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Cambium Learning Technologies

Gold Stevie Award Winner 2012, Click to Enter The 2013 American Business Awards


Company: Cambium Learning Technologies, Natick, MA
Company Description: Cambium Learning is an education company that provides research-based, culturally responsive and proven instructional materials, services and technology to help educators raise the achievement level of those pre K through grade 12 students underserved by existing instructional materials.
Nomination Category: Products & Product Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: New Product or Service of the Year - Software - Other

Nomination Title: Classroom Suite by IntelliTools

Tell the story about this nominated product or service (up to 500 words). Describe its function, features, benefits, and performance to date.

IntelliTools is a pioneer in assistive technology and alternative keyboard devices for students with learning disabilities. For over 25 years, educators have successfully used IntelliTools products to help struggling students learn to their fullest potential. We serve students in pre-kindergarten through grade 5 who struggle with a learning disability including dyslexia, autism, ADHD, and ADD; use assistive technology; have Individual Education Plans; have limited English proficiency; or need additional instructional support. IntelliTools is dedicated to creating products that increase student achievement, especially for those who face challenges ranging from learning to significant physical and cognitive disabilities. Scientific research drives the product development at IntelliTools, which has earned 15 Technology & Learning Awards of Excellence, the BESSIE award, the EdNet Hero Award, and numerous other awards.

Classroom Suite is a unique software intervention tool to help students achieve mastery in reading, writing, and mathematics. Classroom Suite provides students with explicit instruction, constructive practice, and embedded assessments to allow teachers to gauge progress and individualize instruction for their students.

Not all students are alike. Each brain processes information differently. Differentiated instruction is an approach to teaching and learning that provides students a variety of methods for taking in information and making sense of what was learned. Differentiated instruction means adjusting the curriculum and presentation of lessons to the student’s learning style rather than expecting students to modify their learning style to fit the lesson. Hall, T. (2002); Tomlinson, C. A. (2000, 2001).

Classroom Suite consists of more than 50 curriculum templates that can be used as is or modified to create lessons based on a school’s curriculum and tailored to each child’s ability and needs in support of differentiated instruction. The program’s primary focus is to support and reinforce beginning literacy, writing, and number sense.

Classroom Suite supports multiple means of representation (students experience concepts through text, graphic, and sound instruction); multiple means of expression (students have a variety of methods to demonstrate concept mastery); and multiple means of engagement (computers provide information in an engaging format while information is presented at the student’s learning pace, keeping interest level high).

Classroom Suite is a flexible learning tool that allows teachers to assess students and assign activities at the student’s level of readiness. Activities provide immediate, scaffolded (auditory and graphic) feedback to students as they learn. Clearly defined activity sequences provide teachers support in determining what objective or skill a student should master next. Data gathering tools allow teachers to follow the child’s performance and adapt the student’s curriculum.

For students with limited vision, limited fine motor skills, limited motion and mobility, and general learning disabilities, Classroom Suite has been designed to be compatible with accessible access devices such as alternative keyboards and switches. Because Classroom Suite is built around Universal Design for Learning principles, all students can access the same curriculum as their peers.

The first version of Classroom Suite was shipped in 2003 and upgraded to Version 4 in 2011.

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Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that developed this nominated product or service:

In 1979, IntelliTools was founded when it released an adaptive keyboard for people with physical disabilities. Through this effort and the company’s focus on developing products for learners with special needs, IntelliTools received a $1.3 million federal grant from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the National Science Foundation to develop Classroom Suite. The resulting product is both innovative and unique and reflects the original intent and vision of this company which continues today as IntelliTools as part of the Cambium Learning Group, the largest special education publisher in the United States.