AUSTIN, Texas, March 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SXSW EDU
-- Learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) and Amira
Learning -- creator of the first intelligent reading
assistant that listens to, assesses and tutors learners -- today
announced an exclusive partnership serving U.S. schools designed to
empower educators and accelerate reading mastery for K-3 learners.
HMH will offer Amira's state of the art speech recognition and
advanced artificial intelligence software with a focus on
streamlining oral fluency assessment for educators and tutoring for
learners.
![Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Logo (PRNewsFoto/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Logo (PRNewsFoto/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/287902/houghton_mifflin_harcourt_logo.jpg)
Assessing oral fluency is a critical component of literacy
instruction, but the demands of tedious reporting and evaluating
large classrooms of students with diverse needs in limited
timeframes make it a challenging and time-consuming task. With
exacting accuracy, Amira enables one-on-one oral fluency assessment
for multiple students at one time. This in turn makes it possible
for educators to dedicate their one-on-one time with
students to coaching and building skills, rather than only
assessing them.
"At HMH, we're focused on leveraging the most advanced
technology available to empower teachers to focus on critical
student needs. And there is no need more foundational than
literacy," said Matthew Mugo Fields,
General Manager, Supplemental and Intervention Solutions, HMH.
"Technology can never replace the educator, but Amira gives
teachers precious time back for reading instruction by providing
deep insight into students' literacy development and individual
needs."
Rooted in longstanding research licensed from Carnegie Mellon University, Amira employs AI to
recognize children's speech, conduct curriculum-based measurement,
recommend resources and create an environment for productive
practice that supports literacy growth. Rather than reading
silently on their own, developmental readers can read aloud with
Amira and experience real-time tutoring.
The software has been tested in different contexts and with
different student populations, including classrooms in Chicago; Pittsburgh; Vancouver, Canada; Accra, Ghana; Bangalore, India, among others. There are more
than 100 published research papers on Amira. In rigorous field
trials conducted by leading researchers, students using Amira
performed dramatically better than control groups of students doing
silent sustained reading, and they performed on-par with certified
human tutors on most skills. Effect sizes for Bilingual and English
Language Learner students were even higher than for English-first
students.
"Our partnership with HMH means that Amira will be offered and
supported by America's leading learning company," said Mark Angel, CEO of Amira. "We are proud to be
able to work with HMH to bring the next generation of early
literacy software into classrooms."
In addition to assisting with oral fluency assessment, Amira
provides educators with a voice-activated virtual assistant that
answers questions about student status and progress, provides
actionable insight and handles administrative tasks like sending
reports to parents. Teachers can obtain real-time progress reports
on individual students or the whole class, or call up necessary
materials quickly and easily. At its core, Amira delivers on the
promise of leveraging technology to manage the rote and
administrative parts of a teacher's job, freeing them up to focus
on the critical social-emotional needs of their students.
Amira has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious SXSW
Launch competition and will present in front of a live audience and
industry judges on Tuesday, March 5
during the SXSW EDU conference in Austin,
Texas. Presented by the Walton Family Foundation, Launch
features the start-ups deemed the year's most innovative new
companies.
Schools and districts that are interested in learning more about
Amira can contact HMH at:
https://www.hmhco.com/forms/contact-amira
About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(NASDAQ: HMHC) is a global learning company committed to
delivering integrated solutions that engage learners, empower
educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of
K-12 core curriculum, supplemental solutions and professional
learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts
to uncover solutions that unlock students' potential and extend
teachers' capabilities. HMH serves more than 50 million students
and 3 million educators in 150 countries, while its award-winning
children's books, novels, non-fiction and reference titles are
enjoyed by readers throughout the world. For more information,
visit www.hmhco.com
Follow HMH on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
About Amira Learning
Amira Learning is re-inventing learning to read with AI. Amira
is the first interactive avatar able to assess, read along with and
coach developmental readers. Amira utilizes technology developed by
Carnegie Mellon University and is led
by the former senior technical executives at Renaissance Learning,
the leader in Reading Assessment and Practice software in K-12
classrooms. For a personalized demo of Amira, email
info@amiralearning.com.
For more information about Amira Learning, please visit
www.AmiraLearning.com.
Contact
Leah
Riviere
Senior Communications Manager
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
617-351-5020
leah.riviere@hmhco.com
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