How StudyDog Helps

Background: In 1997, Congress asked the Director of the NICHD, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to convene a national panel to assess the status of research-based knowledge, including the effectiveness of various approaches in teaching children to read. In response, the National Reading Panel or NRP was formed. The NRP included leading scientists in reading research, representatives of colleges of education, reading teachers, educational administrators, and parents. The Panel also held publicly announced regional hearings from teachers, parents, students, university experts, educational policy experts, and scientists. Key findings of this Panel were:

• The importance of the role of parents and other concerned individuals, especially in providing children with early reading language and literacy experiences that foster reading development
  
  

• The importance of early identification and intervention for all children at risk of reading failure
  
  

• The importance of phonemic awareness, phonics, and good literature in reading instruction and the need to develop a clear understanding of how best to integrate different reading approaches to enhance the effectiveness of instruction for all students
  
  

• The need for clear objective, and scientifically based information on the effectiveness of different types of reading instruction and the need to have such research inform policy
  
  

• The importance of the role of teachers, their professional development, and their interactions and collaborations with researchers; which should be recognized and encouraged.
  
  

StudyDog: StudyDog was founded on the principles of the National Reading Panel. Using the findings of the NRP in conjunction with State and National Standards, StudyDog’s curriculum and teaching strategies were formed. The result is the program you see today. To meet our mission: "... to help every young reader no matter what their financial means..." we provide a full-curriculum free version of StudyDog Reading that is available to all low-income children worldwide. We also provide a special, very affordable version of StudyDog called StudyDog Personal that is customized to each child. StudyDog Personal is based on our successful and validated School Scholarship Program. In these validation studies, 93% of kids increased their reading level by 1 grade or more and 100% of kids met reading proficiency levels using StudyDog. see StudyDog Validation PDF.

StudyDog Foundation

In alignment with the findings of the NRP, the following is a list of the key components of the proven StudyDog Reading Program:

Based on proven reading curriculum - StudyDog has incorporated research-proven reading curriculum into its teaching of basic reading skills. Starting with the results of the National Reading Panel, reviews of several states' reading standards, and the research of the Big Ideas in Beginning Reading, StudyDog has developed its curriculum to reflect the critical skills students need to become successful readers. Phonemic awareness and phonics, fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension are emphasized in the curriculum. The StudyDog curriculum is designed to address the needs of struggling readers and is effective for reinforcing reading skills in students developing basic reading skills.

Systematic and explicit instruction - StudyDog lessons are designed to directly and explicitly teach basic reading skills that lead students to reading success. Each lesson directly teaches the lesson's reading skill, models the application of the reading skill, and provides the student guided practice in using the skill to read words and sentences. The lessons are designed to build, in a systematic way, the reading skills each student needs to be a successful reader.

Engaging lessons - StudyDog employs the power of the Internet to capture students' attention using highly engaging lessons that are fun to complete. The lesson activities and characters encourage students to work each lesson. Even reluctant readers are drawn into the lessons and overcome their reluctance to learn to read. StudyDog reduces the drudgery of learning reading skills by replacing drills and worksheet type instruction with lively, animated lesson activities. Lessons "adapt" to the progress of each student. Students want to invest their time in StudyDog to learn to read.

Tailored curriculum - StudyDog selects the curriculum for each student that matches their instructional level, an individual level of difficulty that challenges the student to learn, but does not frustrate the student with material that is too difficult. StudyDog uses reading assessments, along with teacher recommendations, to place each student in the appropriate lessons. These lessons are "adaptive" in that they adjust their content to best align with each students individual needs. The student's performance on each lesson is monitored by Reading Specialists to assure the student is learning effectively. The Reading Specialists can redirect instruction and provide additional learning materials to improve student's reading development.

Supporting environment - StudyDog overcomes the stigma that many students suffer when they begin to fall behind in reading development. StudyDog provides positive reinforcement and encouragement for each student to succeed. Prizes, earned by the student, reinforce their hard work and further encourage their success. Most importantly, StudyDog lessons are taught one-on-one. The student is allowed time to learn each reading skill in a friendly, motivating environment. Student mistakes are handled with encouragement with additional practice of especially difficult reading skills. StudyDog motivates students to want to learn to read.

Validated in scientific study - StudyDog has conducted a scientific study to demonstrate the effectiveness of its program to improve students' reading performance. Students participating in the StudyDog Reading Program substantially improved their reading skills in comparison to students who did not participate in the program. The gains reflect at least a year's worth of growth in reading skills for the vast majority of the students.

Results replicated in pre- and post-test trials - Overall, ninety-three percent (93%) of the students who participated in the StudyDog Reading Program have shown at least a year's worth of growth in reading skills. These results support the findings from the scientific validation study.

Strong antidotal evidence - Parents and teachers have provided strong evidence of the effectiveness of the StudyDog lessons and how StudyDog engages students in learning to read in a fun and supportive environment. They have reported that students look forward to working on StudyDog lessons. Reluctant readers are motivated and excited to learn new reading skills. Parents and teachers have confirmed the reading gains made by students and attest to the way StudyDog motivates students to keep working on the lessons.