Seminole County Students Make Excellent Gains Using New Fast ForWord(R) to Reading Software
Elementary Students of All Academic Abilities Achieve Significant Results
4/11/06
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Mary Anne Petrillo
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Scientific Learning Corporation
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Scientific Learning Corporation
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OAKLAND, CA - 04/11/2006 - A study of second- and third-graders in a Seminole County (Fla.) school showed that Scientific Learning Corporation's (NASDAQ: SCIL) Fast ForWord(R) to Reading I and 2 reading-intervention products allowed the students to significantly improve their reading skills.
Struggling readers at English Estates Elementary School who used the Fast ForWord Reading Level 1 and 2 products significantly outperformed a comparison group and improved, on average, from the 20th percentile to the 31st percentile, according to the study.
The results of this randomized control trial (RCT) study suggest that using the Fast ForWord Reading Level 1 and 2 products strengthened the students' reading and foundational skills, which will in turn allow them to benefit more from the classroom curriculum. The improvements were consistent across the various subgroups of students in the study, including students of different grades, students with and without previous Fast ForWord use, and students of different academic abilities.
"The study was very encouraging, and we are thrilled to see how Fast ForWord can help our struggling students," said Dr. Beth Sharpe, principal of English Estates Elementary. "We're hoping to expand the use of Fast ForWord and the new Fast ForWord to Reading software to all students who are facing reading and learning challenges."
"It's great to see the impressive results that English Estates has achieved with Fast ForWord Reading Level 1 and 2 software with students in all academic ranges and regardless of whether these students had used a prior Fast ForWord product," said Robert C. Bowen, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Learning. "This gold-standard research shows that the Fast ForWord software produces significant gains when used in isolation, but even more when used in combination with other Fast ForWord products."
The Fast ForWord family of products is built on more than 30 years of neuroscience research and creates fast and enduring results in building the learning capacity for success in the classroom, in the workplace, and in everyday life. Scientific Learning's interactive, adaptive products use patented technology and intensive, individually paced exercises to develop the neurocognitive skills widely recognized as the keys to all learning.
Nearly forty struggling students participated in the study, conducted during the 2004-2005 school year; 20 were assigned to use the Fast ForWord Reading Level 1 and 2 products, while the remainder served as a control group.
All students had their reading skills evaluated with the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) before and after the Fast ForWord group used the products. School personnel administered the assessments and reported scores for analysis.
About English Estates Elementary
English Estates Elementary is a pre-K through 5th grade school, serving close to 800 students. It is one of 60 schools in the Seminole County School District.
About Seminole County Public Schools
The Seminole County Public Schools district, located in Seminole, Florida, is a pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade urban school district with a student population of over 65,000.
About Scientific Learning Corporation
Scientific Learning produces the patented Fast ForWord(R) family of products, a series of computer-delivered reading intervention products that build learning capacity by developing the neurocognitive skills required to read and learn effectively. These foundational skills are built through a series of brain-based exercises that create fast, effective, and enduring results. Based on more than 30 years of neuroscience and cognitive research, the Fast ForWord products use patented technology and applications of accepted neuroscience principles to help children, adolescents, and adults build the language and reading skills widely recognized as the keys to all learning.
The exercises align with the scientifically based reading-research guidelines and the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. The efficacy of the products has been confirmed by independent researchers by evaluating the results of standardized achievement tests, and by Scientific Learning's scientists.
For more information about Scientific Learning and its products, visit our Web sites at www.scientificlearning.com and www.brainconnection.com, or call toll-free 888-452-7323.
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