Portland, Ore., Oct. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Three leading education and technology providers have announced a collaboration to improve speech-enabled education solutions in support of student learning and growth. LanguaMetrics, Inc., the developer of the LanguaMetrics™ Speech Platform based on SRI International technology, has awarded exclusive rights in the United States K-20 market to the not-for-profit assessment solutions provider NWEA.
SRI International has extended LanguaMetrics technology license to include the development of products with NWEA. NWEA and LanguaMetrics, Inc. are working together to develop products that utilize technology-enhanced items leveraging the speech and artificial intelligence features of the LanguaMetrics platform.
“NWEA is committed to providing educators with effective and innovative assessments that help teachers teach and students learn,” said Jeff Strickler, president and chief operating officer of NWEA. “The applications for reliable and valid speech measurement are very exciting. We believe our partnership with LanguaMetrics and utilization of the SRI technology provide an opportunity to develop dynamic and useful tools for educators to make timely and informed decisions to optimize learning and improve student outcomes.”
“NWEA assessments are relied upon by nearly half of the schools in America, so we’re very excited at the prospect of entering U.S. classrooms alongside such a respected creator of teaching and learning products,” said Ken Spiegel, CEO of LanguaMetrics. “We’ve grown our user base in China and Europe these past few years and could not have found a better partner than NWEA to enter the U.S. market.”
“We are pleased that this partnership will apply SRI’s leading-edge speech technology to the LanguaMetrics’ platform, with the goal to improve education processes and results,” said Dimitra Vergyri, director of the Speech Technology and Research Lab (STAR Lab) at SRI International. SRI’s STAR Lab has been creating and transfering speech technology for government and commercial clients for more than 30 years, developing systems that meet client needs for speech recognition, speaker and language identification, speech translation, human/computer dialog systems, wordspotting, language education, speech analytics, and more.
About NWEA
NWEA® is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiency—and provide insights to help tailor instruction. For 40 years, NWEA has developed innovative Pre-K–12 assessments, professional learning that fosters educators’ ability to accelerate student learning, and research that supports assessment validity and data interpretation. Educators in 140 countries and more than half the schools in the US rely on our flagship interim assessment, MAP® Growth™; our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, MAP® Skills™; and the OECD Test for Schools (based on PISA). Visit NWEA.org to find out how NWEA can partner with you to help all kids learn.
About LanguaMetrics, Inc.
LanguaMetrics, Inc. designs and develops the LanguaMetrics™ Platform which lowers the cost and shortens the time necessary for companies to deliver Speech and AI enhanced products to the language and reading education market. LanguaMetrics’ scientists and engineers develop and maintain both testing and learning application frameworks to support technology enhanced items. Based in the Amazon Cloud, the LanguaMetrics™ Platform is the power behind learning and testing applications all over the world including the next generation LanguaBooks™ that speak, listen and teach.
About SRI International
SRI International creates world-changing solutions making people safer, healthier, and more productive. SRI, a research center headquartered in Menlo Park, California, works primarily in advanced technology and systems, biosciences, computing, and education. SRI brings its innovations to the marketplace through technology licensing, spin-off ventures and new product solutions.
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