Edfu

Read better

© Edfu Inc. 2012. All rights reserved.

What is Edfu?

The number one contributor to a young
person's success is whether he or she Alma Powell
graduates from high school. And early reading America's Promise Alliance
skills are essential to achieving that goal. founded by Colin Powell

Edfu makes learning and measuring reading skills
effective, easy and fun by using innovative technology


In the following slides we walk you through the “reading” problem & opportunity.

1. What are the implications of poor reading skills?

2. Why are reading skills poor?
§  Complex reading map and inconsistent instruction & assessment
methods lead to reading inadequacies

3. How does Edfu solve it? What is the methodology?

4. Example of customer problem and solution

5. Why you should invest?
§  Market opportunity, strong team, competitive offering, clear roadmap
and traction, benefits Windows ecosystem


Implications

Poor reading skills have serious implications

§  American 15-year-olds ranked 15th in average reading scores for 31
industrialized nations, behind Poland, Korea, France, Canada and others.

§  If the US boosts its average PISA (reading, science, math) scores by 25 points
over the next 20 years, there would be a gain of $41 trillion in the economy
over the lifetime of the those born in 2010

§  90 percent of low-income African-American students in high-poverty schools
are not reading at grade level by fourth grade

§  Nearly 2/3 of employers ranked reading comprehension "very important" for
high school graduates. 38% consider most graduates deficient in this basic
skill.

Sources:
1)  Poor Reading Skills Trap Children in Poverty, Study Shows
2)  Success starts with reading
3)  What the US can learn from other successful education reform efforts
4)  The dangers of functional illiteracy
5)  Civic, social and economic implications of poor reading © Edfu Inc. 2012. All rights reserved.

1. What are the implications of poor reading skills?

2. Why are reading skills poor?
§  Complex reading map and inconsistent instruction & assessment
methods lead to reading inadequacies

3. How does Edfu solve it? What is the methodology?

4. Example of customer problem and solution

5. Why you should invest?
§  Market opportunity, strong team, competitive offering, clear roadmap
and traction, benefits Windows ecosystem


Reading Map
Reading is a complex and extended activity that starts
early and spans across schooling years
Ability to recognize different parts of
Structural
stories; identify & understand poems,
Analysis drama, prose or informational text

Comprehension Comprehension skills are the ability to use context and prior knowledge to
aid reading and to make sense of what one reads and hears.

Vocabulary Ability to know or learn words for the purpose or listening, speaking, reading or writing.
Also, the ability to learn "sight vocabulary”, words that you know immediately.

Fluency Ability to read or write a text accurately,
quickly, and with proper expression.

Understanding that there is an organized, logical and predictable
Phonics
relationship between written letters and spoken sounds.

Phonemic Ability to identify, hear, and manipulate
awareness individual sounds in spoken words.

Understanding print is organized in a
Print awareness particular way e.g. knowing that print
is read from left to right.
0-2 3 to 4 Pre K KG 1st 2nd 3rd 4 to 6 7 to 12
K-12 Reading Model
Common Core Standards Detailed reading map available in the appendix section

Instruction & Assessment
Each reading skill also has specific instruction methods and
assessment tools based on standards
Comprehension Phonics
Vocabulary
Standards for learning objectives Phonemic
E.g. Common Core Standards, state standards Awareness

Print Awareness Structural Fluency
Analysis

Instruction Assessment
Methods Methods
Standards help teachers Repeated for new skills or Students must be assessed if
build the lessons and student intervention they meet these standards
environments for their of what every student "must
classrooms. know and be able to do”.

Detailed reading instructions/assessment methods available in appendix section © Edfu Inc. 2012. All rights reserved.

Reading Inadequacies
However, current instruction and assessment methods are
inadequate to traverse through the complex reading map

Lack of Inefficient
Poor sophisticated No time to reading
engagement help all kids
reading tools assessment

Poor At risk kids Inconsistent Complicated
supplementary need instruction & tools for
reading habits intervention testing styles intervention

Students Teachers

Poor visibility
Want best use
of reading
of kid’s gadget
scores
time

Dissatisfied by
No skills to help reading done
children read at school

Parents
Sources:
1.  Based on interviews with Edfu advisor (Becky Duchon)
2.  Interviews with parents whose kids are from ages 3-10

Edfu
Edfu makes learning and measuring reading skills
effective, easy and fun by using innovative technology

Create Move basic Simplify
interactive, self- Better assessment reading
tools instruction to
paced tools tablets assessment

Make it fun to Flag problem Simplified
inculcate areas, identify Adaptive system to tools for
reading habit at-risk kids cater to student intervention

Students ✔ Teachers ✔
Real-time
Make gadget
access to
time more
reading scores
productive

Facilitate
Create reading supplementary
plan reading

Parents ✔


Edfu Methodology
Edfu guides students, teachers & parents in a methodical
manner
Teacher + Admin

Real-time data
Student
to track teacher
Student + Teacher
performance
Learn specific Assess scores as
reading skills as per expected Teacher + Parent
per curriculum outcomes
Share student
Teacher progress with
parents
Use data to identify weak
areas and provide
learning recommendations

Core Principles
Research Based Standards Aligned Interactive & Fun Levels based Adaptive


Customer Problem
Example of customer problem: Teacher has an inefficient
and lengthy assessment process
Context
Fluency is an important reading skill that students are expected to learn by grade 4. Oral
Fluency Assessment is a timed 1-1 test conducted with pen and paper. This test is used
commonly across all the US schools, particularly for RTI (a US intervention standard).

A teacher conducting Oral Fluency Assessment faces several challenges

Error prone §  She has to multi task during the test: listen to student response,
keep time, mark errors. This is error prone and inefficient.
Lacks history
§  Being paper based, there is no instant access to historic scores.
No dashboard §  There is no dashboard view to see the scores across various tests.
No relative
§  Cannot see relative standing of student within the class or district
scores level.
Manual entry
§  Paper scores are not automatically recorded, requires manual entry.
§  Due to logistical overhead, teachers don’t assess or do it
Infrequent infrequently.
Time §  Overall, the assessment eats up a lot of useful time which could
consuming otherwise be used for teaching students.


Customer Solution
Example of solution: With a tablet, the teacher can focus
on the student and leave the rest to the app
Teacher manages Teacher takes notes Teacher views Teacher views
all students easily as student speaks student dashboard fluency scores

Saves time without Tests can be
pen & paper Results in more conducted more
accurate scoring frequently Easy access to
Shows relative historical scores
standing Easier recording Dashboard makes it easy
and sharing
g this
to track and intervene
Launchin th
0
on Sep 3

Let’s make the world easier to read!
readbetter@edfu.co
Twitter: @edfuinc


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