Scientific Study Shows unitedstreaming Increases Math Scores in Los Angeles Unified School District; Algebra and Geometry Performance Sees Statistically Significant Improvements

Business Wire, June 21, 2004

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Discovery Education, the leader in digital video and multimedia-based learning, today announced the results of a second independent evaluation of the award-winning unitedstreaming(TM) digital video-on-demand application. The first evaluation was conducted in rural Virginia in 2002 and showed improvements in 3rd and 8th grade science and social studies scores. This new study, conducted in the Los Angeles Unified School District between January and March, 2004, shows substantial academic improvement in mathematics in both 6th and 8th grade.

"Whether in urban or rural areas; whether studying social studies, science, or math, students learn more with unitedstreaming" said Steve Sidel, executive vice president, Discovery Education.

Approximately 2,500 6th and 8th grade students from four Los Angeles area middle schools participated in the study. Each student was given a pretest to assess comprehension of specific California state education standards for math, and at the end of the quarter, posttest assessments were given to gauge improvement. Throughout the quarter, teachers assigned to experimental group classes incorporated approximately 20 standards-based, core-concept video clips into their daily lessons, while teachers in control group classrooms continued with their traditional lessons. The results showed a statistically significant improvement of 3-5% greater for experimental group students versus those not exposed to the unitedstreaming video content.

"The obtained differences are statistically significant. Moreover, averaged across the two experiments, experimental group performance exceeds that of the control group by a figure of practical import as well," said Frank Boster, Lead Evaluator and President of Mason, Mich.-based Cometrika, the company conducting the evaluation.

"Our students were engaged by the high-quality content on unitedstreaming from the very first day--so much so that our teachers were anxious to demonstrate this new resource at parent-teacher conference night," added Jean Whitaker, principal, Olive Vista Middle School, one of the schools participating in the study. "To see the look on a child's face when they connect with a concept and share in their joy when they truly understand the subject matter is a wonderfully gratifying experience for all of our teachers. Our Professional Development Committee has already scheduled next year's extended training on the use of unitedstreaming with the belief that this powerful tool supports standards-based instruction and will, therefore, result in greater academic achievement."

Currently used by over 26,000 schools across the United States, unitedstreaming is the premiere Internet-based video-on-demand delivery system and the only standards-based digital video application shown to increase student achievement in two independent, scientific evaluations. A collection of over 2,200 videos and 22,000 video clips all correlated to individual state education standards, unitedstreaming also includes a high-resolution image library, interactive quiz center, black line masters and teachers' guides, and a calendar of events that ties video and image content to important dates in history. For more information and a free 30-day trial subscription, visit www.unitedstreaming.com.

About Discovery Education

Discovery Education, the newly created division of Discovery Communications, Inc., is the leader in digital video and multimedia-based learning. It incorporates the existing Discovery School product line of over 750 DVDs, videos, CD-ROMs, and print resources, the recently acquired United Learning line of health-education and prevention-curriculum programs, the cutting-edge teacher and student resources of DiscoverySchool.com, and the unitedstreaming digital video-on-demand application--a collection of over 2,200 core-curriculum, standards-based videos--that has been scientifically proven to increase student achievement in two independent evaluations. Discovery Education products reach over 90,000 schools across the United States, serving 1.5 million teachers and their 35 million students each year. For more information, visit www.discovery.com.