Bannatyne Reading, Writing, Spelling and Language Program

TESTIMONIALS AND STUDIES

RESEARCH FINDINGS RELATED TO THE BANNATYNE PROGRAM

Results of Pre and Post Testing Research Studies

Over the years quite a number of teachers and Centers have kept detailed records of their test results while using the Bannatyne Program with a wide variety of students. Their results and conclusions are presented below in summary form. Note that the educational category labels for different factual kinds of handicaps change over the years, from state to state, and from country to country, so you may have to "translate" in some cases.  Any interpolations in square brackets have been added for clarification purposes. My own classification of the characteristics of handicapped and disordered students with learning disabilities including those who are emotionally disturbed can be studied in STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS.

The official U.S. Federal Special Education Disability Labels are asterisked*.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When reading the research results presented below always keep in mind that, on average, regular school students in regular classes using regular reading programs, progress only ONE grade achievement level in ONE school year, and that is the standard. Therefore, if any kinds of students progress faster than ONE grade achievement level per year using the Bannatyne Program they are moving along faster than the average student in regular classrooms--and for most handicapped or disabled students that is very fast indeed. They also love it! Some of the results below have been prorated to a school year so this comparison to the standard can be appreciated. Note, too that all the Pre and Post Tests used are standardized and thus the original test standardization group is the Control Group. As you read the following research results, note that almost always Reading Comprehension shows the highest grade achievement gain, affirming that the Bannatyne Reading, Writing, Spelling and Language Program teaches Comprehension (which is what reading is for) very thoroughly.

SUMMARY OF PRE AND POST TEST RESULTS IN SCHOOLS 

(The details of each study are presented below this Table.)

ALL THE RESULTS BELOW ARE GRADE ACHIEVEMENT 

(IMPROVEMENT) LEVELS IN ONE SCHOOL YEAR

Palm Beach County, FL, 12 LD ( incl. 6 ED)            2.54  Grades (Years)

Dade County, FL, 14 LD ages 8-10 years                 1.5    Grades (Years)

Dade County, FL, 15 LD ages 10-13 years               1.7    Grades (Years)

Dade County, FL, 15 LD ages 13-18 years               2.4    Grades (Years)

Suwannee County, FL, 25 LD ages 7-11 years         1.5    Grades (Years)

Glades County, FL, 16 LD ages 9-14 years               1.5    Grades (Years)

Ohio County, WV, 14 LD ages 6-11 years                 1.5    Grades (Years)

New Brunswick, Canada 15 Mentally Handicapped

                IQ's 55-80, ages 10-14 years                    1.7    Grades (Years)

Coachella High, CA, 17 ESL aged 15-18                    3.4    Grades (Years)

______________________________________________________________

AVERAGE LEARNING DISABILITY 

ACHIEVEMENT GAIN IN ONE SCHOOL YEAR:            2.0    Grades (Years)

NOTE: It is very likely that REGULAR classes of Students would move along much FASTER than these LD and MR Students.

Specific Learning Disability* (SLD) Students (Includes: LD, ADD, ADHD, Dyslexics)

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA

Class: 12 miscellaneous LD students, 6 of whom were also emotionally disturbed. Groups of 3 to 5 students. LD Resource Room.

Amount of Instruction: One hour of instruction daily using Bannatyne Program with one LD teacher

Ages: 9-13 years, average age 11

Full Scale WISC-R IQ: 81-131, average IQ 91, average verbal IQ 83, average performance IQ 97 (i.e. normal spatial ability)

Results: Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) group--average pre and post test scores as grade achievement levels in Reading (Word Recognition), Comprehension and Spelling

Comments: This average prorated gain by LD students of 2.54 grade achievement levels in Reading Word Recognition, Reading Comprehension and Spelling is over two and a half times faster than the rate of one school-year achievement of regular students in regular classes with average IQs using regular reading programs. The Bannatyne Program teaches word recognition, reading comprehension, spelling and many other facets of language very thoroughly.

DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA (Younger LD Students)

Class: 14 miscellaneous types of severe LD students (Court referred) individually tutored in Learning Center, 8 of whom were non-readers on entry into the Bannatyne Program

Amount of Instruction: 1 hour 50 minutes of instruction weekly using Bannatyne Program with one LD teacher

Ages: Under 10 years. Student age range: 8 years 0 months to 9 years 8 months

Full Scale WISC-R IQs range: 80-113

Results: Neale (paragraph) Reading Test for Accuracy and Comprehension, and Wide Range Achievement Tests (WRAT) for Word Recognition and Spelling--using pre and post test scores as grade achievement levels

Comments: This overall average prorated gain by LD students of 1.5 grade achievement levels (in Reading Accuracy, Reading Comprehension, Word Recognition, and Spelling combined) is over one and a half times faster than the rate of one school-year achievement of regular students in regular classes with average IQs using regular reading programs. Note that the highest gain (2.4 grade improvement levels) was in the area of Reading Comprehension! The Bannatyne Program teaches reading comprehension to all students very thoroughly.

DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA (Continued) (Middle LD Students)

Class: 15 miscellaneous types of severe LD students (Court referred) individually tutored in Learning Center, 5 of whom were non-readers on entry into the Bannatyne Program

Amount of Instruction: 1 hour 50 minutes of instruction weekly using Bannatyne Program with one LD teacher

Ages: Student age range: 10 years 3 months to 12 years 10 months

Full Scale WISC-R IQs range: 64-107

Results: Neale (paragraph) Reading Test for Accuracy and Comprehension, and Wide Range Achievement Tests (WRAT) for Word Recognition and Spelling--using pre and post test scores as grade achievement levels

Comments: This overall average prorated gain by LD students of 1.7 grade achievement levels (in Reading Accuracy, Reading Comprehension, Word Recognition, and Spelling combined) is over one and a half times faster than the rate of one school-year achievement of regular students in regular classes with average IQs using regular reading programs. Note that the highest gain (1.9 grade improvement levels) was in the area of Reading Comprehension! The Bannatyne Program teaches reading comprehension to all students very thoroughly.

DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA (Continued) (Older LD Students)

Class: 15 miscellaneous types of severe LD students (Court referred) individually tutored in Learning Center, 6 of whom were non-readers on entry into the Bannatyne Program

Amount of Instruction: 1 hour 50 minutes of instruction weekly using Bannatyne Program with one LD teacher

Ages: Student age range: 13 years 7 months to 17 years 9 months

Full Scale WISC-R IQs range: 68-112

Results: Neale (paragraph) Reading Test for Accuracy and Comprehension, and Wide Range Achievement Tests (WRAT) for Word Recognition and Spelling--using pre and post test scores as grade achievement levels

Comments: This overall average prorated gain by LD students of 2.4 grade achievement levels (in Reading Accuracy, Reading Comprehension, Word Recognition, and Spelling combined) is almost two and a half times faster than the rate of one school-year achievement of regular students in regular classes with average IQs using regular reading programs. Note that the highest gain (2.8 grade improvement levels) was in the area of Reading Comprehension! The Bannatyne Program teaches reading comprehension to all students very thoroughly.

SUWANNEE COUNTY, FLORIDA

Class: 25 miscellaneous types of SLD students in a Resource Room situation, taught in groups.

Amount of Instruction: 45 minutes of instruction daily using Bannatyne Program with one LD teacher

Ages: Student age range: 7 years 5 months to 10 years 8 months

Results: Illinois Reading Inventory for Reading Comprehension and Wide Range Achievement Tests (WRAT) for Spelling--using pre and post test scores as grade achievement levels

Comments: This overall average prorated gain by LD students of 1.5 grade achievement levels (in Reading Comprehension, and Spelling combined) is one and a half times faster than the rate of one school-year achievement of regular students in regular classes using regular reading programs. Note that the highest gain (1.8 grade improvement levels) was in the area of Spelling. The Bannatyne Program teaches spelling to all students very thoroughly.

GLADES COUNTY, FLORIDA

Class: 16 miscellaneous types of SLD students in a Resource Room situation--group teaching.

Amount of Instruction: 45 minutes of instruction daily using Bannatyne Program with one LD teacher

Ages: Student age range: 9 years 6 months to 13 years 11 months

Results: Peabody Individual Achievement Tests (PIAT-Word Recognition)--using pre and post test scores as grade achievement levels

Comments: This overall average prorated gain by LD students of 1.5 grade achievement levels (in word recognition) using the Bannatyne Program is one and a half times faster than the rate of one school-year achievement of regular students in regular classes using regular reading programs.

OHIO COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA (School A)

Class: 14 miscellaneous types of SLD students in a Resource Room situation--group teaching

Amount of Instruction: 45 minutes of instruction daily using Bannatyne Program with one LD teacher

Ages: Student age range: 7 years 0 months to 14 years 9 months

Results: Wide Range Achievement Tests (WRAT)--pre and post test scores as grade achievement levels

Comments: This overall average prorated gain by LD students of 1.5 grade achievement levels (in Reading Comprehension, and Spelling combined) is one and a half times as fast as the rate of one school-year achievement of regular students in regular classes using regular reading programs. Note that the highest gain (2.0 grade improvement levels) was in the area of reading comprehension. The Bannatyne Program teaches reading, reading comprehension, spelling and other language arts skills to all students very thoroughly.

OHIO COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA (School B)

Class: 12 miscellaneous types of SLD students in a Resource Room situation--group teaching

Amount of Instruction: 45 minutes of instruction daily using Bannatyne Program with one LD teacher

Ages: Student age range: 6 years 9 months to 10 years 9 months

Results: Wide Range Achievement Tests (WRAT)--pre and post test scores as grade achievement levels

Comments: This overall average prorated gain by LD students of 1.9 grade achievement levels (in Word recognition, Reading Comprehension, and Spelling combined) is one and a half times as fast as the rate of one school-year achievement of regular students in regular classes using regular reading programs. Note that the highest gain (2.4 grade improvement levels) was in the area of reading comprehension. The Bannatyne Program teaches reading, reading comprehension, spelling and other language arts skills to all students very thoroughly.

Intellectually Handicapped (Mentally Retarded*) Classes And Students

NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA

Class: 15 students (7 girls, 8 boys) One teacher

Ages: 10-14 years, average age 12

Full Scale IQ on WISC-R: 55-80, average IQ 67, average verbal IQ 66, average performance IQ 73

Results: Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) grade levels in Reading and Spelling

Teacher Comments: This 7-month achievement gain in Reading and Spelling (by IH/MR students) is a much faster rate of achievement of regular students with average intelligence in regular classes with average IQs when prorated. The students seemed very motivated and interested (teacher's emphasis) in many activities associated with the Program.

Individual Student gains in above New Brunswick class:

Aphasic boy, WISC-R IQ 45, had a reading achievement gain of 1.0 grade levels, and a spelling achievement gain of 0.7 grade levels over 7 months of instruction in the Bannatyne Program

SLD Student (boy), WISC-R Verbal IQ 70, had a reading achievement gain of 3.2 grade levels, and a spelling achievement gain of 1.9 grade levels over 7 months of instruction in the Bannatyne Program.

NOTE:  A much longer version of this paper by Ellen Horsman and Bernard Heydorn was published in: SPECIAL EDUCATION IN CANADA, Spring Issue. Vol. 55. #3. 1981. 

A detailed version of this paper and its findings can be read on the SPECIAL EDUCATION Page of this Website. 

Bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) Students

HIGH SCHOOL ESL CONTINUATION CLASS, CALIFORNIA

Class: 17 students (95% Mexican migrants) All staff teachers individually tutoring students

Grades: 8-12

IQs: not known (untestable in English)

Notes: All the students started in the Jewels Series of Workbooks in the Bannatyne Program and were tutored for only four months in the Bannatyne Program

Results: Nelson Form B and Schnell Word Test grade levels in Reading and Spelling

Teacher Comments: The points system and rewards were replaced with: for each Bannatyne Workbook completed, the student would be given one credit toward High School graduation. It caught on like wildfire. On the basis of evaluation, I passed a check-sheet around to the other teachers each student had, listing the areas I felt everyone would notice in improvement. The areas were carryover value, willingness to read other material, self-expression, increase in writing ability, work completed, oral vocabulary, and self-concept. Each and every student using the Bannatyne Program "came out of the closet." For example, one girl had been a non-reader, and in one month she went out for cheerleading, began socializing with other students, laughed and kidded with the teachers, where she had hidden from people and conversation before. All of the students were motivated to a noticeable degree in all areas listed.

Kindergarten Classes - Regular Public School Beginning Readers

BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS

Two very similar beginning reader kindergarten classes were included in this study. One class was taught the Bannatyne Program color coded vowels, the simple consonants, and many three letter words as used in the Jewel Series of Workbooks. The second class was taught the alphabet and many "look-and-say sight" words commonly used by young children. When both classes were tested at the end of the school year the Bannatyne Program class was almost twice as far along in reading skills.

The Bannatyne Reading Program is a comprehensive, fully integrated reading program, writing program, spelling program, language program, and comprehension training program. The Bannatyne Reading Program is unlike any other reading programs currently available. This means you will find many features which are only in the Bannatyne Reading Program. Thousands of Specific Learning Disability and Dyslexic students of all ages have learned to read write spell and master language by using the Bannatyne Program. In some Commonwealth countries the program may be referred to as: Bannatyne Programme, or Bannatyne Reading Programme. 

Bannatyne Reading, Writing, Spelling and Language Program -- Copyright © 2003 Alexander Bannatyne, PhD

UPDATED MARCH 7, 2005