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Press Release
NATIONAL NONPROFIT OFFERS BACK-TO-SCHOOL
TIPS AND A SPECIAL PROMOTION TO MEET THE NEEDS OF DIVERSE LEARNERS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2006 (Princeton, NJ) - As teachers and students return
to the classroom for another year of learning, national nonprofit
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic® (RFB&D®) is
working with educators to incorporate audiobooks into their curricula
and classrooms. RFB&D is the nation's educational library
of recorded textbooks for students with visual impairment, learning
disabilities or other physical disabilities that make reading
standard textbooks difficult or impossible.
Teachers in inclusion
classes rely on differentiated instruction strategies and assistive
technology (AT) tools to address the diverse learning needs of
their students. Audiobooks like those provided by RFB&D are
AT tools that meet students' reading needs and compliment differentiated
instruction strategies. RFB&D is offering
back-to-school implementation tips to educators for incorporating
RFB&D's audiobooks into a whole class listening setting, as
well as into listening centers, small group instruction and through
individual student use. As teachers of students with print disabilities
prepare for the 2006-2007 school year, they can use RFB&D
to:
- Teach and reinforce phonemic awareness and phonics skills
- Integrate audiobooks
in a variety of classroom settings and across the curriculum
- Use audiobooks to
build students' critical listening, fluency, comprehension and
thinking skills
- Make audiobooks
a standard part of their classroom management approach.
- Help struggling students build their confidence, independence
and self-esteem.
Thousands of teachers have come to realize that audiobooks are
not a "crutch" but essential tools that help "level
the playing field" for students with print disabilities.
"RFB&D is an amazing tool," says David Hall, a teacher
in Atlanta, GA. "It allows the kids to reach their full potential
in a way they would never be able to do without it." Mel
Levine, MD, Director of the Clinical Center for the Study of Development
and Learning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
states, "I have known many children who have gained significantly
through the use of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. [RFB&D
has been] enormously helpful in increasing reading comprehension,
reading accuracy and reading rate. More importantly, they have
turned many a non-reader into an enthusiastic reader. This form
of intervention is certainly important for kids who have never
found reading rewarding."
The impressions of these educators have been proven through actual
studies of RFB&D in the classroom. In a study conducted for
RFB&D by Rutgers University, fourth to eighth grade students
with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) who used RFB&D's
AudioPlus® textbooks made statistically significant increases
in their reading rates and showed significant increases in reading
accuracy. They moved from a 94.4% accuracy rating to a 96.3% accuracy
rating, moving them from the "frustrational" reading
level to the "instructional" reading level. A study
of high school students conducted by Johns Hopkins University
found that those who used RFB&D's audiobooks exhibited a 38
percent increase in content acquisition.
Unlike commercial audiobooks, RFB&D's AudioPlus recorded
textbooks provide unprecedented navigation features that allow
students to jump from page to page or chapter to chapter with
the touch of a button. With digital technology, the content of
a standard textbook now fits on a single CD, eliminating the need
for students to sort through a series of cassettes to find the
page, chapter or section they need. RFB&D's audiobooks are
accessible on specialized CD players or with specialized software
on standard multimedia PCs, and can easily be integrated into
a classroom setting using desktop, portable or computer-based
playback devices, available from RFB&D at nonprofit sale.
To help teachers and schools incorporate RFB&D into their
classrooms, RFB&D is offering educators a special membership
promotion and free publications - Tips for Teaching & Learning
with Audiobooks; a research summary highlighting results from
studies conducted by Johns Hopkins, Tufts and Rutgers Universities;
and Most Requested Titles List from the top K-12 publishers. For
information on RFB&D and this special promotion that includes
free portable playback equipment and materials, call our Membership
Specialists at 800-503-0927.
RFB&D serves more than 141,000 students from kindergarten
through graduate school and beyond with its one-of-a-kind collection
of more than 109,000 educational titles. RFB&D's AudioPlus®
digitally recorded textbooks on CD provide unprecedented navigation,
ease of use and proven effectiveness as learning tools for students
with print disabilities. Students rely on RFB&D's unique accommodation
to access the printed page and to achieve educational success.
All of RFB&D's accessible titles are recorded by volunteers
working in 29 RFB&D recording studios nationwide.
For information on RFB&D, volunteering or making a donation,
call toll-free 866-RFBD-585 (866-732-3585) or visit RFB&D's
accessible website at www.rfbd.org.
additional media inquiries:
RFB&D News Desk 1-800-803-7201, press 6
media e-mail inquiries
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