Scientific Learning^® Reading Assistant™

Reading Assistant software combines advanced speech recognition technology with scientifically-based interventions to help elementary and secondary students strengthen their reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Reading Assistant acts as a patient, non-judgmental listener for struggling, self-conscious readers and provides the much needed reading practice that benefits all students. Readers are helped with interactive resources, immediate feedback on errors, and private playback. Teachers receive assessment reports as if they had been sitting next to their students, listening.

• Using research-validated speech recognition technology, Reading Assistant "listens" to a child as he or she reads aloud.
• Monitoring for signs of difficulty, the program intervenes with assistance when the student is challenged by a word.
• The software maintains careful performance records and the corresponding audio of each reading session for review by student and teacher.

Reading content is available in two collections to meet the needs of students in grades 1-11:

• Reading Assistant Curriculum Levels 1-5 (692K PDF)
  Reading Assistant Curriculum Levels 1-5 contains a collection of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry selections from Carus Publishing™ for reading levels 1-5. It also includes historical fiction & non-fiction chapter books from Lerner Publishing™.
  
• Reading Assistant Curriculum Levels 5-11 (732K PDF)
  Reading Assistant Curriculum Levels 5-11 was designed specifically to improve content-area reading and learning among upper elementary, adolescent, and adult students. It includes authentic nonfiction selections chosen to address core topics in the National Science and Social Studies frameworks. The passages have been selected to range in difficulty from fifth through eleventh grade reading levels.

Students listen to a model fluent reading of the passage, preview vocabulary, and read the passage orally. After reading, students, review problematic words they did not understand, and playback their reading.

Reading Assistant guides students through a comprehensive instructional sequence to maximize fluency, vocabulary and comprehension growth. Quizzes assess comprehension.

Readers are encouraged to re-visit unfamiliar text and re-read selections to build fluency and master each selection.

	Fluently models the correct pronunciation, inflection and prosody of the text. See this feature in action.
	Builds a vocabulary base in the context of the story. See this feature in action.
	Builds a bridge from Spanish to English definitions. See this feature in action.
	Provides immediate feedback from a supportive listener. See this feature in action.
	Tests for understanding of the texts at the end of or throughout the passage. See this feature in action.
	Informs the student when to read again and what to work on before re-reading. See this feature in action.
	Identifies words that need practice. See this feature in action.
	Lets students listen to their own reading to recognize trouble words and compare their reading to that modeled by a fluent reader. See this feature in action.
	Builds fluency by allowing the student to read the passage again. See this feature in action.

Reading Assistant software provides reporting features to help educators continuously monitor student progress, customize instruction, and motivate students.

Network Version Reporting

Reading Assistant network version aggregates student data centrally, providing analysis at the district, school, grade, class or student level. Network reports enable educators to predict performance and benchmark student progress against national norms.

Fluency Report - measures fluency in words correct per minute for individual readings, multiple reading of one passage, and multiple passages.

Trend Line Report - analyzes student fluency performance over time, and predicts future performance

Standalone Version Reporting

Reading Assistant standalone version provides basic reporting tools to assist clinical professionals in private practice in monitoring fluency, comprehension and usage. Data is available only for student reading done on the workstation where the reports are generated. If a student uses Reading Assistant on multiple workstations, their data can not be aggregated. Audio is available for just the most recent reading of a particular selection.

Who should use Reading Assistant?

Reading Assistant is designed to be used by any student who has attained basic word recognition and decoding skills and is now building his/her vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. This includes students as young as first grade, all the way up to adults.

Reading Assistant has solutions designed to implement with Response to Intervention programs for all student tiers

How does Reading Assistant support vocabulary?

Reading Assistant helps students learn and retain vocabulary word meanings by providing:

• Audible syllabification
• Dictionary definition
• Contextual sentence
• Picture representation in most instances

How does Reading Assistant build Fluency?

Reading fluency is the ability to read with sufficient ease and accuracy that one can focus attention on the meaning and message of the text.

Reading Assistant builds fluency by providing:

• Oral reading practice
• Supportive intervention
• Repeated reading
• Review words
• Feedback on fluency (words correct per minute)

How does Reading Assistant foster Reading Comprehension?

Reading Assistant ensures reading comprehension by providing:

Question Answering
In Reading Assistant Curriculum Levels 1-5 (692K PDF), comprehension questions are presented at the end of each passage. Students can not take the quiz unless they have read the entire selection.

Comprehension Monitoring
In Reading Assistant Curriculum Levels 5-11 (732K PDF), embedded comprehension questions ensure attention to meaning and comprehension in the course of reading. Students quickly learn to focus their attention on meaning so that they can answer these questions without resorting to time-consuming reviews of the text they have just read. They learn that it is far more efficient and valuable to think while they read than it is to read quickly, but, without thought.

The 2000 National Reading Panel report lists Question Answering and Comprehension Monitoring as research proven methods for ensuring comprehension.

Is Reading Assistant research-based?

Yes. According to the report of the National Reading Panel, "classroom practices that encourage repeated oral reading with feedback and guidance leads to meaningful improvements in reading expertise for students—for good readers as well as those who are experiencing difficulty." With Reading Assistant, the computer becomes the supportive listener that ensures all students can regularly practice oral reading while receiving immediate, individual feedback from Scientific Learning's advanced speech-recognition software.

Is Reading Assistant research validated?

Yes. The impact of Reading Assistant on fluency growth was evaluated with mainstream students in Grades 2-5. Half of the classrooms in two schools used the software in thirty-minute sessions, once or twice a week over 17 weeks. Across all four grades, fluency gains were significantly greater for students who used the software than those who did not, averaging 43% (E.S.=0.91) greater than normative expectations over grades. Project sponsored by the Carlisle Foundation and NICHD.

What data are collected about the students’ work?

The network version provides teachers and administrators with detailed reports.

How much time does it take for my students to learn how to use the software?

While students of all ages independently use the software after just a few sessions, we recommend direct observation of student sessions as well as regular monitoring of the network reports to keep students on task and using their time wisely.

How often should students use Reading Assistant?

Readers in grades 2 and up, who have attained basic word recognition and decoding skills, will benefit from two to five 30-minute sessions each week with Reading Assistant.

What routine should students follow when they use Reading Assistant?

A recommended instructional sequence is included in the Teacher’s Guide, but there is no one right way to use the software. Teachers are encouraged to adapt the instructional sequence to meet the needs of their students.

Where did the reading selections come from?

All of the Reading Assistant texts were originally published in one of the Carus™ family of magazines or by Lerner Publishing™. These Carus magazines include: Appleseeds™, Ladybug™, Spider™, Click!™, Cricket™, Odyssey™, Cobblestone™, Calliope™, and Faces™.

The elementary content is a combination of both fiction and nonfiction selections. The content for grades 5 and up is tied to core units in Social Studies and Science.

What do the quiz questions assess?

The comprehension questions are designed to review main ideas, key concepts, core arguments, and vocabulary from the passage. The question types include inferential and literal comprehension, analysis, prediction, and summary.

Sample quiz questions. The correct answer(s) appears in bold.

Reading Selection: Ah-Choo

Q: This poem takes place
A: on a farm.
A: in the city.
A: on a boat.
A: at the beach.

Reading Selection: From Smoke Signals to Newspapers

Q: Which word means burst into flame?
A: FLARED
A. LANTERN
A. SPURRING
A. INVADERS

Reading Selection: About the Brain

Q: An AXON is the part of a neuron that
A: sends signals to other neurons.
A: releases neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft.
A: receives signals from other neurons.
A: is covered with receptors that respond to neurotransmitters.

Does the software support ELL students?

Yes. In addition to the features of Read to Me, Show Vocabulary, Record My Reading, and Play My Reading, Version 4.0 allows the teacher to enable Spanish language support for a student. When this feature is activated, the glossary will contain an Español button which displays the glossary term in Spanish and plays a Spanish audio file. In addition, the student can click on any word to hear the correct pronunciation of a word

What Licensing Models are offered?

We offer two convenient licensing models to meet your school’s needs:

1. Web-enabled model
   One annual subscription license is purchased for each student who will use the program during the year. Program is delivered via the internet.
   See client workstation requirements (68K PDF).
2. School/District Hosted Model
   One license is purchased for each workstation and/or site. Program is supported by a local area or wide area network hosted server.
   See server and client workstation requirements (68K PDF).

How do I raise funds to pay for Reading Assistant in my school or district?

There are a number of appropriate funding sources in every school and district including

Title 1 funds; Reading First funds; Special Education and Response to Intervention (RTI) funds; Technology funds (including the PTO grant); School discretionary funds; Professional Development funds; Curriculum funds for reading or secondary science and social studies; and Afterschool funds

View our complete listing of appropriate funding sources.

Is Reading Assistant Section 508 compliant?

Yes. What does this mean? Among assistive features: a) visual dialog boxes can be displayed whenever you hear an audio message; b) the colors in the application have been selected to accommodate people who are color blind; c) the preferences set by a student on his or her computer for text colors and size take precedence over those already set in Reading Assistant; d) the software will work in conjunction with a single switch device; e) there is high contrast between user interface elements and high rollover contrast for maximum visibility; f) the minimum font size used for all content text throughout the product is 16 point; g) tooltips are provided throughout the product; and h) the user can tab from element to element, and select the element using a key-activated shortcut.

What are the Technical Requirements for running the software?

View the Technical Specifications(68k PDF). Note: Adobe Reader (PDF viewer) is needed to view this document.

Product Demo

Click to view

Progress Demo

Month 1 Dibels Grade 6 Passage 71 words correct per minute	Flash Player 6 or Higher Not Detected We are unable to detect Flash Player 6 or higher on your system. (Flash Player 6 or higher is required for this presentation) Download most recent version of Flash Player Click the play button to start and the pause button to stop. Pause one Progress Demo before playing the other.
Month 4 Dibels Grade 6 Passage 128 words correct per minute	Flash Player 6 or Higher Not Detected We are unable to detect Flash Player 6 or higher on your system. (Flash Player 6 or higher is required for this presentation) Download most recent version of Flash Player Click the play button to start and the pause button to stop. Pause one Progress Demo before playing the other.