[July 21, 2014]

Texthelp Launches Fluency Tutor™ for Google, a Fluency Assessment Tool to help Teachers Support Emerging and Struggling Readers

Texthelp Inc., a leading provider of award-winning literacy software solutions including Read&Write for Google (News - Alert), today announced Fluency Tutor for Google (www.texthelp.com/fluencytutor) an innovative, user-friendly and time-saving leveled reading and assessment tool to help teachers support and assess emerging or struggling readers. Texthelp demonstrated Fluency Tutor for Google this past weekend at the Google Apps for Education California Summit (#gafesummit) attended by over 1100 educators in Palo Alto (News - Alert), CA.

Critical for time-stretched teachers, Fluency Tutor for Google allows teachers to choose from the included reading passages based on content, lexile level, or reading age and share them with individual students or groups of students via Google Drive. Students can practice reading and record their assigned passages in a relaxed environment, at school or at home. Extra help is provided by dictionary, picture dictionary, and translation tools. Recorded passages are automatically shared back with teachers allowing them to measure progress over time.

Fluency Tutor for Google makes reading more fun and satisfying for even the most reluctant learner. It is also great for early readers and individuals learning English as a second language. The application makes it incredibly simple for students to record themselves reading a passage of text - without the pressure of their peers or teachers observing them. Research has shown that students who read and reread passages orally and receive guidance ad/or feedback become better readers. Repeated oral reading substantially improves word recognition, speed, and accuracy as well as fluency.

"Fluency Tutor for Google is a tremendous asset for giving students access to appropriate reading passages and providing the opportunity for them to hear them read aloud repeatedly to help better understand the meaning," said Martin McKay, CTO of Texthelp. "Becoming an avid reader changes your life for the better and Fluency Tutor for Google can help children and other individuals read with confidence and independence."

Any teacher using Google Apps for Education in their school or district can install Fluency Tutor for Google from the Chrome Web Store for free. Teachers can choose to upgrade at any time to the Premium version, which provides access to tools for assessing recorded passages for word accuracy, hesitation, and other metrics using an easy-to-use scoring system. Teachers can also make use of powerful analytical tools and monitor students' progress over time. These tools offer dramatic time-savings to teachers, as well as assistance in identifying students who might require more support and intervention.

According to results of the NAEP Reading Test, 40% of U.S. students are non-fluent readers and the lower a student's fluency, the lower the comprehension. Struggling to read and write is a huge barrier to professional equality and social acceptance but the right tools can help take away the stigmas associated when reading is a struggle.

Fluency Tutor for Google can be installed from the chrome web store. More information about the app can be found at www.texthelp.com/fluencytutor.

About Texthelp

Fluency Tutor for Google is one of several educational technology solutions from Texthelp Inc. (www.texthelp.com). Texthelp provides literacy software for individuals, K-12, higher education, and publishers. Our award-winning solutions for readers and writers of all ages and abilities include: Read&Write Gold for PC or Mac, a customizable toolbar which gives users access to reading, writing, studying, and research tools within common file types and applications; Read&Write for Google™, a cloud-based extension that provides supports for Google Docs, Web, PDFs, and ePubs in Google Drive on PCs, Macs, and Chromebooks; and iReadWrite, an iPad App which makes reading easier and writing more accurate. Our Publishing solutions, Lexiflow and SpeechStream, allow publishers to deliver digital talking eBooks, assessments, and online content with supports to make their content accessible to all.

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