Press Releases

December 14, 2011 - StudyDog joins the Florida Virtual Curriculum Marketplace for all Florida teachers
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StudyDog announced today that its award-winning reading program is now available on the Florida Virtual Curriculum Marketplace (FVCM), a new approach to help teachers navigate the crowded digital curriculum landscape. The marketplace provides a single point of entry for Florida teachers to search for, obtain, and assign educationally proven, national- and Florida-standards- aligned and safe digital content.

According to recent independent studies, a majority of Florida teachers use digital content daily, but are challenged by the difficulty of finding educationally appropriate, standards-aligned content. The FVCM will help educators find resources that they already have as well as free and fee-based resources that they may not have known existed.

When teachers log into the FVCM, they will be able to use their other password protected resources without stopping to log in at other sites - this is referred to as a single sign-on. Teachers can search for what they need, see their results in a consistent and easy-to-use format, organize and assign their choices to students, and track student progress much more efficiently than ever before.

"As Florida moves to the digital age in education, it is vital that our educators have a vetted source that can be trusted to provide quality instructional content," says Public Schools Chancellor Dr. Frances Haithcock. "Florida's Virtual Curriculum Marketplace will become a valuable resource to school districts and teachers as they transition to the new Next Generation Common Core State Standards. Districts and teachers will no longer have to choose to purchase one textbook for instruction but will be able to purchase the most highly rated content to teach each standard."

StudyDog partnered with Learning.com, who is the developer of the FVCM for the Florida Department of Education.

"We approached StudyDog in the early days of our Marketplace initiative based on their track record for providing high quality, effective student materials," says William J. Kelly, Learning.com CEO. "StudyDog shares with us a commitment to the customer experience, something that has been reflected at all stages of our work together. And our state-level educators have echoed this appreciation. When they review the VCM catalog, StudyDog consistently bubbles to the top as a high quality choice for educators."

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

January 14, 2010 - StudyDog introduces the first Online Intervention Report
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StudyDog's Online Intervention Report for reading is the first one of its kind. On one page, an educator can see a complete picture of a student's performance. It also can be emailed to other educators and a student's Intervention Team can collaborate online, thereby streamlining a student's IEP (Individualized Educational Program). The result is a student recovers from a reading failure faster.

There is no other online reading program currently providing this capability.

"Schools place a high value on identifying reading failure early and correcting it quickly," said Deme Clainos, StudyDog president and CEO. "They need tools to pinpoint that failure and measure and report the effectiveness of their interventions".

The Intervention Report is a one-page snapshot that shows all of the critical views required by Intervention team members. If desired, a reading intervention specialist can drill down on any specific report for additional information.

There are four views of a student's performance displayed.

ISG Report (Individual Skill Growth) shows a student's response to an intervention on a skill-by skill basis.

Reading Skill Difficulty Report pinpoints the reading skill, or skills, that the student has the most trouble with.

Progress Monitoring Report (RtI) shows a student's response to a series of interventions over time.

Student's Performance Compared to Others.

These four views give a complete picture of a student's performance and response to an intervention, or interventions over time.

Since the Intervention Report can be emailed, all members of an intervention team can see identical views of each student. Furthermore, via the Intervention Report, the team members can collaborate online regarding a student's IEP, making a physical meeting more productive or even eliminating a need for one.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

January 20, 2009 - StudyDog adds support for a fully-compliant RtI instructional model
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StudyDog's online reading program now supports a Response-to-Intervention (RtI) instructional model.

"Today, schools are required to demonstrate effectiveness of an academic process," said Deme Clainos, StudyDog president and CEO. "It is no longer acceptable to use personal judgments or opinions solely when integrating instruction into the school's curricula".

To streamline the adoption of the StudyDog online reading curriculum, StudyDog enhanced its basic program to support an RtI instructional model.

The benefit of RtI is that it is a data-driven methodology versus a psychometric methodology; scientific evidence versus an opinion. It seeks to prevent academic failure through early intervention, frequent progress measurement, and increasingly intensive research-based instructional interventions for students who continue to have difficulty.

Key to the RtI method is the application of scientifically-based interventions that have been demonstrated to work in randomized controlled trials. The RtI method assumes accountability to the consumers of an educational program by ensuring the application of programs that work rather than programs that simply look, sound, or feel good.

The StudyDog Online Reading Program, a research-based and data-driven reading program, was designed for students having difficulty learning to read. These students have tried, but failed, to learn to read and are likely to continue to struggle if no action is taken. StudyDog provides systematic and explicit instruction of reading skills to help these students succeed. While StudyDog is designed specifically for struggling readers, it provides effective reading instruction for all children enrolled in pre-kindergarten through second grade.

StudyDog has uniquely captured all of the required elements of reading instruction to effectively and efficiently teach children to read. While other programs may have some of the critical elements of reading instruction, StudyDog offers a complete program.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

March 24, 2008 - StudyDog adds Mastery-Maker^TM to boost learning automatically
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Building on a base of Individualized reading, StudyDog adds automatic measurement of a student's reading performance and remediation with additional and different instructional sequences on a per student basis. This automated process has been named Mastery-Maker.

"Many schools are facing economic pressure and are seeking better ways to teach students with fewer resources and Mastery-Maker was designed to do that," said Deme Clainos, StudyDog president and CEO.

The StudyDog reading program was designed to teach students critical reading skills with minimal staff involvement. This is accomplished by harnessing technology to create a reading program that teachers can use to constantly push the boundaries of Personalized Learning. Mastery-Maker is the most recent advancement in StudyDog's Personalized Learning initiative.

How does it all work automatically? StudyDog constantly measures all students and when a specific student drops below mastery, Mastery-Maker kicks in, automatically, and zeroes in on that student to give additional and different instruction. StudyDog keeps the student engaged while delivering the varied curriculum to the student.

With Mastery-Maker, the overall effectiveness of the reading instruction increases by 75% making StudyDog an even more effective reading program. "[In a Personalized Learning product] you have to build the rigor in," said Penny Bishop, Director of the Tarrant Institute for Innovative Education and professor at the University of Vermont. "That's how you avoid the fluff. That's what makes personalized learning work."

There is no additional cost for Mastery-Maker; it is bundled with the StudyDog online reading program. The price of StudyDog for a typical school is $27.95 per student for an annual subscription.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

Feb 16, 2007 - StudyDog Learning Adds New Pre-K Supplemental Reading Program
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StudyDog Learning announced today it has added a stand-alone supplemental reading program to its early reading product line for use in preschool classrooms, titled Adventures in Learning: PreK Essentials. The program is designed specifically to engage and reinforce emergent reading concepts for three- and four-year-old children.

In development for eighteen months, Adventures in Reading: PreK Essentials is a complete supplemental reading program of 24 multi-level, adaptive lessons and corresponding open-ended activities that builds critical reading skills for young children. It is a research-based program developed using National Reading Panel findings, state early literacy standards, and Reading First guidelines.

"Adventures in Learning; Pre-K Essentials helps educators extend and support their core reading curricula with confidence," said Deme Clainos, president and CEO of StudyDog Learning. "Each of the lessons and activities are research-based, standards-aligned, and set in a rich interactive environment to hold the attention of young children."

The Adventures in Reading series of programs includes functionality to allow educators to re-sequence lessons to reinforce a particular skill or to align more closely to a core curriculum. Using a simple drag-and-drop control, teachers can add lessons, drop lessons, re-order lessons, or place the student at any point in the course. With just a click of the mouse, the program can be returned to the original default sequence.

The Adventures in Reading series also provides extensive real-time tracking and reporting tools. With one click teachers and administrators can compare student, classroom, and school average scores to identify performance differences. The easy-to-use module includes standard reports as well as customized reports that cover any span of time.

Adventures in Reading: Pre-K Essentials is available on CD-ROM or online versions. Special volume pricing is offered to schools.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

April 20th, 2006 - ComputerWorld Names StudyDog to Honors Program
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Established in 1988, The Computerworld Honors Program brings together the principals of the world's foremost information technology companies to recognize the achievements of the organizations around the world, whose visionary applications of information technology promote positive social, economic and educational change.

StudyDog, the maker of reading programs for young children, has been selected as a 2006 ComputerWorld Honors Program Laureate.

"Each year, the Computerworld Honors Program seeks to recognize organizations for their ongoing efforts to utilize technology in order to benefit society," said Bob Carrigan, Chairman of the Computerworld Honors Program Chairmen's Committee and President, IDG Communications. "We are proud to include StudyDog in this select group."

First-of-its-kind Technology
StudyDog, Inc. addresses the most pressing educational need of young children, learning to read. To address this challenge, StudyDog has developed a new class of on-demand educational software that emulates the performance of the ideal human teacher (i.e.; an expert), but with much less cost and more consistency and availability. The StudyDog on-demand system is the first to incorporate reading assessments, validated and correctly designed and scoped curriculum, the ability to keep a child engaged, and the technology to manage, measure and report reading progress for parents and teachers.

Using Technology to Address a Critical Problem
The American Federation of Teachers reports, "For every child, reading is truly the gateway to knowledge. In fact, teaching children to read is probably the single most important task of our elementary schools." Driven to fulfill this need, StudyDog brought together innovative internet development, creative characters, stories and instruction, and solid, research-proven reading curriculum. The new generation of online instruction focuses on customizing instruction for each child, capturing the child's interest, and teaching the reading skills the child needs to succeed. Parents and teachers are provided this expert system that allows them to support their children while StudyDog teaches the children to read

Free for Low-income Children
StudyDog, recognizing the seriousness of the national reading problem in poverty areas, makes its reading lessons free-of-charge to parents or non-profit organizations that strive to teach low-income children to read thru a partnership with the National Center for Family Literacy. "We are very excited about the StudyDog program and its potential for the nation", said Sharon Darling, National Center for Family Literacy Founder & President.

Black-tie Event
The Laureate will be awarded to StudyDog, along with other recipients from around the world, at the 18th Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on June 5, 2006.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

March 19, 2006 - StudyDog finds partner it needs in deal with AOL - Internet giant will take StudyDog's service to the masses
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By Aliza Earnshaw
The Business Journal of Portland

A marketing deal with Internet giant America Online Inc. could boost a Portland startup to the next level.
AOL has chosen to offer the early-reading program created by StudyDog Inc., a 4-year-old Beaverton company, as part of its new educational services products.
Called "AOL Ready Set Read," the program is available at www.aol.com/learning. AOL is offering the program with a free trial, which then moves to a subscription service at $4.95 per month.

The deal is a huge coup for StudyDog. Though its reading programs have been lauded by educators and parents -- not to mention the kids who use them -- it's been difficult to find an effective channel for reaching consumers. AOL looked at "at all of the leading educational companies" early-reading programs before selecting StudyDog, said June Herold, vice president of AOL's education and consumer services division. AOL was looking for a program that was effective, fun, and would allow parents to monitor their children's progress, said Herold. The chosen company also had to be ready to go to market fast. "There's a lot of value in leveraging well-known brands," said Herold. "But the flip side of that is the value in bringing breakthrough and innovative solutions, something very new and attractive to consumers. StudyDog came out on top in all of these categories."

During the fourth quarter, AOL had 109 million monthly unique visitors in the United States and 54 billion page views, according to ComScore Media Metrix.
StudyDog will get about 35 percent of AOL's $4.95 monthly charge for the reading program. That's far below the company's usual one-time price, up to $50 per child, depending on the program a parent chooses. Though StudyDog's portion of AOL's program seems small, all of that revenue is pure profit for the company. AOL bears all marketing costs, and "they know what they are doing," said Clainos.

The early-reading program is one of four educational programs AOL launched in January. Since then, 100,000 people have registered for its educational programs, said Herold, a figure that includes those still using the programs on free trial.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

August 1, 2005 - Ground-breaking Early Childhood Reading Technology Passes Another Test
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The StudyDog Reading Scholarship Program, funded by the Renaissance Foundation, provides Internet reading instruction to kindergarten through third-grade children from low-income families and who are struggling to learn to read. The scholarship children showed very strong results, improving their reading skill performance at each of the three levels of the StudyDog lessons.

This past school year, 631 children received StudyDog scholarships. These children were recommended by their teachers as struggling, or at-risk of struggling, to learn to read. Additionally, all of the children were from low-income families, a requirement for the scholarships. Most of the scholarship children in first through third grade were enrolled below their grade levels.

"The scholarship children showed very strong results, improving their reading skill performance at each of the three levels of the StudyDog lessons," said Dr. Dean Arrasmith, StudyDog's Chief Learning Officer. "In our seminal scientific study of children's StudyDog reading performance completed last year, we found StudyDog accounted for more than two-thirds of a standard deviation of reading growth over a randomly assigned control group, reflecting gains of approximately 10 percentile points. This pre- and post-test analysis builds additional support for the strength of StudyDog to engage and teach children basic reading skills."

Teachers are universally supportive of StudyDog lessons, as a supplement their reading instruction. "We are currently using StudyDog with approximately fifty of our Kindergarten and First grade students, including many who have limited English language skills. Our children have found the StudyDog lessons highly engaging and they eagerly look forward to working with the StudyDog characters. Our teachers love being able to use StudyDog to supplement their regular classroom instruction. Our experiences with StudyDog have been very positive. I would highly recommend StudyDog to other early childhood programs," says Brenda Coats, Title 1 Reading Specialist at Dry Hollow Elementary School.

StudyDog delivers essential reading instruction through an innovative online system that is personalized for the child and guided by a Reading Specialist. Fifteen minute online lessons three to five times per week teach key reading skills identified by the National Reading Panel and other reading experts. Students enjoy the program because of its engaging design and format, and the prizes awarded to the students as they progress. Through an initial reading assessment, StudyDog builds a customized curriculum for each student to address his/her specific challenges. Teachers and parents receive online reports of the child's progress.

To receive these scholarships, Kindergarten thru second grade teachers and reading specialists can submit applications on behalf of those students who can best benefit from one-on-one instruction and tutoring. Students must be eligible for free or reduced rate school lunches.

The Renaissance Foundation seeks to make a significant difference in the lives of people in need. It focuses grants in the areas of education, social and medical services. Trustees are Irving Levin and Stephanie Fowler.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

July 14th, 2005 - The Portland Schools Foundation is partnering with StudyDog, Inc.
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The Portland Schools Foundation is partnering with StudyDog, Inc. to provide scholarships for children of low income families, who have been identified as at-risk readers. The program is available to eligible children in all elementary schools in Oregon. To date 713 scholarships have been distributed. Each scholarship is expected to raise reading skills at least one grade level. July 14, 2005 -- In a time when budgets are stretched, innovative private and public organizations are collaborating to improve the reading skills of young at-risk children. The Portland Schools Foundation, participating elementary schools and StudyDog, Inc. a provider of on-line programs designed to develop reading skills for young students grades K-2, have developed a program to provide scholarships for children of low income families who are behind in reading and can benefit from one-on-one instruction and tutoring.

To date 713 children have received scholarships. Based on pre- and post-program assessments 92% of these children who have completed the 14 week program have improved reading skills at least one grade level. Prior to the program all of the children were reading below grade level.

StudyDog delivers essential reading instruction through an innovative online system that is personalized for the child and guided by a Reading Specialist. Fifteen minute online lessons three to five times per week teach key reading skills identified by the National Reading Panel and other reading experts. Students enjoy the program because of its engaging design and format, and the prizes awarded to the students as they progress. Through an initial reading assessment, StudyDog builds a customized curriculum for each student to address his/her specific challenges. Teachers and parents receive online reports of the child's progress.

To receive these scholarships, K-second grade teachers and reading specialists submit applications on behalf of those students who can best benefit from one-on-one instruction and tutoring. Students must be eligible for free or reduced rate school lunches. Applications for scholarships are available for download from StudyDog.com.

The Portland Schools Foundation is an independent community-based organization that mobilizes the money, leadership, ideas and the political support necessary to ensure a first-rate public education for every child. For more information about The Portland Schools Foundation, call Cynthia Guyer at 503-234-5404.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

October 26, 2004 - StudyDog Reading Program Helps English Language Learners
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The National Center for Family Literacy partners with StudyDog to Teach Low-income Children to Read Louisville, KY - The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) is partnering with StudyDog, Inc. to offer instructional materials to families that will help teach reading to children from low-income families. The StudyDog Reading Program will be offered to many of the thousands of family literacy programs that serve pre-kindergarten thru second-grade children and their parents

"Children who have difficultly learning to read often suffer educationally, socially, and emotionally. So often, their parents may have trouble helping them due to their own lack of reading skills," said Sharon Darling, NCFL president and founder. "With the right stimulation, between the ages of four and eight, most children can significantly improve their early reading skills and their chances of becoming successful readers. We support the StudyDog program because of their history of success with reluctant readers and their desire to help poor families."

"NCFL has a terrific track record of teaching low-income children through the combined efforts of parents, teachers, and other NCFL resources. Not only were we impressed with their national scope and the quality and results of their programs, but it was obvious from the beginning that the two organizations shared a common vision and commitment to improve reading skills in low-income families," says Deme Clainos, StudyDog president and CEO.

The StudyDog reading program was developed under the guidelines of the National Reading Panel and other reading experts and is particularly effective. In a recent validation study, children in a St. Louis after-school program used StudyDog's program for 14 weeks. Initially, all children were reading below their grade level. At the end of the period, 92% of the children were reading at or above grade level. Mr. Clainos says students enjoy the program because of its engaging design and format. Furthermore, due to its technology, StudyDog engages children via 15-minute lessons and keeps them engaged for an extended period until real learning can occur.

About NCFL
The National Center for Family Literacy has pioneered a program that combines children's education, adult literacy education, parent education and structured interaction between parents and their children. NCFL works to ensure that all families at the lowest ends of both the literacy and economic continua will have opportunities to improve their education and social well-being through quality, family literacy services. For more information, please visit our Web site: www.famlit.org or call the Family Literacy InfoLine: 1-877-FAMLIT-1.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

August 25, 2004 - Emerging Technology Credited With Reading Success
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The Reading Program at Neighborhood Houses improves reading level of 92% of the children in the program and establishes validation for a new class of computer solutions, an EXPERT Reading System.

Neighborhood Houses, a non-profit, after-school program in St. Louis, reported an improvement in 92 percent of the children enrolled. Twenty-four children achieved average performance, or higher, on reading skills over a 14 week period. Previously, all of the children were reading below their grade level. Roxanne Crawford, Director of Programs, credits StudyDog, an internet-based reading program. "Not only are we very satisfied with the reading skills the children have developed, but so are their teachers. They definitely noticed the improvement", said Crawford

The Neighborhood Houses are located in the extremely depressed areas of Northern St. Louis, Missouri. They serve mostly African-American children and their families, providing a safe, welcoming, after-school environment and community services to economically deprived families. The StudyDog Reading Program was adopted as the literacy strand for the kindergarten, first and second-grade children attending the after school program.

The StudyDog reading program represents a new class of computer-based reading programs called Expert Reading Systems. An Expert Reading System emulates the perfect human tutor and, hence, strives to achieve the same results the perfect tutor would, but for a fraction of the cost, in a shorter time period. It is available anytime and anywhere there is a computer and an internet connection. Like the best reading tutor, StudyDog knows the child's needs because it assesses the child's reading skills online and personalizes a program for the child. The reading lessons that are taught are effective because all of the StudyDog curriculum was developed under the guidelines of the National Reading Panel and has been validated. Furthermore, due to its technology, StudyDog engages the child for 15 minute lessons and keeps them engaged for an extended period where real learning can occur. Finally, the StudyDog Expert reading system continuously measures the child's performance and issues reports to the parent and/or the teacher. "StudyDog takes on its shoulders the responsibility to help struggling readers," said Deme Clainos, CEO and president of StudyDog. "Rather than require parents to learn how to teach reading skills or to take their children to a learning center or tutor, StudyDog supplies them with a proven system that children consider to be akin to a video game. The kids love the game and the parents love the results."

Teachers have become fond of StudyDog, also. Wanda Brownridge, an instructor at Neighborhood Houses said, "We Loooove StudyDog".

About Neighborhood Houses
Neighborhood Houses, located in St. Louis, Missouri, is a neighborhood-centered, faith-based organization that supports families by helping children become hopeful, healthy and self-sustaining members of the community. For further information, contact Roxanne Crawford, 314-383-1733

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.

July 11, 2004 - YWCA Taps Innovative Reading System to Teach Children to Read
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For the upcoming school year, the YWCA of Greater Portland selected StudyDog's online reading system to augment the LearnLinks Program, which helps young children learn to read.

No one knows better than the YWCA that reading difficulty in the U.S. is an epidemic problem that can severely limit a child's future. They see it everyday when they work with children in homeless families. If a child can't read, future learning is curtailed and confidence is sapped. In response, the YWCA formed the LearnLinks program to address the unique educational needs of children in homeless families. LearnLinks staff and volunteers work after school and during the summer providing the extra academic and social support the children need to stay in school and succeed. "Kids who can't read suffer educationally, socially and emotionally. It can lead to unhappy consequences later in life," says Adella Macdonald, Executive Director of the YWCA of Greater Portland, "With the right stimulation, between the ages of four and eight, most children can significantly improve their early reading skills and their chances of becoming successful readers and that is a big step in their hope of escaping a future of continued poverty and homelessness."

The YWCA bolstered the LearnLinks program by adding StudyDog. The innovative StudyDog online reading system, which targets kids between kindergarten and second grade, is based on two important sources. In 2000, the National Reading Panel, charged by Congress with consolidating valid research on how children learn to read, issued its report on what constitutes the most effective reading instruction. Second, recent brain research by Yale neuroscientists has shown that, with the right stimulation over a period of time at an early age, even children diagnosed with dyslexia can make the necessary connections in the brain to read successfully. The StudyDog online reading system uses a patent pending technology and analyzes an individual child's reading level and skills, then modifies the manner in which the curriculum is administered and presented. The program uses video game-like graphics and compelling storylines to deliver its reading program in a unique way, so that children stick with the program for an extended period - long enough to master the skills being taught.

"Engaging children so they are motivated to stick with StudyDog over a period of months, without placing an additional burden on instructors or parents, is a unique advantage," explains Deme Clainos, the company's CEO. "This occurs not only because the lessons are entertaining, but because the program is personalized for each child."

"We were attracted to the StudyDog program because of their history of success with reluctant readers and it can provide expert, one-on-one instruction without requiring a certified teacher," said Macdonald. Twenty-five children in a St. Louis after-school program, similar to the YWCA's application, used StudyDog's program for 14 weeks. Initially, all 25 children were reading below their grade level. At the end of the period, 23 of the children were reading at or above grade level.

The first implementation will be conducted by the Hillsdale Terrace facility, which is operated by the Housing Authority of Portland. "The YWCA is succeeding, family by family, in breaking the cycle of poverty and we're committed to supporting their efforts in teaching children to read early in life," says Clainos

The YWCA strives to eliminate racism and discrimination in all its forms, and provides growth, education and leadership opportunities for women and families. The YWCA is the leading voice for all women and families in our community, providing the resources needed to live healthy, happy and productive lives. For more information about the YWCA of Greater Portland, contact us at 503-294-7400 or visit our web site at YWCA-pdx.org.

About StudyDog Learning
StudyDog Learning provides scientifically-based interactive reading programs specially designed for emergent and early readers in Pre-K-1st Grade. Our Adventures in Reading series is used to supplement core curriculum and assist in reading interventions in over 3,000 schools nationwide. Lessons in each program were developed from the ground up to meet state early learning standards and the guidelines of the National Reading Panel. StudyDog Learning was founded in 2002 with the strong belief that success in life starts with being able to read. We are dedicated to helping early readers succeed. For more information, visit www.studydog.com or call 1-866-643-4449.