Velocity, a Revolutionary New Digital Learning Solution, Ushers in New Era of Adaptive Learning at CoSN Conference

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Voyager Sopris Learning™, provider of evidence-based preK-12 instructional solutions and professional services, today announced the launch of Velocity, a revolutionary new comprehensive English language arts program designed to help readers in grades K-5 rapidly achieve grade-level proficiency. The product has been introduced at the annual CoSN Conference in Washington, D.C., and represents the most significant advancement in individualized digital instruction since the advent of adaptive learning software more than a decade ago.

"Velocity helps unlock the potential of students and teachers alike and fundamentally changes the classroom ecosystem," said Jeffrey A. Elliott, President of Voyager Sopris Learning. "By facilitating precisely the kinds of one-on-one interactions that great teachers have always sought to deliver, Velocity extends the teacher's presence in the classroom and allows all students to have access to the most effective teaching."

Developed in collaboration with Enlearn, a Seattle-based nonprofit education innovator, Velocity's unique approach rapidly propels students forward in reading comprehension, word study, language and foundational skills – a known challenge for traditional adaptive learning solutions. Velocity delivers meaningful individualized instruction in this complex instructional area by adapting at the thought-process level, using proprietary dynamic learning technology to continually monitor each individual student's understanding of countless subtle learning concepts and to instantly adjust its approach to each of these concepts, helping to make learning as effective as possible. Velocity is equally beneficial to teachers, providing actionable insights in real-time throughout the learning process.

Velocity benefits K-5 students in the following ways:

• Breaks content down to the thought-process level, helping students progress in skill acquisition
• Provides mental models, hints, scaffolds and tailored instruction to support students based on how they learn best
• Instills a growth mindset toward learning, providing students with information and insights about how they learn
• Collects data via seamless embedded assessments, ensuring that the learning process is never interrupted

In addition, Velocity is the only adaptive learning solution to offer a three-tiered approach that will modify the instruction before, during and after a student has completed a particular problem.

Velocity benefits teachers in the following ways:

• Helps teachers provide the optimal one-on-one learning experience for a greater number of students
• Enables teachers to more effectively teach a classroom of students who read at different levels by providing individualized, highly curated content for each student
• Allows teachers to have up to three times the number of meaningful interactions with students in a typical classroom
• Seamlessly embeds assessment to ensure uninterrupted instruction time
• Provides real time actionable data to prompt the teacher to praise student effort and success or provide supplemental lessons if additional work is needed
• Ensures that teachers are aware of students' performance at all times

"Velocity has been key in closing gaps for students reading below grade level," said Emily Cole, teacher at the Uplift Summit Academy in Arlington, Texas. "Velocity is able to identify areas that students struggle with and then teach them the key skills required to be successful readers."

Conforming to both national and state standards, the Velocity platform has been beta-tested by 1,250 students in more than 140 classes around the country, including schools and districts in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

About Voyager Sopris Learning
Voyager Sopris Learning™ is an education partner committed to unlocking the full potential of every teacher and every student. We believe that the best way to meet and exceed standards in education is to address the underlying systems of teaching and learning, and to nurture those systems at their most fundamental levels. Our suite of instructional and service solutions is based not only in research but in real classroom evidence, ensuring that every solution is as easy-to-implement and teacher-friendly as it is effective. We offer a variety of digital and blended instructional tools and assessments, as well as professional development and school improvement services, all of which are designed to help every teacher deliver nothing short of the highest-quality instruction to every student. Voyager Sopris Learning is a business unit of Cambium Learning® Group, Inc. ABCD, based in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.voyagersopris.com, or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

Media Contact:
Ileana Rowe
Voyager Sopris Learning
800.547.6747
ileana.rowe@voyagersopris.com

Investor Contact:
Barbara Benson, CFO
Cambium Learning Group, Inc.
investorrelations@cambiumlearning.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/velocity-a-revolutionary-new-digital-learning-solution-ushers-in-new-era-of-adaptive-learning-at-cosn-conference-300245819.html

SOURCE Voyager Sopris Learning