BrainX Announces Results of a Pilot Program to Improve Exam Scores on the CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam) : Orange Unified School District

CAMARILLO, Calif. (Business Wire EON) June 30, 2008 -- Pilot students were selected because their scores on a pre-test indicated that they would most likely fail the California High School Exit Exam without additional help. The pilot group used the BrainX system an average of 3 hours a week for 7 weeks. These students took the CAHSEE in March 2008, along with all other 10th and 12th grade students in the district. The resulting pass rate for these students significantly improved. The percentage of English Language Learner students in the test group who passed the English Language Arts section of the exam was 76% compared to the district average of 49% for English Language Learners. The pass rate for these students in the Math section of the exam was 89% compared to the district average of 50% for English Language Learners noted Mary Ellen Oves, Secondary Curriculum Coordinator for the Orange Unified School District.

As Bruce Lewolt, CEO of BrainX, Inc. explains, "This new proven learning approach personalizes the online instruction to the needs of each student. It leverages knowledge on how the brain forms long term memories to ensure that students don't forget what they have learned." The days of learn it and then forget it could be over, adds Lewolt. This means that the knowledge students learn in September they can still remember and more importantly, properly use, months later when they take the CAHSEE. An overview of the BrainX CAHSEE Prep System is available online at the company website.

Chris Reider, Executive Director of Secondary Education for the Orange Unified School District observed, "Our prior experience with other learning software products had been that they typically produce smaller improvements than desired, and don't work well with English Learners. This pilot demonstrated that the combination of the BrainX software, and the dedication of our teachers, can make a dramatic difference even with the most at risk students."

With the primary purpose of the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) being to improve student achievement standards in public high schools, all California public school students must satisfy the CAHSEE requirement in order to receive a high school diploma. There is a direct correlation between a student failing the CAHSEE exam and the likelihood of their dropping out of school.

Standards Based Assessments that Increase CAHSEE First Time Pass Rates

In 2007, BrainX in conjunction with the Orange County Department of Education designed coursework that directly aligned with the CAHSEE Math and English Language Arts requirements. Research from the fields of education and neurobiology was applied to the curriculum so it could be easily learned and retained by any student, including those that are English language learner students.

According to Lewolt, the learning system platform that this exam preparation uses can be configured for any exam preparation process for either education institutions or for corporations that need comprehensive employee training.

Release Summary:

Educators at the Orange Unified School District investigated ways in which they might raise student achievement levels on the Math and Language Arts CAHSEE exam for English Learner students. Results from their pilot of the BrainX learning solution indicate that this approach significantly improved the passing rates.

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