Schoolwide
 Writing & Testing Fundamentals Testimonials
During the spring of 2007 our school elected to use Testing Fundamentals in the after school programs targeted towards struggling students. All four students in question were proficient and scored a level four, the highest level.

Rosemary Campbell, 3-5 Literary Coach, Rashkins Elementary - Chapel Hill, NC
It is my pleasure to write a letter endorsing Mary Clayton. I am a literacy coach at Windsor Park Elementary, Charlotte, NC, and Ms. Clayton volunteered to be our writing coach this school year. At the beginning of the school year, she introduced Writing Fundamentals to our staff and visited our school monthly to monitor the implementation of the program. Mary made a significant impact on our staff and students. Writing instruction at Windsor Park is better because her, and I am a better coach as well. According to the 2006/07 state writing assessment, only 29% of our fourth grade students met grade level requirements for writing, and staff was having a difficult time implementing the district's writing program. Therefore, professional development in writing was essential for us. During her first presentation to staff, Mary explained how Writing Fundamentals was established and showed our teachers how to integrate it with the district's program. She looked at each grade level's pacing guide and correlated units to Writing Fundamental units of study for each grade level (K-5). This simplified things for our teachers tremendously as materials and lesson plans were already assembled for the entire year. As a result, writing instruction improved throughout the school, and 44% of our fourth grade students met grade level requirements for writing this year. Our school attributes much of this success to Mary Clayton. During the monthly visits, I shadowed Mary as she went to classes throughout our school monitoring writing instruction and providing valuable feedback to our staff. In addition to visiting classrooms, she met with struggling grade levels during their planning sessions to discuss issues and devise action plans that addressed the problems. Some teachers requested demonstration lessons and Mary model writing lessons for them. She established an excellent rapport with our teachers, and they were very receptive to her guidance. We learned so much from her! She taught our staff and students to enjoy writing and reading more. She has so much to offer and will do an excellent job educating others about literacy.

Lara Harris, Windsor Park Elementary - Charlotte, NC
As a literacy staff developer, it is my pleasure to share my school's relationship with Schoolwide Inc. Since Spring 2007 our School (P.S. 206) has entered a professional development relationship with Rory Cohen.

We are now implementing the Writing Fundamentals Program in my K-5 classrooms. The response to the high quality materials has been overwhelmingly positive. My staff has attended in-house workshops presented by Rory Cohen. These workshops included amazing classroom demonstrations with follow-up discussions. My staff has also attended many off-site workshops offered by Schoolwide. The program and workshops are of the highest quality. The presenters are always enthusiastic and the lessons are teacher friendly. The workshops walk you through the program and the teachers at P.S. 206 love it. The staff has embraced the Writing Fundamentals Program and is eager to continue our staff development with Rory Cohen and an additional staff developer next year. The Writing Fundamentals program has positively impacted the writing instruction in my building. The results are so outstanding that we have been recommending this program to other schools in my network. The staff is so impressed with the quality and selection of literature available from Schoolwide that we now have ordered classroom libraries for our classrooms. It is my opinion that Rory Cohen and Schoolwide Inc. would be an asset to the schools in our network. I highly recommend their professional development services and Supporting Fundamentals materials.

Felisse Scherling, P.S. 206 Staff Developer - Brooklyn, NY
Several years ago while I was a classroom teacher I used my teacher's choice money to purchase materials from your company. The materials were so useful and came immediately. I am now the Assistant Principal at P.S. 42 in Staten Island. In the past few weeks I worked with Rory and she helped me create bundles of Classroom Read-Alouds for each grade level in my school. I am currently preparing for some professional development and I could not have done this without Rory's assistance and your products. The books are wonderful and will provide my students with rich literature and outstanding conversation in the classroom. I want to tell you how wonderful it has been to work with you and your team. The quality of the materials is wonderful. I also recently attended the workshop Schoolwide provided and I am in the process of ordering the Fundamental Units of Study for Writing Workshop and the materials you have for Test Prep. I truly believe that they will guide my teachers and keep our teachers working with our Curriculum Maps. The Units are strong and offer so much to the teachers. I look forward to using them in the upcoming school year. Thank you so much for all of your help and support. I look forward to working together in the future!

Rose Brown, Assistant Principal, Public School 42 - Brooklyn, NY
I have had the opportunity to attend several workshops offered by Schoolwide. The workshops were well organized, had professional keynote speakers, as well as professional presenters. One of the workshops had a special offer: three attendees for the price of one. Each person had the opportunity to return to their classroom with free materials appropriate to their grade level. The materials were teacher/student friendly. They contained many reproducibles such as standards-based lessons, graphic organizers, various assessments, etc. These lessons were based on currently published high quality literature. The lessons were organized as Units of Study in various genres: poetry, author study, and test prep. The assessments provided were similar to that of the ELA test. In addition, these Units of Study provide much needed strategies for differentiated instruction for the ELL students. Pending budgetary allowances, our school would like to continue purchasing materials, as well as, the Professional Development that goes along with it from Schoolwide.

Susan Oberti, Literary Coach, P.S. 90 - Brooklyn, NY
As the Principal of the Cordello Avenue Elementary School in Central Islip, New York, I am continually looking for opportunities that will enhance the instructional program in an effort to increase student achievement. Being identified as a School In Need of Improvement in ELA adds to the pressure of meeting state expectations. Cordello is a Reading First school and professional development has focused on the big 5 literacy components: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. The School Improvement Team decided that additional resources were needed to support teachers and students as they prepare for the ELA assessment. Several members of the team attended the Testing Fundamentals Literacy Workshop sponsored by Schoolwide and were impressed right from the start. The Literacy Workshop was an open forum to gain an understanding of the instructional strategies that are presented in the materials. The interactive presentation was skillfully organized to model Testing Fundamentals materials and highlighted essential elements found in workshop style classrooms. This format allowed my team members the ability to visualize how the materials and approach would work in their own classrooms. Participants were encouraged to ask questions throughout the presentation and additional time was allotted at the conclusion of the workshop regarding specific aspects of the program. The positive feedback from the team led us to a unanimous decision about incorporating this program into our third- and fourth-grade classrooms. Robin Cohen provided a series of workshops for teachers on Testing Fundamentals. Teachers immediately felt confident working with Robin because of her extensive background as a Reading Teacher and Literacy Coach. In addition, Robin continually demonstrated her expertise in literacy development and analysis of ELA performance indicators by illustrating the deep alignment of the materials to NYS Standards. Each session began with a comprehensive discussion on a variety of topics including test-taking strategies, question types, literacy skills, and best instructional practices. Robin walked teachers through the binder of well-organized materials and modeled lessons in classrooms. Children quickly responded to Robin and she effectively engaged all the students in a read-aloud with thought provoking conversation and questions that directly mirror the ELA assessment. Students learned how to identify key words in comprehension questions as well as strategies to answer them. Based on the feedback from the third- and fourth-grade teachers, we decided to extend Testing Fundamentals to second grade as well as special education service providers. The purpose of the additional workshops is to further coordinate the instructional program within the building. Testing Fundamentals is a research-based approach that offers teachers a common language and excellent resources to ensure high levels of student achievement. As a principal, I have observed teachers utilizing the strategies and materials in their daily instruction with great success. I am confident that the outstanding professional development that accompanies the materials will continue to have a significant impact on student performance at my school.

Adam Frankel, Principal, Cordello Avenue Elementary School - Central Islip, NY
As a Network Support Specialist for Literacy, it is with great pleasure that I share my experience and professional development that I have encountered with Schoolwide, Inc. On February 29, 2008, I attended an amazing workshop presented by Rory Cohen of Schoolwide, Inc. at PS 16, John J. Driscoll School in Staten Island, NY along with several of my colleagues and Administrators from our Learning Support Organization. Rory's presentation focused on utilizing touchstone texts in writer's workshop and "Reading like a Writer. 'Rory is a dynamic presenter' She is extremely knowledgeable and engaging with the work she presented. The information she conveyed was aligned with the Balanced Literacy standards, goals and initiatives that many of the forty schools in my network are following as they design their Curriculum Maps." Writing Fundamentals actually targets what my schools have been asking my team of Content Specialists. At the workshop, I also received a Writing Fundamentals Unit of Study which included 10 books with mini-lessons that matched the text. I analyzed each lesson that was included in the binder with the text and I really LOVED the materials. The way the mini-lessons are set up for classroom teachers is very unique and exceptional. All of the mini-lessons are structured in a way that are to the point and very explicit. I encouraged the schools from our network to attend Schoolwide's spring workshops and several schools did, in fact, attend. The feedback I have received has been extraordinarily positive. I have also seen an improvement in classroom instruction in several network schools that attended and are subsequently utilizing the Fundamentals materials. It is my view that Rory and Schoolwide, Inc. would be a tremendous asset to the 376 schools in our Learning Support Organization, and I strongly recommend their professional development services and supporting Fundamentals materials. Anna Arrigo, Network Support Specialist - Literacy Integrated Curriculum and Instruction - Learning Support Organization

Integrated Curriculum & Instruction - Long Island City, NY
I received the order today. Thank you so much for the wonderful customer service. The unit looks AMAZING and I cannot wait to use it in my classroom!!.

Alison Becker,5th Grade Teacher PS 139 - New York