Learn-to-Succeed(SM) Literacy strengthens students’ skills in phonics, spelling, comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and reading. In addition, all students, regardless of their reading level, read numerous books as part of the program. Learn-to-Succeed reading intervention curriculum is aligned to state standards and organized according to the National Reading Panel. Learn-to-Succeed Literacy integrates Metropolitan Teaching and Learning’s Fast Forward! And Nonfiction Book Bags programs into its curriculum.

Learn-to-Succeed Literacy Program Components
Placement Tests – Three different instructor-administered placement tests allow for the placement of students at the juncture between skills that they already know and those not yet learned. This is useful for all students, particularly older students who are reading below grade level.

• Scope and Sequence of Skills – The program is based on a scope and sequence for phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency.
• Small Steps – The skills sequence is broken down into small steps. For example, the phonic skills sequence is spread through the end of second grade, which gives students sufficient time to master each of the 200+ phonics elements needed to read virtually any decodable word.
• Phonemic Development – The curriculum places great emphasis on phonemic development, with an immediate connection to the corresponding sound/symbol skills.
• Vocabulary Control – Once phonemic/phonics skills have been practiced in words and sentences, students read “decodable” readers that have the following three features: (a) Three Repetitions – All new words (both decodable words and sight words) are repeated at least three times; (b) Limit: Six Sight Words – There are no more than six new sight words in any given story; (c) Zero Unknown Words – 100% of the words in the story have been previously taught.
• Great Adventures and Memorable Characters – Reading materials feature a recurring cast of multicultural characters and strong, child-centered plots. Students using these books strongly identify with the characters in the stories. All children will see themselves in these books.
• Powerful Comprehension Development – The program draws upon little readers as a critical focus for the development of comprehension skills. The realistic plots, familiar urban settings, and distinctive characters of the readers in this promote the full development of comprehension strategies. The use of text that children can actually read (because all skills have been previously taught) as the basis for work in comprehension is an important factor in this program. Children can and do consult the text to apply their comprehension strategies and to respond to questions.
• Fluency Development – The curriculum offers distinctive support for the development of fluency by offering: 100% readable stories; dialogue balloons; high interest plots; paired peer fluency practice; one-on-one fluency checks; and chapter review books.
• Oral and Written Language Development – Many students enter school from homes that are neither print-rich nor language-rich. The program places great emphasis on developing both oral and written language.
• Nonfiction Books – For more advanced readers, Learn-to-Succeed Literacy offers well-written nonfiction chapter books about important events and everyday heroes in American history and high-interest science topics. The research demonstrates that it is highly effective at raising students’ scores on standardized tests.