Are You Confused About the Use of Assisted Reading Software?

Loreena Parks & Ann Orr, Assistant Professors, Special Education Department, Eastern Michigan University

Where do you start when you want to learn more about using assisted reading software in the classroom? How do the “hot topics” of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Response to Intervention (RtI) relate to assisted reading software? Here’s a quick primer.

Definitions Briefly Revisited

Assisted Reading Software: This refers to the practice of using computer software to “support” struggling students when they read various types of text in the classroom. First, the text is either obtained electronically or scanned into the computer. Then, as the student begins reading, there are numerous supports available, including text-to-speech, prompting, highlighting, text notes, and study guide creation. Many assisted reading software applications include a word processing component, and offer word prediction and spell checking as well.

NCLB: This act mandates higher standards for both students and teachers and uses high stakes testing to insure accountability.

UDL: A framework for designing classrooms and instruction, this theory supports the use of technology to enhance all students’ access to the general education curriculum.

RtI: This “multi-tiered” approach to working with students with learning disabilities (LD) requires teachers to document their efforts and strategies and may eventually eliminate the “discrepancy” definition of LD.

Helping All Students Succeed
Teachers have always worked diligently to find strategies so that “ALL” students
learn and succeed. NCLB heightens this pressure by requiring all students to take part in high stakes testing and to be educated in the general education curriculum. Failure results in school stigma and loss of funding. An intervention worth exploring in depth is the use of assisted reading software. These programs can be free or quite expensive, and can be simple (with one support like text-to-speech) or very complex (with multiple support components). Some schools already have assisted reading software infrastructure in place; others are looking to acquire such a system. Teachers impatient to start using these tools can strike out on their own using free versions of assisted reading software applications available on the web.

Low Tech, Mid Tech, High Tech
Of course, when everything is working, the best technology is no technology. We want students to read well on their own. Some students require extra support to achieve this goal, and teachers routinely begin this intervention by using low-tech strategies, for instance: books on tape, colored acetate reading guides, vocabulary previews, visual aids, etc. For some students, these low tech supports are not enough, and higher tech strategies and tools must be considered.

Assisted Reading Software Provides Instant Support
One teacher we know compares assisted reading software to a student having one-on-one time with a parent or classroom aide. The software can read aloud to students, define unknown words, point out main ideas to study and prompt when writer’s block strikes. Assisted reading software increases students’ access to the general education curriculum, which is in keeping with NCLB, and a record of features used by a particular student can help document RtI. When assisted reading software is readily available to all students in various locations throughout the school, it is indicative of the best practices of UDL. Assisted reading software is especially helpful to middle and high school students as they struggle to keep up with subject-area reading, but it can alleviate stress and frustration for younger students, too.

What are Teachers Saying?
Teachers are noticing students’ increased self-esteem and motivation after using assisted reading software. Anecdotal reports indicate that struggling students become empowered when they know how to effectively and efficiently use the appropriate technology.

“I notice students’ motivation increases, attitudes towards task completion improve, and there’s an increase in comprehension especially for those students who have high oral receptive language but cannot read text at grade level.”

“Attention span and motivation increase, allowing the student to apply decoding and comprehension techniques.”

“…confidence (increases) and test anxiety is reduced, and thus students’ scores are more reflective of their true knowledge and ability.”


Research on Assisted Reading Software
Specific features such as text-to-speech and word prediction have been linked to
improvements in students’ reading and writing skills.
• Better reading fluency (Dawson, Venn & Gunther, 2000)
• Improved comprehension (Elbro, Rasmussen & Spelling, 1996; Elkind, 1998; Higgins & Raskind, 1997 and 2005; Montali & Lewandowski, 1996)
• Faster reading speed (Elkind, Black & Murray, 1996)
• Increased vocabulary (Herbert & Murdock, 1994)
• Enhanced writing skills (Borgh & Dickson, 1992; Williams, 2002)
• Improved spelling and legibility (MacArthur, 1998 and 1999)

More research is needed in order to help clarify the many questions teachers, parents, and students are asking about assisted reading software.
• What are the effects on student overall achievement?
• What are teachers’ perceptions and attitudes?
• What are students’ perceptions and attitudes?
• What are parents’ perceptions and attitudes?
• Is some assisted reading software too complex?
• How much training is needed?
• At what age should it be introduced?
• How often should it be used?
• How should it be used?
• Which individuals benefit the most?

Software Programs to Check Out

• AspireREADER www.cast.org/udl/index.cfm?i=211
• Kurzweil 3000 www.kurzweil.com
• NaturalReader* www.naturalreaders.com
• ReadPlease* www.readplease.com
• TextAloud MP3 www.nextuptech.com/TextAloud
• TextHelp’s Read & Write Gold www.texthelp.com
• WYNN www.freedomscientific.com/LSG/products/wynn.asp
• Universal Reader www.readingmadeez.com

*free version available