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Volume 21, Number 2
March/April 2005

Can Brain-Based Software Help Kids Read Better?

A randomized study challenges the claims of a popular reading program

by Elizabeth Barrett Kidder

 

Can instructional software based on brain imaging help struggling students read better? That’s the hope of school administrators who invest in cutting-edge computer programs like Fast ForWord (FFW), a highly respected family of reading-intervention programs distributed by the Scientific Learning Corporation (SLC) and used by more than 120,000 students in the United States. To answer this question, Princeton University researchers Cecilia Elena Rouse and Alan B. Krueger recently conducted a randomized study of the effectiveness of reading intervention technology, using FFW as the subject.

This is an excerpt from the Harvard Education Letter. Subscribers can click here to continue reading this article.

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    For Further Information

    For Further Information

    C.E. Rouse and A.B. Krueger. "Putting Computerized Instruction to the Test: A Randomized Evaluation of a 'Scientifically Based' Reading Program." Economics of Education Review 23, no. 4 (2004): 323-338.

    M.M. Merzenich, W.M. Jenkins, P. Johnston, C. Schreiner, S.L. Miller, and P. Tallal. "Temporal Processing Deficits of Language-Learning Impaired Children Ameliorated by Training." Science 271, no. 5 (1996): 77-81.

    Scientific Learning Corporation, 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 600, Oakland, CA 94612; tel: 888-665-9707.