The project will plan for the creation and assessment of an ambitious program to improve reading and writing achievement with the participation of Boulder Valley School District (K-12) and the State of Colorado Department of Education. The project brings together a team of cognitive scientists, speech scientists, educational researchers, computer scientists, administrators and educators to work to design an program that uses state-of-the-art language technologies to help students learn to read fluently and to write effectively and creatively.
Specific objectives of the planning phase include (a) establishing the full interdisciplinary team, (b) working with administrators and educators in Colorado schools to create an integrated program in which interactive learning tools optimally complement and enhance existing teaching methods, (c) developing an evaluation plan that will assess the effectiveness of the program. The work will be performed in close collaboration with teachers, including the design of an initial program in which reading tutors will be used to recognize and interpret students' reading and writing behaviors and provide feedback to improve phonological awareness, reading fluency, comprehension and composition skills. Though much of the current work of members of the team is focused on early reading instruction; some of the methods (e.g., the comprehension-based methods that facilitate reading to learn) are also relevant for later grades.
