Blast Intervention Initiative helps academically at-risk SPS students make significant improvements in reading proficiency

All elementary and middle schools show an increase in percentage of students meeting reading and math benchmarks at mid-year

Stamford Public Schools is pleased to share that its implementation of the Blast Intervention Program from Really Great Reading is increasing the percentage of academically at-risk students already meeting end-of-year (EOY) literacy standards and accelerating typical and stretch growth in literacy among these students. 

Introduced district-wide in October 2024, Blast Intervention is currently being provided to 350 second and third grade students across the district. Nearly 80 percent of the students receiving Blast Intervention are high needs students, defined by the State of Connecticut as students who either qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, are multilingual learners, or are students with disabilities, Research shows that non-school factors including socio-economic status, home language, and disability can impact student learning and academic achievement. 

School-based literacy specialists provide daily, structured, research-based instruction to Blast Intervention students to help them improve core literacy skills. At mid-year, seven percent of these students have already met end-of-year literacy standards, while the percentage of students likely to meet end-of-year standards has risen from 14 percent at the beginning of the year to 40 percent at mid-year. In addition, more than one-third of these students have already achieved their typical end of year growth goal, while eight percent have achieved their end of year stretch goal.

Blast Intervention data were shared by Chief Academic Officer Amy Beldotti during the March 11 Teaching, Learning and Community Committee Meeting of the Stamford Board of Education.

“The initial success of the Blast Intervention initiative is a testament to the hard work and commitment of our literacy specialists, classroom teachers, and MTSS specialists,” said Beldotti. “The significant performance improvements made by students in Blast Intervention demonstrates that all students can succeed academically with the right combination of resources and support.”

In addition to the Blast Intervention data, Beldotti also shared that the percentage of students performing at or above grade level on the DIBELS (Grades K-3 literacy) and iReady (Grades 1-8 literacy and math) benchmark assessments had increased from the beginning of year. All 13 elementary and K-8 schools demonstrated high growth in literacy at mid-year as measured by iReady, while 11 of 13 schools demonstrated high growth in mathematics based on mid-year iReady scores. 

Data from the DIBELS and iReady benchmark assessments are used to understand how students are performing against grade level standards, identify skills that need review or intervention, provide a baseline for progress monitoring, and to help teachers differentiate instruction based on student needs.  

The full presentation to the BOE may be viewed here.