She won a Conoco Phillips grant to purchase Merit reading comprehension software for remediation and RtI for students who are non-proficient in reading.

Researchers Marcel Just and Timothy Keller say that after just six months of intensive remedial reading instruction, children who had been poor readers were not only able to improve their skills, but grew new brain matter.

To arrive at this conclusion, the researchers first scanned the brains of students with a wide range of academic abilities.

The group of the poor readers enrolled in an intensive remedial reading program showed improved reading as well as changes in their connecting tissue.

The follow-up scans also showed that some white-matter connections in the struggling students’ brains became just as strong as those of students in the top reading group.

White matter gets its name from the fatty myelin sheaths that encase the nerve fibers that connect one “thinking” area of the brain with another. It makes up half the brain’s volume.

According to Dr. Just, the Carnegie Mellon study cements the idea that learning can actually change the physical contours of the brain.

Merit Software users have been saying for almost twenty-five years that intensive reading assistance can make a significant difference in the helping struggling readers make lasting gains.

Reading comprehension software programs such as those produced by Merit help make intensive reading assistance more effective by breaking passages down into understandable parts for students.

This process helps struggling readers learn to respond to essential questions, determine the main idea of a passage, identify the sequence of details, and connect ideas and recognize themes in texts.

Click here to read more about the Carnegie Mellon study.

All grants must help close the achievement gap, be scalable and sustainable, and be supported by prior evidence.

With these goals in mind, the DOE has said that there will be three tiers of grants. The Department has also outlined funding priorities.

Based on our review of the new guidance we believe there are opportunities for educators to use all Merit programs and remain within the i3 guidelines.

 All Merit products are researched based, and several of them have been subjected to rigorous studies. The research that has been conducted on Merit shows that it has been effective in closing the achievement gap.

To discuss ways to work with us and learn how to apply for the i3 grants using Merit programs, please contact us.

To learn more about the Investing in Innovation (i3) grants, click here.

Robin Hansen, a special needs parent and an advisor to the San Francisco Unified School District, has a valuable perspective on special education worth reading.

Robin writes that as a “special ed” mom she has learned that very few people really understand special ed kids.

“There are all kinds of stereotypes out there. I want to put a human face on special ed children (and families) so we ALL understand why we all need to care NOW.”"

“The average special education child has a normal to high intelligence and has the potential of going to college and being a fully functioning, economically self-sufficient adult. These children just need additional supports to meet that goal.”

Research by the Alliance for Excellence in Education has documented the high costs associated with high school dropouts.  These costs make supporting special education a worthwhile and necessary endeavor.

Many dropouts come from the lower quartile in a class and do not feel they can read well enough to keep up in school.  Many have been in special education programs.

Just last week, the Oregon Department of Education reported that one in eight of Oregon’s school-age children qualifies for special education, with learning disabilities the leading cause.  Based on our experience with parents, teachers and therapists, this percentage is representative of every other state in the U.S. too.

There is a great need for teachers to find ways to help students with learning disabilities.  Assistive learning technologies like Merit Software have an enormous potential to help teachers.  Self-paced software that breaks concepts down into understandable parts helps special needs students overcome problems with comprehension, problem solving, organizing and communication skills.

What do you think should be done to help students who need extra supports?