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Strong School Renewal Rates for DDI’s HELP Math

Carbondale, Colorado October 13, 2009 – Digital Directions International (DDI) announced today that renewal rates for its successful HELP Math for ELL and Special Needs program have reached 130%. This renewal rate includes expansion of HELP Math licenses to additional schools within subscribing school districts. Overall sales of HELP Math are also up over 400% in the past year. HELP Math has been found to be highly effective in teaching both ELLs and struggling students math in independent studies. The strong renewal rates reflect the corresponding success schools across the country are experiencing in their classrooms.

 
“The HELP Math Program is effective because it combines proven learning techniques with a highly interactive graphic presentation that keeps students motivated,” said John Ramo, Founder and CEO, Digital Directions International. “All of us at Digital Directions are very excited to see these significant results. We were expecting high renewal and new sales rates based on the positive response to HELP from students and educators, but these numbers are really quite amazing. I want to thank all the educators that were a part of HELP’s success.”
 
New sales and renewals were especially strong in Texas and Arkansas, reflecting previously established implementations that were expanded district-wide with multi-year licenses. DDI was also able to trace new sales in some districts to spending related to ARRA stimulus funding.
 
HELP Math for ELL and Special Needs, winner of the 2009 SIIA CODiE award for the Best Educational Program for Students with Special Needs,was initially designed for English language learners (ELLs), but has since been proven to effectively help and engage all students with special needs. HELP Math was developed using principles of Sheltered Instruction, research-based and validated techniques that have proven effective in developing proficiency with academic content. Delivered entirely via the web, HELP Mathwas shown to significantly increase students’ test scores in independent, randomized studies.

 “HELP Math enables my students to work at their own pace on the skill areas they need to master. They enjoy the multi-mode presentations of the concepts,” said Judy Ann Erman, a 7th grade math teacher from Springdale School District in Arkansas. “I have seen the effects of HELP carry over to my students’ regular math classes through increased self-confidence, improved attitude and behavior, and grades. There was a 77% increase of proficient and a 5% increase of advanced scores for my students on the state’s benchmark test. My ELL students have told me that they prefer to use the English version because it’s easy for them to understand the lessons through all the visuals and they can learn the language while listening.”
 
The Springdale District renewed their HELP Math license to include all their middle schools and has begun a pilot for possible implementation in their elementary schools.
 
Barbara Freeman, COO of DDI and the initial creator of HELP Math, added, “I am very excited that students are enjoying learning with HELP Math. That engagement is a critical aspect of HELP’s success.”
 
About the HELP Math Program
HELP (Help for English Language Proficiency) MATH for ELL and Special Needs is a web-based math intervention designed to address the needs of English Language and other struggling learners to reach proficiency. Developed according to Sheltered Instruction principles, HELP Mathis effective for students in grades 3-8 who need to develop the academic language and concepts in the math content area. HELP Mathis the only multimedia, internet delivered math program that embeds research-based principles found to be successful for ELL content area achievement. Visit http://helpprogram.net to learn more.
 
About DDI
Digital Directions International, Inc. is a socially-responsible, educational technology pioneer and publisher of digital educational content. DDI is focused on developing and co-distributing online supplemental and educational intervention software products in mathematics and science, especially for English Language Learners (ELL), Latino, and other students in need.
 
HELP Math for ELL and Special Needs is distributed in the U.S. by Academic Business Advisors. Please contact Alan Stern at ABA for more information alan.stern@academicbiz.com [1], 516-429-1877.
 
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