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Overview1
Earobics® is interactive software that provides students in pre-K through third grade with individual, systematic instruction in early literacy skills as students interact with animated characters. Earobics® Foundations is a version for pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and first graders. Earobics® Connections is for second and third graders and older struggling readers. The program builds children's skills in phonemic awareness, auditory processing, and phonics, as well as the cognitive and language skills required for comprehension. Each level of instruction addresses recognizing and blending sounds, rhyming, and discriminating phonemes within words, adjusting to each student's ability level. The software is supported by music, audiocassettes, and videotapes and includes picture/word cards, letter-sound decks, big books, little books, and leveled readers for reading independently or in groups.
Research
One study of Earobics® met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards, and one met evidence standards with reservations. The studies included 104 students from grades K–3 in Los Angeles and Chicago. Sixty-one students were English language learners. 2 The WWC considers the extent of evidence for Earobics® to be small for alphabetics and fluency. No studies that met WWC evidence standards with or without reservations addressed comprehension or general reading achievement.
Effectiveness
The Earobics® program was found to have positive effects on alphabetics and no discernible effects on fluency.
| Alphabetics | Fluency | Comprehension | General reading achievement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating of effectiveness | Positive effects | No discernible effects | na | na |
| Improvement index3 | Average: +19 percentile points Range: 0 to +37 percentile points |
Average: +4 percentile points Range: +3 to +6 percentile points |
na | na |
| na = not applicable | ||||
2 The evidence presented in this report is based on available research. Findings and conclusions may change as new research becomes available.
3 These numbers show the average and range of improvement indices for all findings across the study.
