BOSTON, May 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on the
partnership established in fall 2020, learning technology leader
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which
reaches more than 90 percent of the country's K-12 classrooms, has
helped Brewbaker Primary School expedite and deepen student mastery
of reading through the use of Amira Learning™. Amira
is the first intelligent reading assistant that listens to,
assesses and tutors learners, using state of the art speech
recognition and powerful AI software to differentiate and recommend
reading practice for young learners and administer both an oral
reading fluency assessment and a dyslexia screener.
Brewbaker Primary School (BPS), which serves Montgomery Public Schools' largest elementary
population in Montgomery County, adopted Amira Learning in
November 2020 to provide 1:1 reading
instruction to 300+ K-2 students and advance foundational reading
skills for English Language Learners amid a hybrid learning
environment. The tool has driven impressive growth in student
literacy. Within two months, Amira helped double the amount
of words that second grade students correctly read aloud per
minute. With great specialty in helping young readers, Amira
has also set the stage for BPS students to achieve above grade
level reading capabilities, with kindergarteners successfully
reading aloud a year earlier than expected, and second grade
students reaching third grade reading proficiency.
"As an educator with almost 20 years of experience as a reading
coach and instructional leader, I understand what it takes to help
children become readers. Amira is helping us meet the
individual needs of our students in a way that was previously
impossible, especially with the workloads our teachers juggle
during the pandemic," says BPS Principal Jaclyn Brown Wright. "We're impressed with the
breakthroughs we've seen from our students as they've quickly
become confident readers."
Amira has also lightened the load for BPS teachers
amid the uncertainty and stress of COVID-19, implementing a
systematic approach to gathering reliable data on student reading
that flexes to any instructional format. Performing assessments in
Amira has efficiently yielded comprehensive data that
maximizes BPS teachers' precious time. These time savings have
empowered BPS teachers to tailor reading instruction based on
highly accurate insights about student mastery, helping them target
support to students who need it most. To-date, BPS students have
spent over 50,000 minutes reading upwards of 13,700 stories with
Amira, which has given teachers 30 additional minutes back
each week to instead focus on individualized instruction with
students.
"The student breakthroughs we're seeing with Amira in Brewbaker
Primary School are extraordinary and underscore our commitment to
exploring new ways to provide equitable, quality education
opportunities in Montgomery," says
Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed. "We're encouraged by these
promising results and have great hope that investment in innovative
tools like Amira will set our students up for success
throughout their academic and professional careers."
Amira Learning is the culmination of 20+ years of
reading research and applied reading science from leading
universities and researchers from Carnegie Mellon
University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of
Texas Health Sciences. Evidence supporting Amira's
effectiveness includes more than 100 published research papers and
is considered "gold standard." Amira also detects dyslexia
with 95% accuracy in grades K–3, giving teachers comprehensive
support for early intervention for students with disabilities in
reading.
"HMH is dedicated to supporting educators with purposeful,
digital learning solutions like Amira to extend and
complement teacher expertise, delivering key insights that help
them do their jobs better, regardless of the instructional method,"
says Matthew Mugo Fields, General
Manager, Supplemental and Intervention Solutions at HMH. "The
literacy progress BPS students have made is a testament to
Amira's unmatched ability to understand and advance reading
skills of our youngest learners. We look forward to seeing how
Amira continues to prop up BPS teachers and contribute to
ongoing student achievement in Montgomery."
About Montgomery Public
Schools
Montgomery Public Schools (MPS) is a school
district with 53 schools. MPS is guided by a student-first
philosophy. Our mission is to provide safe and caring communities
where teachers teach and students learn at higher levels. MPS has a
variety of academic programs and services to meet the diverse needs
and interests of our students. We offer traditional schools with a
full range of curriculum complemented by cultural arts, music,
foreign languages, technology, career technical education and
athletic programs.
About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt (NASDAQ: HMHC) is a learning technology company
committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners,
empower educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading
provider of K–12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention
solutions and professional learning services, HMH partners with
educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock
students' potential and extend teachers' capabilities. HMH serves
more than 50 million students and 3 million educators in 150
countries. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.
Follow HMH on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
and YouTube.
Contact:
Leah
Riviere
Director, Communications
617-351-5020
leah.riviere@hmhco.com
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SOURCE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt