OAKLAND, Calif., March 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Educators are under tremendous pressure to enable their students to master the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). However, despite the best teaching and curriculum materials, some students will struggle to meet the new English language arts and math standards. One reason is that these students may not have developed the fundamental and sometimes "hidden" skills they need to be successful in school. This week at the ASCD Annual Conference & Exhibit Show in Chicago, Scientific Learning Corp. (OTCQB:SCIL) will exhibit two online solutions that help students develop the foundational reading, language and cognitive skills that are central to all learning.
"The Common Core State Standards are top of mind for educators and, at the ASCD Conference, there are many pre-conference institutes and conference sessions geared toward implementation of the new standards. What's often overlooked in CCSS conversations, however, are the underlying cognitive skills students need to meet these rigorous standards," said Martha S. Burns, Ph.D., a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and adjunct associate professor at Northwestern University.
At booth #504, ASCD attendees will have the opportunity to see how educators can help students improve their reading and language skills, and concurrently develop foundational cognitive skills — like memory, attention, processing, and sequencing — using an online reading intervention called Fast ForWord®. The Fast ForWord program strengthens the key pathways in the brain that help students learn, so they can pay closer attention to their teachers, absorb information faster, and remember what they are taught.Conference participants will also be able to see how a program called Reading Assistant™ uses patented speech recognition technology to "listen" to students as they read out loud and intervene when the student needs help. By providing individualized online reading coaching, Reading Assistant helps students rapidly strengthen vocabulary, fluency and comprehension, maximizing their ability to read to learn.
"The CCSS include both content and the application of knowledge through high-order skills, which makes the process of learning just as important as the content that's being taught," said Dr. Burns. "Innovative technologies like the Fast ForWord and Reading Assistant programs can be used to build the learning capacities and processes that make teaching the CCSS easier and more effective. The Fast ForWord program, for example, supports teachers by providing individualized, adaptive exercises that help students develop their working memory, ignore distractions, maintain their focus, and stick with tasks. By building and strengthening the cognitive processes that underlie learning, teachers can bridge the gap to the new standards for students of diverse ability levels and, in particular, for struggling and hard-to-reach students."
About Scientific Learning Corp.
We accelerate learning by applying proven research on how the brain learns. Scientific Learning's results are demonstrated in over 250 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 accelerated rate of learning even after the programs end.
Today, learners have used over 3 million Scientific Learning software products. We provide our offerings directly to parents, K–12 schools and learning centers, and in more than 40 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.scientificlearning.com or call toll-free 888-810-0250.
The Scientific Learning Corp. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=15680