Nine Out of Ten Educators Believe Learning Ally Enables Students to...

A 2018 survey of more than two thousand U.S. educators revealed that participants overwhelmingly agreed that audiobooks, read by skilled narrators, increases academic achievement for struggling readers, including students with dyslexia and other learning differences.

The survey, conducted by Learning Ally, a New Jersey-based nonprofit edtech organization and leading producer of high-quality, human-read audiobooks, is intended to learn about how educators are addressing the growing challenges of struggling readers, and what role popular fiction, nonfiction and curriculum-aligned materials in audiobook format can play in bridging the reading gap.

“Over 20% of today’s K12 students struggle with reading,” said Jeffrey Ho, VP of Data Sciences for Learning Ally. “National surveys like this one provide critical feedback that enables us to tailor our learning solutions to meet the needs of this underserved student population, and to develop best practices in reading engagement and resources for teachers.”

Key findings from the 2018 survey include:

• 93% of educators believe Learning Ally enables teachers to ensure that students have access to grade-level reading.
• 91% of educators believe Learning Ally enables students to achieve academically.
• 91% of educators believe Learning Ally empowers students to take greater ownership of their learning.

One of the biggest challenges facing educators today is how to bridge the reading gap between struggling readers and their higher-performing peers. Learning Ally, with its vast library of human-read audiobooks, does exactly that by giving every student equitable access to grade-level content.

“With Learning Ally, instead of worrying about the mechanics of reading, struggling readers are able to read the books they want and need to read,” said Ho. “In doing so, they build vocabulary and background knowledge, strengthen their reading comprehension and higher-level thinking skills, develop greater learning confidence and self-esteem and, ultimately, increase their academic success.”

About Learning Ally

Learning Ally is a nonprofit organization committed to helping struggling readers with learning differences become confident, engaged learners. Learning Ally's extensive library of human-read audiobooks gives struggling readers access to the books they want and need to read, helping to bridge the gap between their reading capability and their ability to learn grade-level content. A complete learning solution that includes teacher-focused resources, Learning Ally is helping more than 375,000 struggling readers in over 15,000 schools nationwide reach their academic potential.

In 2018, Learning Ally received a distinguished Library of Congress Literacy Award for its outstanding commitment and innovative research-based best practices to ensure literacy for all in U.S. schools.

To learn how your school or district can become a member of Learning Ally in support of struggling readers, schedule a Learning Ally demo or call 800-221-1098.

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