Lexia Awarded $2 Million ATP Grant; Firm to Create Educational Software to Increase the Learning...

Business/Technology Editors

LINCOLN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2001

Lexia Learning Systems today announced a $2 million research and development grant by the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the Department

of Commerce. With this grant, Lexia plans to create interactive software for children that develops their cognitive skills. The goal of the software is improving the underlying thinking abilities that make efficient learning possible. The software will incorporate cognitive development methods known to improve thinking abilities but generally delivered one-on-one or in small groups and taught by a relatively few highly skilled practitioners. Lexia hopes to provide these methodologies in standard school settings, and will include delivery over the Web. Under the terms of the grant, Lexia will invest an additional $700,000 to support essential research and development prior to commercialization.

According to Jonathan Bower, president and CEO of Lexia, "Our proposal builds on our experience in developing reading skills by creating software that specifically addresses the education process itself. Our goal is the development of software that will enable all children to progress as effectively and as rapidly as those children who currently receive high quality preparation for school in their homes. We are grateful to the ATP program for the support to take on this difficult but important project."

Researchers have made significant progress in understanding how children develop more complex cognitive abilities. Based on this research, educational programs have been developed to improve cognitive ability, the process by which students learn and understand. However, these programs are not broadly available because of the lack of adequate resources to train teachers and the intensive individual time needed to deliver them. Methods that increase the cognitive skills of children may result in an increase in the efficiency of the entire education system if Lexia is successful in translating these techniques to effective educational software. Lexia's goal is to help children learn more efficiently and to achieve improved academic performance. The Lexia software will be designed to strengthen visual-spatial abilities important in studying the sciences; logical reasoning for math and general comprehension; receptive and expressive communication to improve interpersonal communications and following instructions; and auditory imaging, which is fundamental to language use. Initially the research and development process will focus on children from ages four through eight. Eventually Lexia hopes to make this software available for people of all ages.

"Over the past decade or so there have been tremendous breakthroughs in the field of cognitive-neuroscience," noted Dr. David Stevens, the principal investigator who conceived of the project. "These breakthroughs have produced important insights into how we develop higher level thinking abilities and how they are related to learning. While ambitious, our goal is to make the fruits of these insights available to a wide audience of children."

About ATP Grants

The Advanced Technology Program provides cost-sharing funding to industry for high-risk R&D projects with the potential to spark important, broad-based economic benefits for the United States. ATP support significantly accelerates potentially important R&D projects, that industry on its own can not fully support because of the technical risks involved, and often where timing is critical to eventual economic success in the highly competitive global market. In many cases, ATP support is essential for the project to take place at all.

ATP awards are made on the basis of a rigorous competitive review considering scientific and technical merit of each proposal and its potential benefits to the US economy. For example, research indicates that higher cognitive skills of the US population as a whole as measured by IQ, is associated with higher worker qualifications and greater productivity of the US economy.

The program does not fund product development. Applicants must include a detailed business plan for bringing the new technology to market once technical milestones have been achieved under ATP support. The program is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration.

Background

Lexia Learning Systems, Inc., was founded in 1984 to develop software to enhance the process of learning to read. Originally funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and Human Development, Lexia is now a profitable private corporation headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Lexia software is used in tens of thousands of classrooms across the country, and also in special education, adult literacy programs, tutoring centers and homes. Information about Lexia's reading software is currently available through a network of local software dealers, by calling the company at (800) 435-3942, by fax at (781) 259-1349, by e-mail at info@lexialearning.com or at the Lexia Web site: www.lexialearning.com.

Note to Editors - Lexia is a registered trademark of Lexia Learning Systems, Inc.