Fast ForWord Products Earn Highest Rating From What Works Clearinghouse
8/14/07
Media Contact:Jessica Lindl
Vice President of Marketing
Scientific Learning Corporation
(510) 625-6784
jlindl@scilearn.com
Investor Contact:
Jane A. Freeman
Senior Vice President and CFO
Scientific Learning Corporation
(510) 625-2281
investorrelations@scilearn.com
Oakland, CA, August 14, 2007—The Fast ForWord® family of products, educational software that accelerates learning by developing the student brain to process more efficiently from Scientific Learning Corp (NASDAQ:SCIL), has received the highest possible rating from the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), a research unit established by the U.S. Department of Education. Fast ForWord software specifically earned a positive review for its impact on alphabetics, that is, phoneme awareness and phonics, for K-3 students.
Created in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, the WWC is a resource for educators, policymakers, researchers, and others looking for credible scientific evidence of what works in education. The WWC's databases and reports enable decision-makers to determine the efficacy of specific programs, products, practices, and policies in improving student outcomes.
The WWC conducts research reviews based on searches from electronic databases, conference proceedings as well as other sources. Its report on Fast ForWord products revealed a high range of gains for both alphabetics (50 percent of students gained 8 - 15 percentile points) and comprehension (50 percent of students gained 1 - 19 percentile points). "The recently released report supports the strength of our scientific research strategy for Fast ForWord," said Robert Bowen, CEO for Scientific Learning. "Customers can feel very secure in the knowledge that our studies met the strict evidence standards of the What Works Clearinghouse, and that Fast ForWord software offers intensive computer delivered reading intervention exercises, among other things that build critical reading skills."
The Fast ForWord products included in the research reviews were Fast ForWord Language, Fast ForWord Reading Prep, Fast ForWord Reading Level 1 or Fast ForWord Reading Level 2. The report can be accessed at the WWC Web site.
Scientific Learning's Fast ForWord family of products uses patented technology to target language and reading skills. The products work by improving the efficiency of the brain's processing with intensive, interactive exercises that adapt to each student's level. Each product's exercises integrate proprietary CD-ROM and Internet technology to create an individualized, optimal learning environment. Patented Web-based tracking tools provide ongoing monitoring of each student's progress. Participants spend 30 to 100 minutes a day, five days a week, for four to 12 weeks with the adaptive exercises, which helps the brain learn to develop language and reading comprehension, phonological awareness, organizational skills and overall communication skills.
About Scientific Learning Corporation
Scientific Learning creates educational software that accelerates learning by improving the processing efficiency of the brain. The patented Fast ForWord® family of products provides struggling readers with computer-delivered interventions and intensive exercises that build the cognitive skills required to read and learn effectively. Based on more than 30 years of neuroscience and cognitive research, the Fast ForWord products apply patented technology and validated neuroscience principles of brain plasticity to help children, adolescents, and adults improve processing efficiency and achieve enduring gains. The efficacy of the products and the science behind them has been established by more than 550 research studies and publications. For more information, visit www.scientificlearning.com and www.brainconnection.com, or call toll-free 888-452-7323.
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