20, 2009) – Atwater Elementary School District has announced its adoption of the SRA Imagine It! reading and language arts programs for Grades Pre-K–2 for the 2009-2010 school year and Grades 3–6 for 2010-2011.

Atwater previously used an earlier edition of SRA/McGraw-Hill’s research-based literacy program called Open Court Reading. This year, 14 teachers piloted the Imagine It! materials and recommended full implementation based on their experience.

Assistant Superintendent Michele McCabe said, “We have been pleased with our results with Open Court Reading. The teachers who piloted Imagine It! have been very excited about it, especially its additional emphasis on writing and the new technology component, the eSuite.”

The pilot teachers have come to expect high levels of performance and were delighted to find that their students rose even higher with Imagine It!

District administration also reviewed other state-approved textbooks, but found “nothing compared to Imagine It! when we looked at the whole package,” McCabe said.

About Atwater Elementary School District
Atwater Elementary School District serves approximately 4,652 students in Merced County, California. Roughly 62% are Hispanic, 25% Caucasian, 6% Asian, 5% African American, and 3% multicultural. For more information about Atwater Elementary School District visit Aesd.edu.

About Imagine It!
Imagine It! is the result of 45 years of research and field study. It meets all the elements recommended by the National Reading Panel: instruction in phonological and phonemic awareness, explicit phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The program covers all daily reading, language arts, and writing curriculum requirements, while meeting all of the standards for science and social studies. Imagine It! fully integrates state-of-the-art technology tools to enhance learning.

There are three options within the Imagine It! series: Imagine It! is the core K–6 program, designed to meet California State Standards. Imagine It! English Language Development (ELD) is an expanded version of Imagine It!  specifically designed for teachers with students whose primary language is not English. ¡Imagínalo! helps students develop Spanish literacy that can be used in combination with Imagine It! or alone.

The California editions of the Imagine It! series meet the California Criteria, Standards, and Framework, and were approved by the California State Board of Education for the 2008 Reading/Language Arts–English-Language Development adoption list.

The authors, who are researchers themselves, continue to update the program as new studies are published revealing the latest findings on effective instructional methods. For more information, visit SRAImagineItCA.com.

About SRA/McGraw-Hill
SRA/McGraw-Hill is the top provider of specialized research-based educational programs and professional development for the elementary market. Leading programs include SRA Imagine It! reading program, Direct Instruction, SRA Number Worlds, additional core and supplemental programs. SRA is part of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP).  McGraw-Hill Education is a leading global provider of instructional, assessment, and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. McGraw-Hill Education has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at MHEducation.com. For more information on SRA/McGraw-Hill’s products, call 1-888-SRA-4543 and visit SRAonline.com.

To find an SRA Sales Representative in California to request about product information or samples, call toll free at 866-433-6995 or email
SRA_CARegion@McGraw-Hill.com.

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