Soliloquy Reading Assistant Helps Brodhead Elementary School Achieve 100 Percent Reading Proficiency
BRODHEAD, Ky., 11/16/2006 -- The entire fourth grade class of Brodhead Elementary School in Brodhead, Kentucky can now read proficiently thanks to a long-term school-wide focus on literacy, and also to Soliloquy Reading Assistant, a reading program that combines advanced speech recognition technology with scientifically-based interventions to help elementary and secondary students strengthen their reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The school reported recently that its fourth grade students achieved a 100 percent reading proficiency rate, a remarkable mark relative to the national norm of 31 percent and the state average of 30 percent.
"We're extremely proud of our students and staff for attaining what is truly an amazing milestone in education - 100 percent reading proficiency," said Caroline Graves, Principal of Brodhead Elementary. "Soliloquy Reading Assistant has proven to be a wonderful supplemental reading resource that clearly helped our students achieve this feat. We believe that all students can become active, lifelong readers in a caring and cooperative environment, and Reading Assistant helps that belief come to life."
Brodhead Elementary adopted Soliloquy Reading Assistant in 2005 and immediately began seeing results. The program helped supplement the school's reading curriculum and after struggling fourth graders used the program for several months, the program was implemented for all of Brodhead's students.
Soliloquy Reading Assistant works by having students read e-books into a computer using a standard headset and microphone. Through Soliloquy Reading Assistant's proprietary speech-recognition technology, the program "listens" and recognizes when readers stumble or make mistakes on specific words. As they read along, students can have Soliloquy Reading Assistant read the story to them, or record and play back their own readings. When a student struggles, the program assists him/her by reading the word clearly, meanwhile making records in the background for teacher review. When they do not know a word's meaning, students can simply click it to gain access to a context-sensitive definition, pronunciation and photographic memory aid.
"The results achieved by Brodhead Elementary reflect greatly upon the dedication and quality of their staff," said Jon Bower, CEO of Soliloquy Learning. "Soliloquy Reading Assistant helps by providing Brodhead students with an individualized, patient and non-judgmental listener, offering a powerful supplemental resource to the instructional curriculum already in place."
The Soliloquy Reading Assistant is available for students in grades 1-12, plus adult remedial reading programs. For elementary students (grades 1-5), reading content is drawn from children's stories, poems and expository passages to build literature appreciation. For secondary students (6-12), content is drawn from science and social studies frameworks used in high-stakes testing. Since its launch in 2000, various versions of Soliloquy Reading Assistant have been used by over 5,000 schools across the country.
Most recently, Soliloquy Learning, Inc., announced the release of Soliloquy Reading Assistant Version 4.0, an enhanced version that includes web delivery, predictive reporting and English Language Learner (ELL) support. For more information on Soliloquy Reading Assistant 4.0 visit http://www.soliloquylearning.com or call 1-877-235-6036.
Brodhead Elementary School is located in Rockcastle County and has an enrollment of 365 students. For more information visit: http://www.bes.rockcastle.kyschools.us.
About Soliloquy Learning, Inc.
Founded in 2000, Soliloquy Learning has pioneered new and highly effective methods for dramatically improving reading and language skills. The company's flagship product, Soliloquy Reading Assistant, provides one-on-one reading support, using proprietary speech recognition technology to listen to students as they read aloud. Based on the research of renowned literacy expert, Dr. Marilyn Jager Adams, Soliloquy Reading Assistant has been proven to foster fluency, comprehension and vocabulary acquisition through Guided Oral Reading, proven in research studies to be the best approach for fostering reading progress beyond the basics. Soliloquy Learning is a privately held company based in Waltham, Mass. For more information visit: http://www.soliloquylearning.com.
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