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Foundations in Learning, Inc. was founded in 2009 by Carolyn Brown and Jerry Zimmermann in Iowa City, Iowa. Foundations in Learning develops, tests, and markets supplementary curriculum tools to ensure that all students read at or above grade level. These technology-delivered, research-based programs are supported by learning models that have been demonstrated to be effective in other areas of learning that are particularly relevant to the development, application and generalization of reading skills.

Products
Foundations in Learning’s first product is called Access Code. Access Code is a web-based reading intervention designed for students in grades 2 and above who persistently struggle with reading comprehension and fluency due to poor word recognition and phonics skills. Access Code’s curriculum is driven by a learning model called the Varied Practice Model (VPM). The VPM is a model for learning that leads to better retention, application, and generalization of skills. It involves varying practice activities that highlight relevant contrasts (similarities and differences) between similar skills rather than learning by rote presentations and repetition. The goal is to develop an understanding of a system rather than just learning a response. The VPM is an approach that has proven successful in a variety of learning domains, including motor, linguistic, and mathematics skills. Access Code represents the first time it has been utilized in a reading curriculum.

Founders
Jerry Zimmermann, Ph.D., J.D. received a B.A. in psychology from Brown University (1968), an M.S. in Speech Pathology and Audiology (1971) from Southern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in Speech Science (1973) from the University of Iowa. His research at the University’s Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Clinic earned him the distinction of being a leading authority on stuttering. Dr. Zimmermann received two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Iowa (1973, 1974-76), both of which were supported by the National Institutes of Health. In addition, he earned his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law (1987) and worked for several years as an attorney at law in private practice (1987-1993). Carolyn Brown, Ph.D. received her B.S. (1976) and M.S. (1977) degrees in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Eastern New Mexico University. She then studied at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, where she earned her Ph.D. (1981) in the same field. Dr. Brown’s areas of specialization are Child Development, Language Acquisition, and Reading. As a research scientist at the University of Iowa’s Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Clinic, Dr. Brown developed tools and evaluated strategies that optimize language and literacy development for individuals. Her early work was focused on individual case studies, which incorporated instructional practices and technology. While developing instructional processes and technological applications that would facilitate this process for individual children, Dr. Brown’s work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Education (DOE), and the State of Iowa.

As colleagues at the University of Iowa, Drs. Brown and Zimmermann began research in how young children make the transition from oral language to print. Through several years of intensive investigation with children and teachers, they developed an approach to teaching reading that provided instructional balance at the level of the individual child. They combined unique, diagnostic and instructional, interactive software with comprehensive professional development, long-term follow-up coaching for teachers, and engaging instructional materials. The result was called Foundations in Reading, a classroom-based program that is now known as Breakthrough to Literacy®. In 1997, Breakthrough, Inc. became a part of The Wright Group, one of the nation’s largest publishers of children’s literature. Today, Breakthrough to Literacy is part of McGraw-Hill School Education. Both Brown and Zimmermann serve as adjunct professors in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa.