OAKLAND, Calif., April 3, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Students with disabilities drop out at twice the rate of their peers. Even more startling is the fact that 80 percent never learn to read proficiently. To treat the underlying causes of language and reading difficulties, schools across the country are turning to the Fast ForWord® reading intervention from Scientific Learning Corp. (OTCQB:SCIL). Two examples are Blount County Schools in Alabama and the Haines Borough School District in Alaska, where schools using the Fast ForWord program have narrowed the achievement gap and improved performance on state tests for students in special education.
In a webinar on April 8 at 12 p.m. (Pacific), Blount County Schools and neuroscientist Dr. Martha Burns will discuss how schools are using the latest brain science to help students in special education programs make remarkable gains in language arts and other academic areas. The webinar is free but registration is required at http://www.scilearn.com/webinars.
Blount County Schools
At Hayden Middle School, special education students use the Fast ForWord program in fifth through seventh grade. In that time, individual learners have progressed from being non-verbal to verbal, and from being non-readers to readers. In addition, the percentage of students achieving proficiency in reading on the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test has increased.
"One of the reasons the Fast ForWord program is so successful with our students is that it's not a traditional reading intervention program," said Ken Parker, principal. "It addresses much more than reading; it addresses cognitive skills as well."
Haines Borough School District
Haines Elementary School began using the Fast ForWord program in 2010 to target working memory issues. By 2012, the percentage of students with disabilities scoring at or above the proficient level on the Alaska Standards Based Assessments increased by nearly 28 percent in language arts and 32 percent in mathematics.
"We became a National Title I Distinguished School in 2012, based on the test scores of our students with IEPs growing so much in the last three years," said Barbara Pardee, reading specialist and Title I coordinator. "We believe Fast ForWord is the cause for these great increases among our students with special needs and students on the brink of proficiency. Before Fast ForWord, we never had jumps like this, especially with our special education students."
About Scientific Learning Corp.
We accelerate learning by applying proven research on how the brain learns. Learners can realize achievement gains of up to two years in as little as three months and maintain an accelerated rate of learning even after the programs end. For information, visit www.scientificlearning.com or call 888-810-0250.