School-Reported Reading Assessments Show Atypical Gains for Students With Dyslexia

NWEA MAP®, STAR®, aReading, AUTOreading, and WIST Results Reflect Gains in Reading and Language Skills

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NOW! Programs®, led by Dr. Tim Conway, Clinical Director of The Morris Center and CEO of NOW! Programs®, today released school-reported assessment data from the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 school years indicating meaningful academic growth among students with dyslexia currently participating in or having completed NOW! Programs® evidence-based intervention, including some students who also received services at The Morris Center .

Educators, clinicians, and families seeking evidence-based literacy intervention can learn more at www.themorriscenter.com or www.NOWprograms.com.

The data, voluntarily shared by parents and drawn from school-administered reports in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Missouri, reflect student performance on nationally normed assessments commonly used by public and private schools to monitor reading and language development, including NWEA MAP®, STAR Reading®, aReading, AUTOreading, and the Word Identification and Spelling Test (WIST).

Evidence of Growth Following NOW! Programs® Evidence-Based Intervention

Across multiple cases and school-administered reports, students who participated in NOW! Programs®, an evidence- and research-based approach grounded in developmental brain science, demonstrated:

• Significant percentile gains in reading and language performance
• Growth exceeding typical annual expectations, rate of growth as high as 91st percentile
• Sustained progress across multiple school testing windows

In several reports, students’ reading was previously below the 10th percentile and later they scored in the 50th to 80th percentile ranks, as documented by independent school assessments. The school-reported assessment outcomes align with federal and state expectations for evidence-based instruction under ESSA and IDEA, demonstrating measurable gains rather than reliance on compensatory strategies.

Independent Classroom Observations Reflect Transfer of Skills

A public middle school teacher in Iowa shared her students’ outcomes from NOW! Programs® online, small-group instruction (one instructor to four students). She reported that prior to completing 80 sessions, her students improved reading skills extending beyond just test scores and into daily classroom performance.

“We’ve observed clear improvements in reading fluency, especially during oral reading. One student shared that reading now feels less effortful, and that change was reflected in classroom performance. The student progressed from fifth-grade to seventh-grade reading passages while meeting benchmarks, and we also saw meaningful improvement in writing skills and instructional goal attainment.”
—  Public Middle School Teacher

Expert Perspective on Interpreting Independent School Assessment Data

“When students build foundational oral language systems that support reading, their progress becomes visible not only in instructional lessons, but also in the independent assessments used by schools. Seeing consistent growth across multiple measures reinforces the importance of evidence-based intervention that targets root causes rather than symptoms of Dyslexia or poor reading skills.”
—  Dr. Tim Conway, Clinical Director of The Morris Center and CEO of NOW! Programs®

These findings suggest that schools implementing speech-to-print, neurodevelopmentally aligned remediation methods may be able to address long-standing gaps in literacy outcomes for students previously considered “non-responsive” to intervention. This challenges that there may not be a “developmental window” of time past which is too late to improve reading skills. 

About the Data

• Assessments were administered by students’ schools as part of routine academic monitoring
• Results were reported to families by the schools
• Data were voluntarily shared by parents
• Students participated in NOW! Programs®; some also received services at The Morris Center
• No individual student is identified
• Results are presented for informational purposes only

Founded in 1986, The Morris Center delivers transdisciplinary team intervention supported by peer-reviewed studies, including randomized controlled trials demonstrating that students with severe reading difficulties can achieve average-range reading and spelling skills following targeted intervention.

Media Contact:
Candice Johnson Polowitz
NOW! Programs®
(352) 275-5778
info@NOWprograms.com 
www.NOWprograms.com 

About NOW! Programs^®

NOW! Programs^®, an edtech company launched in 2013, provides online evidence-based  high intensity tutoring delivery of instructional methods researched, developed, and implemented over more than 30 years at The Morris Center. Founded by Dr. Tim Conway, PhD, a neuropsychology researcher, NOW! Programs® is grounded in neuroscience and a speech-to-print instructional framework that improves weaknesses in language systems essential for literacy. The organization provides intensive instruction for children through adults with persistent speech, language, reading, and spelling difficulties, including individuals with dyslexia and related learning challenges. More information is available at www.NOWprograms.com.

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SOURCE NOW! Programs®