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Press Release:
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For
Immediate Release
Contacts:
Morgan Roth, RFB&D, 609-520-8097 or 609-240-1097
David Gordon, CAST, 781-245-2212
CAST and RFB&D Announce Three
Year Partnership Initiative
(Princeton, NJ) 30 September, 2005 -- Innovations
to support learning among individuals with disabilities will
be the strategic focus of a partnership announced today by two
of the nation's leading nonprofit providers of accessible educational
technologies and services, Wakefield, Massachusetts-based Center
for Applied Special Technology (CAST), and Recording for the
Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), based in Princeton, New Jersey.
CAST is a research and development organization
that has earned international recognition for its development
of innovative, technology-based educational resources and strategies
based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
RFB&D is the nation's educational library
for students of all ages who cannot read standard print effectively
because of a disability such as visual impairment, learning
disability or another physical disability. Its library of recorded
textbooks in every grade level and subject area is unique in
the world.
The RFB&D-CAST partnership was formalized
in a signed agreement that extends over three years. The partnership
will initiate a series of managed projects and programs to develop
new technology-based tools, services and strategies that students
and educators can use to facilitate reading and study skills.
The goal of the partnership is to advance learning technologies
that provide students with disabilities greater access to high-quality
educational content and to ensure that these tools get into
the hands of the students who need them.
"The missions of CAST and RFB&D are uniquely
aligned," said RFB&D President & CEO John Kelly.
"We both exist to ensure that students have opportunities
to achieve their educational potential, regardless of disability,
and we both believe that technology is the great equalizer to
facilitate educational success for students with disabilities
that make reading challenging or impossible."
"Both CAST and RFB&D come to the partnership
with complementary capacities, accomplished staff, and a commitment
to expand learning opportunities for students who struggle with
printed text," explained CAST Co-Founding Director David
H. Rose. "Working together, we hope our efforts will make
effective learning resources more widely available to students
with print disabilities and the parents and educators who support
them."
For executive interviews, please contact Morgan
Roth, Vice President, Strategic Communications at RFB&D
at mroth@rfbd.org
or David Gordon, Communications Director at CAST at dgordon@cast.org.
More information about CAST is available at www.cast.org
. Read about RFB&D at www.rfbd.org.
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