About | Slant System

Our Story

About Us

Slant System™ was inspired by a profound realization: traditional literacy methods were failing students with dyslexia and diverse learning needs.

Our extensive knowledge of the Orton-Gillingham approach, sparked a vision to create a literacy program that could truly make a difference – a vision that has now grown into the Slant System™.

Over the years, the Slant System™ has certified thousands of educators who have impacted the lives of tens of thousands of students. Our approach is designed to cater to all types of learners, particularly those who are struggling readers or have dyslexia. We focus on providing explicit, systematic, sequential, cumulative, and diagnostic instruction, making literacy accessible and engaging for everyone.

Our Vision

We envision a world where struggling readers are empowered through literacy to understand themselves and access their world.

Our Mission

It is our mission to equip educators with the knowledge and skills to deliver a simple and effective structured literacy system that empowers all students to access their world.

We are:

Practical

Emphasizes the practicality and applicability of their approach in real classroom settings.

01

Knowledgable

Deeply rooted in research and continuous learning, leveraging knowledge to drive positive change and equip educators.

02

Simple

Prioritizes simplicity, ensuring the approach is easy to implement without overwhelming educators or students.

03

Supportive

Consistently offers support to the community of teachers, providing a guiding hand.

04

Dependable

Maintains consistency in approach and prides itself on consistently delivering results​​​​.

05

Classmates
Educational Group

Classmates Educational Group, Inc. was co-founded in 2021. Beth Hatlen and Karla O’Brien, were grade school classmates and ultimately learned to read together. Prior to embarking on their journey with Classmates Educational Group, Inc., they were fully certified in Slant System™ by the creator, Marsha Geller. As passionate educators, their mission is to empower teachers to engage all learners!

Classmates Educational Group, Inc. is the owner and operator of Slant System™. Slant System™ provides highly personalized, research-based, multimodal structured literacy training to qualified individuals so they may teach struggling readers, especially those with dyslexia, the skills of reading, spelling and writing.

The leaders of Classmates Educational Group, Inc. provide professional development in Slant System™, as well as many other aspects of literacy that are requested. Presenters are experienced educators, each with over 20 years of teaching in public schools as reading specialists, special educators, classroom teachers and administrators. Professional development can be provided for educators in any educational setting and are available in-person or live online. Consulting services are also available to educational institutions looking for guidance in many areas of literacy.

Please reach out to our team at info@slantsystem.com for any additional information.

Beth Hatlen

Beth Hatlen, M.Ed.

CEO & Co-Founder

Karla O'Brien

Karla O’Brien, M.Ed.

Chief Academic Officer & Co-Founder

Stacey Masliansky, M.Ed.

Director of Teaching and Learning

Sue Evens

Sue Evens

Director of Growth & Operations

Jacqueline Sanchez

Partnership Coordinator

Coaches & Instructors

All Slant System™ Coaches, Instructors, and Consultants hold Master’s Degrees in Education or Special Education, bringing rich classroom and interventionist experience. Their diverse backgrounds include roles as K-12 teachers, reading specialists, special educators, administrators and educational diagnosticians. The entire team at Classmates Educational Group, Inc., embodies our vision of empowering educators with simple, effective literacy tools.

Creator & Original Author

Marsha A. Geller, M.Ed.

Marsha has over 30 years of experience consulting with teachers and working with students with reading difficulties in both private practice and public school settings. Marsha has an extensive background in Orton-Gillingham, bringing that knowledge into the development of the Slant System™. She consults with schools to provide professional development in the areas of reading and early literacy, as well as in implementation of RTI/MTSS practices and reading assessment. Formerly, Marsha was an Assistant Professor in the Special Education Program at National Louis University in Wheeling, IL. where, for over 25 years, she developed and taught classes in the diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities. Marsha is a former president of the Illinois Branch of the International Dyslexia Association and a frequent speaker at state and national conferences.

Proud to partner with:

Timothy L Johnson Academy

Proud to Support: