Imagine Learning pushes, challenges students to advance at their own pace

Rutherford County Schools renewed its decade-long partnership with Imagine Learning for the 2021-2022 school year following an unanimous vote by the School Board.

Imagine Learning is a research-based literacy curriculum with an online component designed to help students develop and strengthen language and literacy skills necessary to fully participate in academic settings and prepare for college and career readiness, according to the program’s website.

Rutherford County will be utilizing two programs – Imagine Reading along with Imagine Language and Literacy.

Some teachers will incorporate lessons from the Imagine Learning programs, but “the beauty of Imagine Learning is (students) can access it at home,” said Nona Hall, English language coordinator.

Teachers can track the progress being made by students.

Imagine Reading, which is for grades 3-12, is designed to help improve reading proficiency for native English speakers and, according to Hall, “it is about giving English learners access to more rigorous texts.”

However, much like the Imagine Language and Literacy, RCS has also used Imagine Reading as part of its curriculum for English as a second language.

One difference between the two programs is Language and Literacy is an adaptive program for English language learners in grades K-8.

“It meets students where they are in their language proficiency,” said Hall, “and then it will adapt the program to that student. It meets students where they are — at their current level — and pushes them and challenges them to advance at their own pace.”

Some students have been using the Imagine Language and Literacy program this summer.

Language and Literacy can be used in class as a form of intervention, especially if an instructor has a newcomer, they know is not at the same reading level as their classmates.