News

Acadience authors at forefront of research, development of assessments for 25+ years

DALLAS, Sept. 24, 2019—Voyager Sopris Learning and Acadience Learning today announced an expanded partnership to deliver Acadience’s powerful and effective PreK to high school assessment tools throughout the United States. Voyager Sopris Learning will continue to serve as the exclusive print distributor in the United States for Acadience Reading and Acadience Math assessments.

“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Acadience Learning and enhance our relationship with founders and authors Dr. Roland Good and Dr. Ruth Kaminski,” said Patrick Marcotte, president, Voyager Sopris Learning. “The two companies have a shared commitment to supporting educators and students, and this expanded partnership will ensure greater access to evidence-based assessment and instructional offerings.”

As the original authors of the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) assessments, which have long been available through Voyager Sopris Learning, Drs. Good and Kaminski have been at the forefront of research and development of assessments for more than 25 years. The authors recently changed the name of their company from Dynamic Measurement Group to Acadience Learning to bring all assessments under one comprehensive suite of educational tools.

Dr. Good (president and director of research analysis) and Dr. Kaminski (CEO/COO and director of research and development) said they will continue to support the assessments they have authored under the new Acadience Learning name and that there will be no change in assessments—benchmark goals will remain as is, and scores will be interpreted in the same way.

“We have had a longstanding partnership with Voyager Sopris Learning and a shared vision of improving outcomes for students and schools,” Dr. Good and Dr. Kaminski said.  “We are proud to have this partnership continue with Acadience Learning’s expanded family of assessment tools and are excited to move together into the future.”

Among the Acadience Learning solutions Voyager Sopris Learning is currently selling:

• Acadience Reading K–6: Also published as DIBELS Next, this solution provides brief, formative indicators of the essential skills necessary for proficient reading for students from kindergarten through sixth grade. It is designed to identify children experiencing difficulty in the acquisition of basic early literacy skills in order to provide support to students early and prevent the occurrence of later reading difficulties.
• Acadience Reading Survey: Also published as DIBELS Next Survey, this tool is useful for determining the appropriate instructional and progress monitoring levels and for helping set goals for struggling students.
• Acadience Reading Diagnostic: Phonemic Awareness & Word Reading and Decoding (PA & WRD): Also published as DIBELS Deep: PA & WRD, this diagnostic assessment of phonemic awareness, word reading and decoding skills is linked to screening information from Acadience Reading.

Among the Acadience Learning solutions Voyager Sopris Learning will begin selling in spring 2020:

• Acadience Reading Pre-K: PELI®: The Preschool Early Literacy Indicators (PELI) is an assessment for 3- to 5-year-olds that measures alphabet knowledge, vocabulary and oral language, phonological awareness and listening comprehension.
• Acadience Reading Diagnostic: Comprehension, Fluency & Oral Language (CFOL): Previously available as DIBELS Deep: CFOL, this diagnostic assessment of comprehension, fluency and oral language is linked to screening information from Acadience Reading.
• Acadience Math: Previously available under the name of DIBELS Math, this measures early numeracy, computation and problem solving for grades K–6 provides indicators of the essential skills every child must master in order to become proficient in mathematics.
• Acadience Reading 7–9: Previously known as Content Area Reading Indicators (CARI), this assessment is a set of measures and procedures for assessing the literacy skills of students in grades 7–9.

Drs. Good and Kaminski are not associated with any new measures under the DIBELS name, such as DIBELS 8^th Edition. The product known as DIBELS 6^th Ed. is no longer available from Acadience or Voyager Sopris Learning.

For more information about Voyager Sopris Learning, visit www.voyagersopris.com. For more information about Acadience Learning, visit www.acadiencelearning.org.

About Acadience Learning Inc.

Acadience Learning Inc. is an educational research organization dedicated to supporting success for children and schools by producing and making available practical and easy-to-use assessment materials and instructional tools that are based on the best and most up-to-date research. It was founded by Roland H. Good, III, and Ruth Kaminski, authors of Acadience^™ Reading (also published under the name DIBELS Next^®) and all earlier versions of DIBELS^®. Acadience Learning’s mission is to improve outcomes for children and support school success by developing practical, innovative, and powerful assessment and curricular materials. To help effectively implement these tools, Acadience Learning offers high-quality training and professional development.

For more information, visit www.acadiencelearning.org.

About Voyager Sopris Learning

Voyager Sopris Learning^® is an education partner committed to unlocking the full potential of every teacher and every student. We believe that the best way to meet and exceed standards in education is to address the underlying systems of teaching and learning, and to nurture those systems at their most fundamental levels. Our programs and services are based on research and classroom evidence, ensuring they are easy to implement, teacher friendly and effective. We offer a variety of digital and blended instructional tools, programs, and professional development, all of which are designed to help every teacher deliver nothing short of the highest-quality instruction to every student. Voyager Sopris Learning is a business unit of Cambium Learning^® Group, Inc.

For more information, visit www.voyagersopris.com, or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

About Cambium Learning Group, Inc.

Cambium Learning^® Group is an award-winning educational technology solutions leader dedicated to helping all students reach their potential through individualized and differentiated instruction. Using a research-based, personalized approach, Cambium Learning Group delivers SaaS resources and instructional products that engage students and support teachers in fun, positive, safe and scalable environments. These solutions are provided through Learning A-Z^® (online differentiated instruction for elementary school reading, writing and science), ExploreLearning^® (online interactive math and science simulations, a math fact fluency solution, and a K–2 science solution), Voyager Sopris Learning^® (blended solutions that accelerate struggling learners to achieve in literacy and math and professional development for teachers), and VKidz Learning (online comprehensive homeschool education and programs for literacy and science). We believe that every student has unlimited potential, that teachers matter, and that data, instruction, and practice are the keys to success in the classroom and beyond.

Come learn with us at www.cambiumlearning.com.

Media Contacts

Ileana Rowe, Senior Vice President of Marketing
Voyager Sopris Learning, Inc.
Cell: 503.810.5183
ileana.rowe@voyagersopris.com

Doug Thompson
Thompson Drake Public Relations
Office: 541.322.9345
Cell: 541.419.4471
doug@thompsondrake.com