Idaho State Board of Education Adopts Fast ForWord® To Reading Series
Scientifically-proven Fast ForWord Educational Software Approved as Reading Intervention Program for Idaho Schools
9/18/07
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, September 18, 2007—Scientific Learning Corp. (NASDAQ:SCIL) today announced that the Idaho State Board of Education has adopted the Fast ForWord® to Reading Series, educational software that accelerates learning by developing the student brain to process more efficiently, as an approved research-based reading intervention program for Idaho schools. The Fast ForWord products included in the adoption are Fast ForWord Reading Prep and Fast ForWord Reading Level 1-5.
"Learning to read is one of the most difficult challenges students face," said Robert C. Bowen, CEO of Scientific Learning Corp. "There are countless occurrences taking place simultaneously within the brain as an individual tries to decode phonemes, enhance fluency and comprehend text. The Fast ForWord to Reading Series builds and strengthens the essential cognitive and reading skills to ensure all students become proficient readers. We're pleased the Fast ForWord to Reading Series has been selected for adoption and we look forward to providing Idaho schools with scientifically validated reading intervention products."
The Fast ForWord family of products consists of scientifically proven, intervention programs that apply neuroscience principles to build the fundamental cognitive skills required to read and learn. The products work by improving the brain's processing efficiency—how the brain functions to support learning and intellectual activity, including memory, attention, processing rate, and sequencing—with intensive exercises that adapt to each student's level. Students across the globe have used more than one million Fast ForWord products.
In Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 in Pocatello, Idaho, for example, students have made significant reading achievement gains after using Fast ForWord products. During the 2005-2006 school year, a group of 282 students in eight schools participated in a study using the Fast ForWord products. Student reading ability was evaluated with the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and/or the Woodcock-McGrew-Werder Mini-Battery of Achievement (MBA) before and after Fast ForWord participation. On average, students made significant improvements, increasing their reading grade-equivalent by 17 months in just four months. In addition, the number of students meeting state reading standards more than doubled, increasing from 31 percent to 65 percent.
"We have a product here where we can definitely point to the data and say that this works," said Chuck Wegner, curriculum and assessment director for Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25. "We can show people that it works. That's exciting for us—and it's good for kids."
Scientific Learning will demonstrate the Fast ForWord to Reading Series to educators around the state on the 2007 Idaho Curricular Materials Caravan, a series of events showcasing the state's newly adopted curricular materials in reading. The caravan will travel to Moscow on Oct. 11, Boise on Oct. 22, Burley on Oct. 23, and Idaho Falls on Oct. 24. Schools may purchase instructional materials from the state-approved listings of materials beginning in spring 2008.
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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