Dallas ISD's Four Year Longitudinal Study Shows Students Improve Test Scores after Using Fast ForWord® Products

Business Wire,  March 5, 2008  

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Struggling high school readers achieve gains on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and shrink the gap with students statewide

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Struggling readers in the Dallas Independent School District (ISD) who used Scientific Learning[R] (NASDAQ:SCIL) Fast ForWord[R] products achieved gains on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and made significant progress toward closing the achievement gap, according to a new study.

The four-year longitudinal study covered 2004 through 2007 and investigated the effects of the Fast ForWord products. Fast ForWord is a family of educational software products that accelerate learning by developing the student brain to process more efficiently. The products' impact on the reading skills of 828 high school students in Dallas ISD was evaluated. After using the Fast ForWord software, students improved their TAKS reading scores and narrowed the gap between their scores and the scores of students across the state by 23 percent.

"Many students get to the secondary level but don't have basic literacy skills. Without these skills, it's almost impossible to manage core subjects that get harder as students go through each grade level. As a result, you end up with a high dropout rate and low graduation rate. We needed a solution that could quickly fill in gaps and allow students to accelerate their learning, so they could catch up and successfully complete school," said Meredith Smith, executive director for special education for Dallas ISD. "As we began using the Fast ForWord software, we saw that where we had good implementations, students were making great strides. In addition to the achievement gains students have made, the Fast ForWord program has given our students confidence and self-esteem. It gives students hope, which is so important at the secondary level. We've been really pleased with the results."

In addition to achieving gains immediately after using the Fast ForWord software, the struggling readers continued to increase their achievement levels the year following their Fast ForWord participation. This supports other studies showing that using the Fast ForWord products strengthens students' foundational skills and better positions the students to benefit from the classroom curriculum. It also supports studies showing that the acquisition of reading skills by Fast ForWord participants is accelerated even after participation is stopped.

"Can you imagine how exciting and empowering this is for these students? After years of struggling with school work, they now have the skills to learn and achieve as quickly and efficiently as their peers," said Robert C. Bowen, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Learning. "Just as the Fast ForWord software has bolstered students' confidence, this study supports our belief that once the brain has learned to process more efficiently, students can achieve more academically in the classroom as measured on high stakes reading assessments."

The Fast ForWord products were included as a reading intervention strategy for all secondary students identified for tier two interventions. Tier two eligibility was defined as students reading below the 40th percentile or students who had a TAKS Reading score below 2100. As part of this intervention, Dallas ISD students were assigned to use the products for approximately 50 minutes per day, five days per week. On average, participants used the products for 60 days during a 5 1/2 month period.

Results of the study can be seen at http://www.scilearn.com/results/longitudinal/main=dallas6.

About Scientific Learning Corporation

Scientific Learning creates educational software that accelerates learning by improving the processing efficiency of the brain. Based on more than 30 years of neuroscience and cognitive research, the Fast ForWord[R] family of products provides struggling readers with computer-delivered exercises that build the cognitive skills required to read and learn effectively. Scientific Learning Reading Assistant[TM] combines advanced speech recognition technology with scientifically-based courseware to help students strengthen fluency, vocabulary and comprehension to become proficient, life-long readers. The efficacy of the products has been established by more than 550 research studies and publications. For more information, visit www.scientificlearning.com and www.brainconnection.com, or call toll-free 888-452-7323.

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