While stats are great, you cannot beat real stories. Click here for a reality video from one school. The first two minutes are compelling.
The documented, scientific evidence is overwhelmingly positive that Fast ForWord works. For a PDF summary click this link: FastForWord Empirical Evidence.
The fact Fast ForWord has not only survived ten years of scrutiny, but that it is now growing faster than ever is testament to its success. Of the 750,000 plus children that have completed Fast
ForWord, more than 35,000 children have been formally tracked. Average documented gains are one-to-two grades in 2-3 months. This outcome was confirmed by the Education
Commission of the States.
One of the most respected school superintendents in the US, Paul Vallas, who is credited with turning around Philadelphia's troubled schools (now taking on New Orleans) considers Fast ForWord one of his secret weapons. Within three weeks of taking over in Philadelphia he decreed each school would use Fast ForWord. This was one of many great decisions he made for that district. Read about it in this link.
Skeptics worry that the empirical evidence may be biased since most of it is on the Scientific Learning web site. But these studies are
put together by school administrators and often scrutinized by district boards -- these people allow their names to used and so must stand by the data produced. They have no
motivation to report inaccurate results. There are dozens of trials. Just go to this web site page
below and click randomly: www.scilearn.com/results
Some results are stunning, such as
this longitudinal IQ chart from a school district in the Southeast. The momentum of the first year boost continues as other learning skills, previously held back, are able to develop now that Fast ForWord has resolved the learning glitch that was previously impeding progress.
Fast ForWord does not actually change
IQ, but it does boost confidence and improve language and reading
skills resulting in better test taking. While most
trials focus on the short term, these long term gains are the main
reason to
consider our service. Follow this link to other
studies with similar results.
Warning!
Two studies show up in Google that
say "Fast ForWord: ineffective." Both studies are
flawed. One issue with Fast ForWord is that it requires intensity of effort, so if students are not managed and motivated to work hard, results will be sub-par. A Princeton Economics professor
needed to get past Fast ForWord to prove her thesis that computers in
schools have not changed educational
outcomes. And so the study includes students who did not
complete the software and others who had erratic compliance. This is like signing people up for a gym membership then concluding that because they didn't go and get fit, gyms serve no useful purpose! The other study
done by the University of Texas professor is similarly flawed, as Fast
ForWord is an obstacle to his theories about auditory processing.
His study ends up
concluding that Fast ForWord works, but only as well as (prohibitively
expensive)
one-on-one speech therapy.
