Texthelp Systems Announces New Version of Fluency Tutor, Innovative Online Solution for Developing and Measuring Oral Reading Fluency

New release includes comprehension questions, passage illustrations, and enhanced reporting and teacher tools making the software even more powerful and easier-to-use

BOSTON--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Award-winning software publisher, Texthelp Systems today announced a new release of Fluency Tutor, an innovative online solution for developing and measuring oral reading fluency. The web-based product incorporates passages that align to the Metametrics^® Lexile Framework^® for Reading and includes tools for practicing, assessing, and measuring fluency as well as powerful graphical reports for tracking and analyzing student progress.

“We used Fluency Tutor during our summer session”

With Fluency Tutor, students can independently practice their reading, record themselves reading, answer comprehension questions, submit assessments to their teacher, and view their progress over time. Teachers can assign level-appropriate passages for practice and assessment to individuals or groups of students. They can listen to and mark students recorded assessments at their convenience and get automatically generated WCPM and prosody scores. Using the data from Fluency Tutor’s powerful reports, teachers can personalize instruction to meet individual student‘s needs and students can see where they need to focus in order to improve their oral reading skills.

The newest release of Fluency Tutor contains many exciting new features and enhancements, including:

For the Student:

• Customizable Color Themes - Personalizes a student’s experience with a selection of font and color combinations
• Passage Illustrations - Improves comprehension and maintains interest when reading lower Lexile level passages
• Multi-Page Navigation - Breaks up content into multiple pages for easy navigation through longer passages
• Speech-Enabled Dictionary and Translator - Assists in better understanding the meaning or translation of a word
• Reading Score Feedback - Allows students to see their reading speed instantly upon completion of a practice
• Comprehension Quizzes - Tests students’ understanding with multiple-choice comprehension questions
• Coaching Window - Provides student an explanation of errors with read-aloud playback

For the Teacher:

• Group Settings - Assign practices, apply settings, and set target scores for groups of students
• Group Performance Scores - View group performance and compare scores
• Marking Process - Additional error types enhance accuracy of marking assessments
• Report Layout - Modified report selection and report layouts to easily view scores and progress
• Improved Workflow – Save time and effort in the assigning, marking, and measuring process

Jack Dolan, President of Texthelp Systems Inc., states, “Texthelp is very pleased to introduce this new release of Fluency Tutor which incorporates many of the features requested by our customers and partner sites. It enhances both the student and teacher experiences and allows them to measure oral fluency in an easy, consistent, and convenient way, without the need for the traditional pen and paper method.”

Fluency Tutor can be used with all students, but is especially helpful to struggling readers, students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, or any students who need extra or remedial reading practice at school or at home.

“We used Fluency Tutor during our summer session,” comments Sally Garza, Director of Technology at Lawrence School. “Students were able to practice their reading and see and hear their mistakes with no other instruction from the teacher. Their use of the product was definitely beneficial in preventing regression of reading skills that typically occurs over the summer months. We are excited about using the new features in Fluency Tutor especially the comprehension questions and additional options for teachers marking assignments, as well as integrating the use of Fluency Tutor into some of our language classes throughout the school year."

Pricing and Availability

Fluency Tutor is available now. Annual renewal subscription pricing starts at $2,245 with discounted multiple year pricing available. For sales and ordering information, call 888-248-0652 or email [e-mail]. For more information about Fluency Tutor, go to www.texthelp.com.

About Texthelp Systems Inc.

Texthelp Systems (www.texthelp.com) provides literacy software solutions for individuals, K-12, higher education, and publishers. Texthelp’s products include: Read&Write GOLD, Fluency Tutor, Lexiflow, and SpeechStream. Read&Write GOLD is a customizable easy-to-use toolbar that seamlessly integrates with mainstream applications allowing students to access reading, writing, studying, and research support tools from within programs they use everyday. Fluency Tutor is an online solution for developing and measuring oral reading fluency. Lexiflow and SpeechStream allow publishers to deliver digital talking ebooks, assessments, and online content with student support tools.