The Science of Learning

Neuroscience-based intervention programs from Scientific Learning Corp. help students make fast and enduring reading improvements 10/6/15 Media Contact: Hallie SmithDirector of MarketingScientific Learning Corporation(619) [email protected] Oakland, Calif. — Oct. 6, 2015 — Michigan lawmakers have identified third grade reading scores as a top concern for students. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 69 percent of Michigan students are not proficient in reading by the beginning of fourth grade. To help students close those gaps, while building foundational reading, language and cognitive skills, several Michigan schools are implementing the Fast ForWord® and Reading Assistant™ programs from Scientific Learning Corp. (OTC:SCIL). Closing gaps and improving school performance in Fremont Public Schools After being labeled a “Focus” school by the state of Michigan in 2012, due to a large achievement gap between the top and bottom performing students, Fremont Middle School sought out programs to positively impact all of its students. The school chose Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant, implemented the programs with fidelity, and closed that achievement gap. It was designated a “Reward” school in 2014.  “Our middle school earned the ‘Reward’ school designation because of the large improvements in reading and math by our Title 1 and special education students,” said Superintendent Ken Haggart. “Our students have come a long way and we give a lot of credit to the Scientific Learning programs for that.” This fall, Fremont Public Schools will implement Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant in Pathfinder Elementary, Fremont Middle School, Fremont High School and Quest Alternative High School. “We are seeing a larger number of students enter kindergarten who are unprepared to read. On the other end of the spectrum, many students end up in the alternative high school because of a reading deficiency that has not been addressed. Our goals are to bring students up to grade level and give them the opportunity to […]

Raupp School aims to improve student achievement by incorporating the Fast ForWord online reading intervention into daily reading activities in kindergarten through fifth grade 8/1/13 Media Contact: Hallie SmithDirector of MarketingScientific Learning Corporation(619) [email protected] Investor Contact:Jane FreemanChief Financial OfficerScientific Learning Corporation(510) [email protected] Oakland, Calif. — August 1, 2013 — After being identified in the bottom 5 percent of Michigan’s Top-to-Bottom ranking of schools and being named a Priority School, Raupp Elementary School launched a Transformation plan focused on rapid turnaround. As part of this plan, Raupp School will implement the Fast ForWord® online reading intervention with all students this fall. Developed by Scientific Learning Corp.(OTCQB:SCIL), the Fast ForWord program is used in schools across Michigan and the nation to help students raise their reading skill level up to two years in as little as three months. At Raupp School, one of seven elementary schools in Lincoln Park Public Schools, 95 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The school launched the Fast ForWord program with one class during the 2012-13 school year. This fall, all students in kindergarten through fifth grade will work on the program daily to build their reading skills and concurrently develop foundational cognitive skills such as memory, attention, processing, and sequencing. “The Fast ForWord program will blend right in with our Daily Five activities in guided reading,” said Daphne Springer, principal of Raupp School. “Our goals with Fast ForWord are to increase students’ comprehension and build their cognitive skills, which will help them overall in their learning.” About Scientific Learning Corp. We accelerate learning by applying proven research on how the brain learns. Scientific Learning’s results are demonstrated in over 270 research studies and protected by over 55 patents. Learners can realize achievement gains of up to two years in as little as three months and maintain an […]

Return on Investment, or “ROI” is a straightforward concept.  With educational interventions, we invest something (typically time, money, or energy) and receive some benefit.  The primary benefit of investing time, money, and energy in Fast ForWord® and Reading Assistant™ products is increased student achievement.  This benefit has always been a focus for Scientific Learning.   However, in our discussions with customers, we realized that many district stakeholders had a parallel benefit that they are concerned with: the financial impact on their district as a whole.  We decided to see if we could address and quantify this parallel (and perhaps complementary) view of ROI. We identified four areas where data suggest that implementation of Scientific Learning products can impact a district’s financial costs: Reduction of the high school dropout rate Reduction of referrals to special education Reduction of the number of students who require ELL services Reduction of the number of students classified as “struggling readers” Here’s an example of how we tried to quantify one of these benefits.  A district in Swartz Creek, Michigan observed a 30% drop year-over-year in special education referrals after implementing Fast ForWord products with their students. To be safe, we chose a very statistically conservative estimate for the reduction a new customer might expect to see in their special education referral rates: 21.2%.  Technically, we got this by looking at the lower bound of a 95% confidence interval for the effect based on the Swartz Creek data.   These estimates led to the creation of Scientific Learning’s Return on Investment Tool.  The tool estimates the ROI—that is, the true financial cost—of using Scientific Learning products over a three year horizon.  This includes the initial software purchase and three years of product support. Note that we often see ROIs greater than 100% (i.e. a net financial benefit) for medium […]