StarrMatica Learning Systems, Inc. — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.6

Description

Quality schools positively influence the economic development prospects in rural areas. They not only attract business and industry to the area, but they produce the educated labor force that is needed to sustain the economic growth of rural areas. The greatest source of a highly educated population in rural areas is native individuals who attended college locally or return home after completing their education. One of the cornerstones of a quality education is the ability to read and comprehend informational texts. School and career success depends on our ability to comprehend informational texts. Yet, nearly 44 million American adults cannot extract a single piece of information when they read an informational text if background knowledge is required. The results of the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that nearly 2/3 of American fourth-graders can only read at or below a proficient level, and when examined further, researchers found that on the 2009 NAEP test, fourth-grade students scored worse on informational texts than on literary passages--with students eligible for free lunch scoring the worst on informational texts. Because beginning readers are exposed to primarily literary texts, when students enter fourth grade and begin to read more content area informational texts, they have difficulty with comprehension. Comprehending informational texts requires a different set of strategies and skills than they have previously developed. The objective of StarrMatica's Customizable Informational Text System is to help teachers accomplish the four things that research indicates they must do to improve informational text comprehension: (a) increase students' access to informational text, (b) increase the time students spend working with informational text in instructional activities, (c) explicitly teach comprehension strategies, and (d) create opportunities for students to use informational text for authentic purposes. StarrMatica will create a platform that houses K-5 science informational texts written by a children's author on the team to meet the Next Generation Science Standards. Teachers will have the ability to customize each text to teach specific text structures, print features, graphic aids, comprehension skills, and Common Core ELA standards at multiple Lexile reading levels. These customization options will allow teachers to differentiate comprehension instruction to meet the needs of all students and to support a variety of instructional objectives. The System will be designed to both teach and assess comprehension skills and will be tied to a classroom-management system that records student data. A pilot test and usability study followed by a feasibility study will provide qualitative and quantitative data before and after use of the System. Data will be analyzed and compared to determine change or gain in scores.