Contact: Rubenstein Associates, Inc.
Public Relations
Cheri Fein – (212) 843-8019

For Immediate Release

LEADING EDUCATION EXPERTS AND REMEDIAL READING PROGRAM PROVIDERS CONVENE FOR

THE Power4Kids Reading Initiative CONFERENCE

Process Begins To Select Remedial Reading Programs

To Be Used In First-Ever Independent Nationwide Study

(San Francisco – September 5th) – The Haan Foundation for Children, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and implementing educational solutions and the Power4Kids Coalition, are convening a conference of the nation’s leading remedial reading program providers and education experts on Thursday, September 5th and Friday, September 6th at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Street to begin the process of determining which programs will be utilized in the Power4Kids Reading Initiative’s nationwide classroom remedial reading study. 

The Power4Kids Reading Initiative is the first, independent, national initiative organized to dramatically alter the educational trajectory and the future outcomes for millions of our children.  The study will be the largest randomized, classroom-cluster design of its kind ever conducted. Supported by a public-private sponsorship, it will be centrally coordinated by Dr. Joseph Torgesen, an eminent scholar in the field of reading difficulties.

"We are honored at the prospect of engaging widespread support and collaboration with the most respected names in the education world to define and implement the ‘diamond’ standard for educational research,” said Cinthia Haan, co-founder and chairman of The Haan Foundation for Children and the Power4Kids Coalition. “This independent coalition provides hope for all of our children in its charter to understand and propagate the very best in academic results."

The conference will outline the proposed study design and measures of intervention methods for children with reading difficulties to the attending program providers, publishers, authors and vendors of remedial reading programs.  They will be asked for their response and input.  They also will learn what will be required of them if they are chosen as participants in the study.

Each program provider also will present its most compelling evaluation data about individual intervention methods to experts from the Power4Kids Scientific and Coalition Boards.  They will then be invited to submit formal applications by October 15th for an independent validation process through peer review.

The cornerstone of the Power4Kids Reading Initiative is a powerful study designed to demonstrate scientifically with highly effective, classroom remedial reading programs that we can bring over 90% of our children to reading proficiency.  Today, more than 20 million American students cannot read at grade level; half these numbers are considered functionally illiterate.  This demonstration may change society’s expectations for a large set of young people whose futures are now clouded.  Its results will show how to “close the reading achievement gap” for older students (grades 3-5) who were previously thought to be beyond hope and for children who have not learned to read because of their environment or learning differences.  It will also demonstrate that these highly effective intervention programs can be adapted into many different types of classroom settings, produce replicable results across the nation, have sustainable success and fit into schools’ budgets.

The Power4Kids Study will take place in six major metropolitan areas across the United States, providing instruction to 2,160 children attending 180 different elementary schools.   A total of 1,080 children, whose reading progress will be assessed in the same way to those receiving the interventions, will serve in control groups.   Each instructional method will be implemented in two different metropolitan areas, and will be delivered by 44 different teachers.

Program providers who will be submitting evidence to the Power4Kids Coalition Board include:  The Scholastic Corporation, McGraw-Hill, Lindamood Bell Learning Processes, Wilson Language Training, Sopris West and Scientific Learning Corporation.

Meeting attendees include representatives from the U.S. Dept of Education, the California Department of Education, American Institutes for Research, Mathematica, Manpower Demonstrations Resource Corporation, U.S. Corporation of National Service, Educational Quality Institute, Smith Richardson Foundation and Barksdale Reading Institute, Stanford and Tufts Universities, and the University of Colorado.