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With the Fast ForWord program, students can strengthen foundational learning pathways in the brain, dramatically increasing their capacity to learn. The Fast ForWord program can quickly transform students into better learners across all areas of study – learners who can absorb information faster, pay closer attention, and remember more of what they are taught.
The Reading Brain and the Fast ForWord Program
The reading-ready brain coordinates sounds to language, language to reading, and reading to comprehension. This video provides an overview of how the reading brain works.
Improving Reading Comprehension & Executive Function
Amber Hall, a parent of two, describes how using the Fast ForWord product helped her 5th grade son with focus and organization and her 3rd grade daughter with reading and listening skills.
Kenny Hilliard From 2nd Grade Reading Level to LSU Scholarship
At risk of dropping out of high school, Kenny Hilliard started using the Fast ForWord program with the hope of earning a traditional high school diploma. After the program, Kenny had improved reading comprehension, grades, and ACT scores and is now headed for Louisiana State University on a football scholarship.
Educators Speak about Results They Have Seen with Fast ForWord Products
Teachers and administrators from school districts around the U.S. describe the results they have seen in students using the Fast ForWord products. They cite improvements in reading, comprehension, and staying on task, as well as some “miraculous results.”
Broward County, FL: “Fast ForWord has made me a more confident learner.”
Teachers, administrators, and students from Broward County, FL, describe the results they have seen with the Fast ForWord products. These include greater focus, an increased desire to read and learn, and the belief that the students can do anything they want to do.
Anchorage, AK: “I am stunned. I've never seen anything like this.”
A veteran teacher speaks about her initial resistance to the Fast ForWord implementation at her school and her subsequent conversion to Fast ForWord enthusiast. She interviews multiple students about their improved reading skills, including one whose reading grade level increased 7 years.
Show Low, AZ: “This is my second year requesting to use Fast ForWord for all my classes.”
A Fast ForWord coach from the Show Low School Unified School District, AZ, talks about her K-3rd grade students. She interviews two 3rd grade students who raised their grades after using Fast ForWord products—an ELL student and an above-average reader who had trouble focusing.
Liberty Public Schools, MO: "The number of students we're able to reach is tremendous."
Educators and students at Liberty Public Schools in Liberty, MO, share accounts of their successes with the Fast ForWord products, from increased enjoyment of reading to improved reading and math grades.
Cumberland County, NC: “I would highly recommend this program.”
District educators talk about the success of their Fast ForWord implementation, and a 9th grade student from Cumberland County Schools in North Carolina demonstrates his improved reading ability.
Willie Brown: From Struggling Reader to College Student
When Willie Brown was 15, he was reading at a 1st grade level. After years of testing resulting in a diagnosis of severe dyslexia, he found an inspirational teacher who assigned him to work on the Fast ForWord program and his life changed forever.
Josie’s Story: Success for a Struggling Reader
Josie Bowles entered 4th grade as a struggling reader with poor fluency. She began the Fast ForWord program that fall, and by spring her grade level equivalency scores rose from 2.5 to 4.7 for vocabulary and from 3.5 to 5.5 in comprehension.
Dr. Michael Merzenich on Brain Plasticity
Dr. Michael Merzenich speaks about improving the capacity of the brain by engaging the brain to change itself.
Dr. Michael Merzenich on the Ability to Learn
Dr. Michael Merzenich speaks about how brains control the resources that make them effective or ineffective learners, as well as opportunities for individualized assessment in education.
Dr. Michael Merzenich on the Fast ForWord Program and Autism
Dr. Michael Merzenich speaks about how the Fast ForWord program improves language ability and other neurological deficits in autistic children.
Dr. Bill Jenkins on the Fast ForWord Products
Dr. Bill Jenkins speaks about the principles of neuroscience built into the Fast ForWord products.
Dr. Steven L. Miller on Three Types of Research
Dr. Steven Miller, former Sr. VP of Outcomes Research and a co-founder of Scientific Learning, speaks about three types of research: foundational research conducted at Scientific Learning and with university partners, efficacy research at universities on new products, and effectiveness research focused on different student populations and protocols.
Empowering Our Children to Learn
Sherrelle Walker, Chief Education Officer for Scientific Learning, discusses how the Scientific Learning products build memory, attention, processing, and sequencing—the foundational skills required for all learning. Video clip from The Balancing Act.
Preschoolers in Davenport, IA, Improve Language Skills From 41st to 62nd Percentile
The Davenport Community Schools were interested in evaluating the impact of the Fast ForWord products on the early reading skills of their preschool students. The developmental skills of the students, age 3 to 5 years old, ranged from delayed to accelerated, with the skills of most students in the average to slightly below average range.
The Fast ForWord Program is a "High-Gain Program" per Nevada DOE Report
A 2010 Interim Report completed by the Colorado-based Leadership and Learning Center and sponsored by the Nevada Department of Education concluded that Fast ForWord products had a greater impact on reading achievement than any other program reviewed in the report.
"Gold Standard Study" Shows Significant Gains in Language and Literacy Skills
In a randomized controlled trial, a group of students from four primary schools used Fast ForWord products. On average, the group that used Fast ForWord made significantly greater language and literacy gains than the group that did not. These results suggest that using Fast ForWord products positioned participants to benefit more from the classroom curriculum.
Test Scores Exceed State Average in 4 Subject Areas
St. Mary Parish began using Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant products in the 2006-2007 school year with eight elementary schools, which expanded to almost 6,000 students by 2010. This study investigates the changes during that time to the district's performance on the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP).
68% of Students Improve MEPA Proficiency Significantly after Fast ForWord®
This study analyzes 118 English Language Learner students who used Fast ForWord products in the 2009-2010 school year from Everett Public Schools in Everett, MA. These students were tested in both 2009 and 2010 with the Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment, or the "MEPA" for short. Following Fast ForWord participation, 68% of participants improved one or more proficiency levels while 26% maintained the same proficiency level they had in 2009.
40% of Non-Proficient Students Reach Reading Proficiency in One Year
In Clarke County School District, GA, 40% of the Fast ForWord participants who were not proficient on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) in 2006 reached proficiency in 2007 compared to 27% of the non-proficient students who did not use products.
79% of ELL Students Increase AZELLA Proficiency by One or More Levels
Seventy-nine percent of participants in Deer Valley, AZ, increased their proficiency by one or more levels. 68% of the Intermediate students reached the Proficient level after using Fast ForWord products, and 22% of the students who were initially at Basic reached Proficient.
48% More Students Newly Proficient on GA CRCT After Fast ForWord Use
The Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) are administered every spring and are designed to measure how well students acquire the skills and knowledge described in the Georgia Performance Standards. Students are tested in Reading, English Language Arts and Mathematics. See how students from Clarke County, GA made statistically significant improvements on the CRCT after Fast ForWord use.
Students Exceed State Average on TAKS after Fast ForWord, Maintain Gains
Since the 2004-2005 school year, the Dallas Independent School District has used the Fast ForWord products in many of their high schools. This multi-year study shows impressive longitudinal results on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) from 500 high school students in 20 schools. The TAKS gains made during the study were statistically larger for the Dallas Fast ForWord participants than the gains made by their statewide peers.
Measuring Student Reading Growth
Reading Progress Indicator is a good supplement to the picture of student reading growth. With a pre-test in the fall, and subsequent tests after completing each Scientific Learning product, teachers can get more information to answer critical instruction questions.
Dyslexic Learners Dramatically Improve Reading Skills
After using the Fast ForWord Language product, a group of dyslexic students made statistically significant improvements in sight-word reading and passage comprehension as well as in their total language skills and phonological awareness.
Gifted and Talented Students Demonstrate Improved Reading Achievement
A group of gifted and talented students significantly improved their grade-equivalent scores from a reading grade level of mid-5th grade to mid-7th grade after using Fast ForWord products.
Students Make the Same Reading Gain in Half the Time
In 2008, Scientific Learning introduced a major update to Fast ForWord Language. Research shows that Fast ForWord Language v2 provides equivalent reading and language gains in half the time of Fast ForWord Language v1.
Improved Auditory Attention and Early Reading Skills
A study conducted at the University of Oregon tested whether high-intervention programs like Fast ForWord influence neural mechanisms associated with selective auditory attention. Results showed that Fast ForWord participants improved early reading and auditory attention scores while non-participants did not improve.
Increased Activity in Reading-Related Areas of the Brain
In an independent study by Elise Temple and her colleagues at Stanford University, poor readers showed increased activity in reading-related areas of the brain after using Fast ForWord Language software.
Over 45% Relative Improvement in Students Reaching Reading Proficiency
In four years, the percent of fourth graders in St. Mary Parish School District, FL, performing at or above Basic on the initial LEAP ELA test increased from 53% to 78%, starting out far below the state average and then exceeding it.
Indiana Students Make Statistically Significant Gains in Multiple Subject Areas
On average, 5th-8th grade students at Westfield Washington Schools in Westfield, IN, made statistically significant gains in their language arts, math, and reading skills after using Fast ForWord products. Additionally, gains in reading skills were nearly double the NWEA Growth Norms.
2010 Back-to-School Create a Character Contest
Create a Fast ForWord Character for a chance to win a Flip Video camcorder! Contest ends November 1, 2010.
