My Breakfast Reading Program
Concept Paper
PepsiCo Foundation
September 6, 2006
Submitted by
Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois
Executive Summary
My Breakfast Reading Program is a supplemental reading program to develop fundamental reading skills.
The program is web based and is offered as a free service to anyone. The current program is a text and
graphics based system. The next generation of the program will have interactive multimedia for both the
student and teacher/parent.
The 2005 Interactive Illinois Report Card, IIRC, demonstrates that there is still a major reading deficiency
among ethnic groups, economically deprived and learning disabled students. However, this deficiency is
not limited to Illinois, thus the need for No Child Left Behind, NCLB, and Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, IDEA 2004.
The proposed concept project has a four phased approach over a three to four year time span. The
estimated cost of the concept project is $144,500. To address the 401(c) requirements, the author of My
Breakfast Reading Program would serve as a non-paid PepsiCo or Illinois State University consultant to
assist in the development and administration of the concept project. Upon the completion of the concept
project, the author would donate all of My Breakfast Reading Program’s intellectual property and
copyrighted materials to PepsiCo and/or Illinois State University to ensure sustainability. The author
would continue to serve as a non-paid consultant as the program is sustained. In summary, the author is
demonstrating social responsibility by providing an established program and continuing professional
consultation without any financial gain.
The proposed concept project is aligned to PepsiCo’s social responsibility goals. The project focuses on
diversity and inclusion by targeting reading intervention programs for minorities and disabled readers. The
project also encourages the development of social responsibility traits through the use of student tutors and
mentors. PepsiCo employees are offered the opportunity of fulfilling their social responsibilities by being
engaged in their local educational programs, particularly in Phases I and II.
In addition to the above social responsibilities, approximately -fifty percent of the budget is allocated to
learning opportunities for higher education students through class projects, scholarships and/or internships
for the development and marketing of the concept project.
The concept project and sustainability leverages PepsiCo’s branding, distribution and advertising strengths
in Phase IV and after completion of the project. My Breakfast Reading Program uses the following
breakfast food analogies to simplify reading fundamentals, e.g. word attack skills. For each analogy, the
associated product line is identified:
 Sight Words: most commonly used words (the, is, on, a, of) – cold cereal - Quaker
cereals
 Irregular Rimes: words not conforming to phonetic rules (weight, laugh, – hot cereal
Quaker oatmeal
 Words with short vowels (cat, hen, fish, fox, duck) – Pancakes – Aunt Jemima Pancake
& Waffle Mix
 Words with long vowels (cake, peach, pie, toast, mule) – Waffles - Aunt Jemima Pancake
& Waffle Mix
 Words with R controlled vowels (car, fern, spur, fork) – Orange Juice – Tropicana
Orange Juice
 Words with diphthong vowel sounds (cow/cloud, toy/boil, stew/suit, straw/launch) –
Fruit Toppings (can be associated with pancakes and waffles, e.g. blueberry pancakes,
strawberry waffles)
Page 2 of 16
Mission Statement for My Breakfast Reading Program:
Provide evidence based supplemental reading materials via web technologies at no cost to the following
audiences for the purpose of developing fundamental reading skills:
 preschool readers (kindergarten)
 beginning readers (1st – 2nd grade)
 reading disabled youth (any grade)
 reading disabled adults
 English as a Second Language students
 Regular classroom and specialized teachers
 nonprofit reading programs
 parents and/or guardians
Program History and Activities:
www.MyBreakfastReadingProgram.com
My Breakfast Reading Program is a web based supplemental reading program using evidenced based
techniques and principles. The materials for My Breakfast Reading Program are offered for free. Printing
and copying privileges are granted for any instructional program and for parents use at home.
The author of My Breakfast Reading Program, Dick Briggs, was a Special Education teacher for seven
years during the 1970’s. He received his B.S., M.S. and post graduate work in Special Education at Illinois
State University. After leaving the field of education, he honed his skills in computer technologies while
being a Technical Analyst in the Systems Department at a Fortune 30 Midwestern Insurance and Financial
company. As he prepares for retirement, leveraging his experiences in education and technology to
develop a reading web site seemed natural.
In order to minimize the number of rules associated with learning to read and spell, the author developed
breakfast food analogies associated to the rules. The program is easily personalized, thus the funny name,
My Breakfast Reading Program. The core program is 90% complete. That is, the program has fifty-three
lessons that can be printed. Each lesson contains multiple activities and supporting materials. The author
is currently providing funds to several teachers to complete the remaining 10%, highly decodable stories,
targeted for completion in May 2007.
My Breakfast Reading Program is designed to be free for four reasons.
 As a child, the author was a struggling reader.
 As a teacher, the author had to spend a lot of his own money on classroom materials. Personal
funding for classroom materials is an ongoing hardship and reality for many teachers.
 As US Marine, the author came within inches of losing his life while serving in Viet Nam.
Realizing that he had both a talent for teaching and a talent for using technology that was nearly
lost, he made it a personal goal to utilize these talents in a public service based activity without
financial gain.
 As many reading disabled or reading inhibited students come from financially disadvantaged
families, access to materials to develop a child’s fundamental reading skills should not be
inhibited by financial means.
Page 3 of 16
Following is a list of activities that have used My Breakfast Reading Program to date:
 After school reading program: Sheridan Grade School, Bloomington, Il Public Schools
o Twenty 2nd grade high risk students for 12 weeks
o Author trained 50+ adult volunteers for the after school program
 Response to Intervention: Fieldcrest Unified School District, Wenona, Il
o School psychologist trained 5th/6th grade Behaviorally Disturbed students as peer tutors
o Peer tutors worked with 1st and 2nd grade students
o School psychologist, school social worker and classroom teachers worked with
kindergarten students in letter naming and letter sounds
 Illinois State University Academic Intervention and Consultation Services
o Graduate students in the School Psychology program use the materials as part of an
intervention program
 Lunch and Learn: Reading Fundamentals
o Author partnered with employer’s Disabilities Affinity Group to conduct a lunch time
orientation for fellow employees
o Author conducted after hour hands-on sessions for fellow employees.
 Controlled Research: Response to Intervention, Fieldcrest Unified School District (research
initiated September, 2006)
o Author contributed funds to Illinois State University’s School Psychology Department
o Author’s employer provided an employee matching contribution
o Funding for two Graduate Assistants in the School Psychology program
o Program will provide a one year controlled study of Response to Intervention for 1st
grade students utilizing My Breakfast Reading Program, Reading Recovery and normal
classroom instruction
 Illinois ASPIRE program – Central Zone (need to confirm use)
 Tolono (need to get permission for reference)
 Presentations
o Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education Conference, IAASEpresentation January 2006
o 19th Annual International Precision Teaching Conference – presentation November 2006
Page 4 of 16
Table I represents a conceptual representation of My Breakfast Reading Program and the relationship to
Quaker, Aunt Jemima and Tropicana product lines.
Table I: Conceptual Representation of My Breakfast Reading Program and the Relationship to
Quaker, Aunt Jemima, and Tropicana Product Lines
Word Sight
Words with
Words
Words
Words with Words
Type
Words
Short Vowel
with Long
with R
Diphthong
with
Sound
Vowel
Controlled Vowel
Irregular
Remarks
Sound
Vowel
Sound
Rime
Sound
Vowel
Sounds
the
“a” as in cat
“a” as in
“ar” as in
“oy” as in
Opposite
Examples
is
“e” as in hen
cake
car
toy
of general
on
“i” as in fish
“e” as in
“er” as in
“aw” as in
phonic rule
to
“o” as in fox
peach
fern
saw
a
“u” as in duck “i” as in pie “ir” as in
“ow” as in
bread
“o” as in
bird
cow
laugh
toast
“ur” as in
“au” as in
“u” as in
spur
launch
go
mule
“or” as in
“ue” as in
no
fork
clue
“ire” as in
“oi” as in oil
fire
“eer” as in
deer
“air” as in
chair
110 most
7% of
13% of
10% of
Statistics and
44% of
26% of
single
single
single
Characteristics frequent
single
single
words
syllable
syllable
syllable
syllable
syllable
words
words
words
words
words
First 25
words
Opposite
One vowel
found in
rule for
33% of
Vowel
One vowel
one and
Two
printed
followed by followed by two vowels
vowels
material
“r”
“y” or “w”
First 100
words
found in
50% of
written
material.
Teaching
Method
Memorize
Special
sounds for
two vowels,
such as au
and ue
Synthetic
Phonics
Synthetic
Phonics
Page 5 of 16
Synthetic
or Analytic
Phonics
Analytic
Phonics
Memorize
or Analytic
Phonics
Food Analogy
and Product
Line
Association
Cold Cereal
Pancakes
Waffles
Quaker
Life,
Aunt Jemima
Pancake and
Waffle mix
Aunt
Jemima
Pancake
and Waffle
mix
Most
frequent
breakfast
food.
Children
can
generally
fix by
themselves
at early age
Pancakes are
cooked one
side at a time.
Waffles are
cooked two
sides at a
time.
Easiest to
learn.
Mixing of
ingredients
relates to
sound
blending
Orange
Juice
Fruit
Toppings
Tropicana
Orange
Juice
N/A
Hot Cereal
Quaker
Oatmeal
Cap’n
Crunch
Rational
Pancakes
have one
additional
ingredient
besides the
mix (water)
Pancakes take
a shorter
time (short
vowel sound)
to cook than
waffles (long
vowels
sound).
Child
generally
needs help
cooking
pancakes.
Waffles
have two
additional
ingredients
besides the
mix (water
and oil)
Waffles
take longer
to cook
(long vowel
sound) than
pancakes
(short
vowel
sound)
Mixing of
ingredients
relates to
sound
blending
Child
generally
needs help
cooking
waffles.
Page 6 of 16
Vowel
followed by
“r”.
Use “r” to
categorize.
Relate to
the “or”
sound in
orange
juice
Use of fruits
to associate
with sound.
Strawberry
relates to
“aw”, “au”
Blueberry
relates to
“ue”, “ui”,
“ou”
Boysenberry
relates to
“oy”, “oi”.
Wowberry
(raspberry +
blackberry)
relate to
“ow”, “ou”
Somewhat
frequent
breakfast,
particularly
in colder
climates.
Child may
need some
assistance
with
heating
water.
Project Scope:
Phase I: Internalization of My Breakfast Reading Program by PepsiCo employees
Who: Initial participants in Phase I would be employees of the Danville, IL Quaker’s plant, and employees
of Quaker’s home office in Chicago, IL. Additional participating plants would be selected by PepsiCo
management. The participating employees would be volunteers interested in learning more about reading
fundamentals for their child. In particular, the program would be targeted to employees who have a
disabled or struggling reader.
What: The Danville and Chicago employees would participate in one 90 minute or two forty-five minute
conceptual sessions. Participants would have the option of attending four one hour “hands-on” sessions. In
addition, remote support sessions could be scheduled. Remote workshops (distant learning) for additional
plants would be established after the on site programs are completed.
When: Phase I would be initiated in May/June 2007.
The internal program would be scheduled at the discretion of the plant’s management team. This could
include pre-work hours, lunch time activities, after work hours, and/or scheduled release time. The remote
workshops would be conducted after the on site workshops have been completed.
The on site and/or remote workshops for PepsiCo employees would be an iterative process until PepsiCo
management is comfortable to move on to Phase II or abandon the project in its entirety. Likewise, Phase I
could be an iterative process to provide additional PepsiCo employees access to the workshops while
moving to Phase II.
Where: For the Danville and Chicago participants, the workshops would be conducted on site. For the
remote workshops, employees would participate at their local plants though tools such as NetMeeting or
WebEx. The workshop presenters would utilize the facilities of either the Danville or Chicago plants or
remotely, depending on firewall constraints.
Costs: $500: travel and support expenses
The only costs associated with Phase I would be travel and support expenses ($500) for the workshops.
The author of My Breakfast Reading Program and ISU staff is within three hours (Bloomington, IL) of
both the Danville and Chicago locations. It is assumed that fabrication of materials for the participants
would be processed internally. For the remote workshops, it is assumed that PepsiCo has online
collaboration tools such as NetMeeting and/or WebEx like applications.
Deliverables/Expected Outcomes:
 PepsiCo employees would participate in conceptual and hands-on workshops.

Upon completion of the workshops, the employee would be able to tutor their child on
fundamental reading skills.

Students receiving the peer tutoring will demonstrate increased fluency and accuracy when
compared to like students not receiving tutoring My Breakfast Reading Program
Phase II: Externalization of My Breakfast Reading Program by PepsiCo employees in conjunction
with local educational (public and/or private) and nonprofit organizations within each participating
plant’s locale.
Who: The participants in Phase II would be PepsiCo employees from the plants in Phase I and selected
local educational programs and/or nonprofit educational programs. Consultants from Illinois State
University would assist in data collection and program structure.
Page 7 of 16
What: Trained PepsiCo employees, with support of the author of My Breakfast Reading Program and ISU
staff, would conduct a workshop for teachers and peer tutors. The peer tutors would then implement the
tutoring program with the assistance of the trained teaching staff.
In addition to training peer tutors, the teaching and program support team would work with high school
programs to develop mentors for the tutors and tutees. The mentors would be students participating in
programs encouraging social and civic responsibility. The primary role of the mentor is to demonstrate by
example and by daily experiences how practicing a skill is critical to their success. The mentor would work
with the tutor and tutee on a frequent basis as a team.
The local program could have multiple subset programs, such as Response to Intervention for K – 1,
supplement to Title I, supplemental to Special Education and/or any other current support programs
identified by the local school administrator.
When: Phase II would be initiated in the 2007 – 2008 school year. Phase II would be an iterative process
until PepsiCo management is comfortable to move on to Phase III or abandon the project in its entirety. On
the other hand, Phase II could be iterative to engage additional PepsiCo plants while moving to Phase III.
Where: The tutoring program would be at the local educational institution. Remote support would be
conducted at the educational institutions with Internet access. Otherwise, PepsiCo facilities may be utilized
on an as needed basis.
Costs:



$24,000+
$2,000: rewards to mentoring groups
$2,000: travel and support expenses
Approximately $10,000 - $20,000+: ISU consulting staff, depending on the number of pilot
programs and iterations
 Internal cost for printing tutoring materials. This would be a cost to the program leveraging
PepsiCo’s internal fabrication facilities during the pilot phase. In the future, the cost should be
borne by the local institution. However, during the pilot phase, cost efficient delivery systems
would be analyzed.
Deliverables/Expected Outcomes:
PepsiCo employees, with the assistance of the author and ISU staff, would conduct teacher
workshops and train peer tutors and mentors. The peer tutors, and supporting mentors, would
conduct tutoring sessions for a minimum of one semester.
Daily charts of progress will be documented. Achievement gains will be measured using the local
district’s standardized testing battery, such as, but not limited to DIBELS.
Phase III: Enrichment of My Breakfast Reading Program’s core product with multimedia
Who: Participants in Phase III would be multi-disciplinary competitive teams or selected members from
the following ISU departments.
Track I: Voice Recording




Speech Pathology and
Audiology
Curriculum and Instruction
Art Technology
Information Technology
Track II: Interactive Web Based
Materials
 Psychology
 Special Education
 Curriculum and Instruction
 Art Technology
 Information Technology
Page 8 of 16





Track III – Media Based
Tutorials
Psychology
Special Education
Curriculum and Instruction
Art Technology
Information Technology
PepsiCo’s internal staff and/or PepsiCo’s alliances, such as advertising or marketing vendors would judge
the proposals and/or provide scholarships/internships for the winning team or selected members to
implement the design.
What: The core delivery system of My Breakfast Reading Program is web based text and printable
activities. Phase III would have three multimedia development tracks.
Track I: Voice Recording: Track I would lay the foundation for Track II and Track III by
recording sight words, stories and phonemic elements.
Track II – Interactive Materials: In Track II, interactive materials supporting the core materials
would be developed. Interactive activities would be developed using tools such as MacroMedia
Flash. In addition to the multimedia materials, the core website design would be evaluated and
modified, as needed.
To embellish the educational theme of this project, a design concept competition would be
established. Once the design concept is selected, development of the materials would be
incorporated into class projects and/or with associated internships with PepsiCo and/or its
alliances. Or at the discretion of PepsiCo, the development could be awarded to minority owned
businesses.
Track III – Media based tutorials: Track III would provide for the development of web based
“training snippets” to be used by classroom teachers, university students/instructors and parents in
Phase IV. The materials developed in this track would also be developed like those in Track II.
That is, this track would provide real world experience for class projects in a competitive
environment. Likewise, internships with PepsiCo and/or their alliances would be another
alternative.
When: Phase III could be initiated in Year 2 of the project or when PepsiCo’s management is comfortable
with the long term feasibility of the project. That is, if management sees benefits early in Phase I and/or
Phase II, Phase III could be initiated and become part of an iterative process for refinement in Phase I and
Phase II, thus expanding the multimedia programs to other PepsiCo employees and local educational
institutions in an expedited timeframe.
In summary, Phase III could take an approach similar to “The Apprentice”, where teams of ISU students
would compete for rewards based on best design and cost efficient delivery systems. One reward option
could be internships at production studios to implement the design.
Where: Phase III would take place in classroom projects at ISU. PepsiCo facilities and/or facilities of
PepsiCo’s alliances could be utilized for internships.
Costs: $50,000
Phase III’s cost would have a capped reward system/internships of $50,000.
Deliverables/Expected Outcomes:
Track I deliverables would be professional recordings of sight words, stories and phonemic
elements used by tracks II and III.
Track II deliverables would consist of web based interactive supplemental materials for each
lesson.
Track III materials would be multiple “one minute” web based training snippets demonstrating the
concepts and principles of My Breakfast Reading Program.
Page 9 of 16
Phase IV: Externalization of My Breakfast Reading Program by PepsiCo to the general public
Who: The participants in Phase IV are PepsiCo employees, ISU marketing students and early
implementers of the program in Phase II.
Who: Participants in Phase III would be multi-disciplinary competitive teams or selected members from
the following ISU departments.
Track I Marketing



Art Technology
Information Technology
Business
Track II: Conferences






Psychology
Special Education
Curriculum and Instruction
Speech Pathology and
Audiology
Business
Art Technology


Track III Web Based
Implementation Seminars
Educational Administration
and Foundations
Information Technology
What: Phase IV would have a three track communication plan
Track I – Marketing: Track I would develop a marketing plan to incorporate references to My
Breakfast Reading Program into PepsiCo products and/or sponsored activities. Examples would
be a simple reference of www.MyBreakfastReadingProgram.com on Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix
packaging or as part of a crawl line on message boards and PepsiCo sponsored facilities, such as
the Bloomington IL PepsiCo Ice Rink.
Similar to Phase III, the marketing plan would be a competitive program.
Track II: - Conferences: PepsiCo employees and ISU students would staff vendor display
booths at four regionally based national or international conferences, such as International
Reading Association and Council for Exceptional Children. In addition to the vendor display
booths, presentations/workshops would be submitted for announced “Calls for Papers”. Presenters
would consist of PepsiCo employees, the author, ISU staff and/or Phase II implementers of the
program.
Track III: Web based implementataion seminars (webinars). Scheduled monthly webinars
would be conducted for educational institutions related to implementation methods. Presenters
would include institutions that have implemented My Breakfast Reading Program into their
existing intervention programs.
Using tools such as WebEx, these seminars would be recorded and replayed at anytime.
When: Year three or four of project
Where: National Educational Conferences and Scheduled Webinars
Costs: $70,000
Track I – PepsiCo Product Advertising Campaign: $15,000
 $15,000 capped reward for competitive program
Track II – Conferences(4): $25,000
 :$15,000 -display areas
 $10,000 - travel/accommodations:
Track III – Webinars: $30,000
 $10,000 capped reward for competitive program
 $20,000 - technology and phone fees (WebEx like events) -
Page 10 of 16
Deliverables/Expected Outcomes:
Track I would provide a marketing implementation design and plan for My Breakfast Reading
Program to be integrated with Quaker, Aunt Jemima and Tropicana products. The implementation
plans would be executed as product packaging is updated.
Track I would also provide a marketing implementation plan for using multimedia and/or print
sources at PepsiCo sponsored events and/or facilities. The implementation plan would be
executed as new events are developed.
Track II would identify four regionally based national conferences and secure vendor display areas
at each. PepsiCo employees would staff each of the vendor displays. A minimum of one
presentation at a national conference would be submitted in “Call for Papers” requests.
Track III would schedule, present and record monthly webinars focused on alternative
implementations of My Breakfast Reading Program.
Page 11 of 16
Key Personnel:
Dick Briggs: Author of My Breakfast Reading Program
 USMC (’66 – ’68) obtaining the rank of Sgt. and serving one tour in Viet Nam
 B.S. (’71), M.S. (’73) and post graduate work (’78 – ’79) from Illinois State University in the
areas of education, language development, research and statistics
 Teaching certificates (’71 – ’79) in Elementary, Mentally Retarded, Physically Handicapped,
Learning Disabilities, and Educational Administration endorsement
 Wrote and administered (’78 – ’79) a Title IV - ESEA grant, Reading Improvement Gained
Through Hemispheric Training, for learning disabled students
 Technical Analyst (’79 – current) in the Systems Department, State Farm Insurance Companies.
Celebrated 30th anniversary in June 2006. Part time work at State Farm while obtaining teaching
degree counted towards the thirty years.
o Experiences included:
 Mainframe programming
 Trainer and course developer as well as Train the Trainer instructor
 Team lead for 3rd tier technical support
o Current position is Research Lead in the Execution and Control unit of Systems
Engineering.
 Public Service: 15+ years as Commissioner on Bloomington Zoning Board of Appeals,
Bloomington, IL. Serves as acting Chairperson in absence of Chairperson
ISU representatives from each of the following programs
o Psychology Graduate
 Gary L. Cates, PH.D.: Assistant Professor
 Gwen Badgerow: Certified School Psychologist
o Special Education
 Masters
 Ed.D.
o Curriculum and Instruction –
 Masters in Reading,
 Instructional Technology and Design
 Early Childhood Education
 Bilingual
o Speech Pathology and Audiology Masters
o Educational Administration and Foundations Masters and Doctorate
o Art Technology Masters
o School of Information Technology Masters
o Business
 Marketing Undergraduate MBA
 Business Administration MBA
Page 12 of 16
Project’s Innovation and Contribution to and Significance in Its Field
There are many reading programs and strategies in the market place, much like the breakfast food market.
In Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution, Geoffrey
Moore defines 14 types of innovation. My Breakfast Reading Program focuses on innovation of
differentiation.
Simplification of phonetic rules using breakfast food analogies
A struggling reader is confronted by many phonetic rules. Using four major breakfast food analogies e.g.
pancakes, waffles, orange juice and fruit toppings, simplifies the complexity of these rules. The research
literature indicates that many teachers and parents have difficulty in understanding and/or teaching phonics.
Therefore, My Breakfast Reading Program not only simplifies the concept and skill for the student to grasp,
it provides a simple, understandable concept to those that are trying to teach the student.
In the history of education, there has been an ongoing controversy on how to teach reading. The
controversy continues today. The most widely known debate is that of Whole Language (See/Say) vs.
Phonics. My Breakfast Reading Program uses a simplified classification system and applies different
teaching strategies to those classifications, as illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Teaching Strategies Based on Vowel Classifications
Page 13 of 16
Program Intensity and Practice:
In Overcoming Dyslexia, A new and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level,
Sally Shaywitz, M.D, identifies two major groups of struggling readers. First, those with neurological
disorders most commonly classified as dyslexic or learning disabilities. Second, those students with poor
school instruction and/or with disadvantaged language environment (p.85).
Dr. Shaywitz also reports, “Children scoring in the lowest 20 percent on a test of phonology in first grade
were reading at a low level (2.6) when they were in fifth grade. In contrast, children who scored higher on
phonology in first grade were reading at a 5.9 grade level in fifth grade” (p. 145).
Dr. Shaywitz goes on to state: “To close the gap between his classmates and himself, a dyslexic child must
accelerate his pace of learning to read so that he leaps to a higher reading level. If he continues at the same
pace, he will not catch up to his classmates who are continuing to make progress” (p. 265).
Table II illustrates the percentage of Illinois students who must qualify as meeting or exceeding the
standard for reading at grade level. Illinois has defined Acceptable Yearly Progress (AYP) as a
performance measuring tool for school districts. As illustrated in Table II, the percentage increases 7.5%
each year after 2006 until an expectation of 100% is achieved in 2014.
Tables III, IV and V validate the two groups recognized by Dr. Shaywitz. That is, language disadvantage
students, economically disadvantaged students and learning disabled students do poorly in reading. Based
on the 2005 AYP goal of 47.5%, 78.6% of white students met or exceeded the AYP while only 41.2% of
blacks met or exceeded the AYP. For the Hispanic background, 55.7% met or exceeded the AYP goal.
For the economically disadvantaged, only 48.4% achieved the AYP goal; whereas, 79.6% on noneconomically disadvantaged students achieved the AYP goal. Likewise, only 38.6% of Learning Disabled
students with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) met or exceed the AYP goal.
In reviewing Table II, the AYP will accelerate each year by 7.5%. The gap will become even larger if
intensive programs for fundamental reading skills are not implemented in the early grades. Intensive
remedial programs for upper grades are also needed to close the gap noted by Shaywitz.
My Breakfast Reading Program is an intensive supplemental program with fifteen to twenty minutes of
activities focused on fundamental reading skills.
My Breakfast Reading Program uses the following six steps for each daily lesson:
1. Precise skill to be taught
2. Present it in a teaching activity
3. Practice the precise skill
4. Perform the precise skill
5. Plot the performance
6. Performance analysis
Intensive fundamental skill activities should become a daily practice at all grade levels. Taking analogies
from dancing, music and sports, performers generally perform warm up exercises and/or break down
difficult “splinter skills” and practice them for mastery. The enjoyment and fulfillment comes from the
total performance, but mastery through practice is what makes the performance achievable.
In terms of reading, this equates to practicing word attack strategies during the intensive fundamental skill
activities for short durations (15 – 20 minutes). The remainder of instruction time should be applying the
skills to text passages while developing comprehension and vocabulary skills and reading for learning as
well as for enjoyment.
Page 14 of 16
Social and Civic Responsibility:
Many school programs, as well as requirements for acceptance to many higher educational institutions, are
advocating participation in community projects. This program would encourage and reward those groups
that provide mentors to assist young students develop fundamental reading skills.
Supporting Data:
Tables II, III, IV and V are from the 2005 Interactive Illinois Report Card, IIRC.
Table II: Adequate Yearly Progress - AYP
Table :III: Grade 3 2005 AYP Goal of 47.5 - Performance by Racial/Ethnic Background
Levels 1 - Academic
2 – Below
3 – Meets
4 – Exceeds
Background
Warning
Standards
Standards
Grade Level
White
2.9
18.9
49.8
28.8
Black
16.0
42.8
34.2
7.0
Hispanic
8.2
36.2
44.6
11.1
Asian/Pacific
1.6
14.2
49.0
35.1
Islander
Native American
8.0
21.7
50.4
19.9
Multiracial/Ethnics 4.4
26.9
47.1
21.7
Table :IV: Grade 3 2005 AYP Goal of 47.5 - Performance by Economically Disadvantaged
Levels 1 - Academic
2 – Below
3 – Meets
4 – Exceeds
Warning
Standards
Standards
Grade Level
Free/Reduced
12.4
39.3
39.4
9.0
Price Lunch
Not Eleigible
2.5
17.8
49.2
30.4
Table :V: Grade 3 2005 AYP Goal of 47.5 - Performance by Students with Learning Disabilities
Levels 1 - Academic
2 – Below
3 – Meets
4 – Exceeds
Warning
Standards
Standards
Grade Level
IEP
21.3
40.1
30.0
8.6
Non-IEP
4.2
24.5
47.6
23.6
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Sustainability Upon Completion of the Concept Project
Availability and Affordability
Availability of the materials and concepts are easily accessible through the internet. All of the concepts
and daily worksheets are not impacted by bandwidth, including dial-up. Multi-media materials developed
in Phase III will require higher bandwidth, such as cable and DSL speeds. However, most schools and/or
public libraries have high speed access.
The material format allows the student to either work with printed worksheets or on the PC display. Many
print materials require large volume printing, storage and delivery systems. In many cases, only portions of
each workbook are used. My Breakfast Reading Program materials can be tailored and printed one lesson
at a time, thereby, eliminating storage, delivery time and waste.
The web site and all materials are free. The materials may be printed and copied for classroom and/or
home usage without any fee or delay in asking permission.
The hosting of www.MyBreakfastReadingProgram.com is less than $10/month at a highly rated hosting
services www.midPhase.com.
Tutoring:
My Breakfast Reading Program has a flexible implementation strategy. In the past, the program has been
implemented with professional staff, lay people, and student peer tutors. The program has been
implemented in after school programs, within the regular classroom, supplemental programs, and by
parents.
Mentoring: My Breakfast Reading Program provides a structured opportunity for high school
activities/clubs to participate in an essential civic program. The program should be self motivating.
However, at PepsiCo’s discretion, a small percentage of profits for schools having PepsiCo contracts could
also provide a sustaining fund raising program. Local distributors would present the rewards at school
board meetings.
Program Maintenance: Since there will always be continuous renewal of students needing reading
fundamentals, the program will need to be maintained. PepsiCo would have all branding rights to the
materials. ISU would maintain the site and materials through continuous class projects. Funding for the
continued maintenance would be funded by allocating $10,000 from PepsiCo’s marketing funds and/or
profits from ISU campus sales of PepsiCo products.
Intellectual Property:
All Intellectual Property created during the four phases as outlined in the Project Scope, would be owned
by PepsiCo or Illinois State University.
In order to ensure the sustainability of the program and materials as the author of My Breakfast Reading
Program ages, the author would donate the Intellectual Property and copyright of the existing program to
PepsiCo or Illinois State University upon the implementation of Phase IV.
Proof of 501(c)(3) Tax Status
The author of My Breakfast Reading Program is not a 501(c)(3). However, his passion for moving this
concept program forward is so intense; he is willing to serve as an non-paid educational consultant to assist
in the development and administration of the concept program.
As described in the Program Scope, the participants in the program development would be PepsiCo
employees and Illinois State University, a 501(c)(3) institution.
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