Expanding the Study, Better Results! 

The results from the first year of research were so dramatic that Dr. Homan expanded her scope with partial funding from the Florida Department of Education. Her second year of study involves more than 200 struggling readers in 6 schools, a combination of elementary, middle and high schools in urban and rural settings serving a racially diverse mix of students across three Florida school districts.  

• Participating students were identified as struggling readers by their failure of the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).
• Students in control and treatment groups were matched by grade level, reading teacher, FCAT level, gender and socio-economic status.
• At the elementary and middle school levels, the treatment students used the learn-to-sing software 3 times a week, 30 minutes per session, for 9 weeks.
• At the high school level, the students used the software 2 times a week, 45 minutes per session, for 9 weeks.

In this round of research, the results in some cases were even better than the original study. In the elementary schools, for example, the treatment students improved, on average, by nearly a grade and a half, and the high school average was also above a grade level.  To read the full text of Dr. Homan's second research abstract from May 2006, click here. 

With data this striking, national literacy experts are sitting up and paying attention. “Remarkable and compelling,” comments Dr. Tim Rasinski, a literacy education professor at Kent State University who for many years was co-editor of The Reading Teacher, the world’s most widely read journal of literacy education. Read more.