Dallas, Texas -- May 28, 2000   New Intelligence Inc., a Texas-based developer of educational software, today announced a new software product titled Outstanding Hispanic-Americans: A Text Reconstruction Program for Improving Reading, Writing, and Reasoning Skills.

The new instructional software includes the TRAC Structures for Learning system from New Intelligence Inc., developed for Windows-compatible computers running Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or Windows 98. Emphasizing simple point-and-click operations by students using the program, the TRAC SL system software also includes powerful, easy-to-use central student management, performance analysis, and reporting functions.

The Outstanding Hispanic-Americans instructional software capitalizes on the power of the computer and the TRAC SL system to make the student an active learner, with continuous feedback on the accuracy of the student's comprehension, and active immersion in standard written English. In contrast to traditional textbooks, student interaction is central to Outstanding Hispanic-Americans. Students must actively and continuously respond in a unique approach the company calls Managed Engagement that engages the student in the content, and manages each student's progression through the material. This helps students focus their attention on the material. In addition to improving reading, writing, and reasoning skills, the approach also contributes to mastery of the content of Outstanding Hispanic-Americans.

Dr. Arthur Whimbey, one of the authors, explains that when a student is given a reading assignment, the student's attention often wanders, or the student can skim the content without reading carefully, because no active response is required. The student's failure to carefully read the material may not be identified until a test is given days or weeks later. With the Outstanding Hispanic-Americans instructional software, and its Managed Engagement approach, the student cannot progress unless the student reads and understands the material presented.

Stand-alone versions are currently available, with licenses for single computer, school computer labs, and school building licenses.  A local area network version is also available, according to the company.

The initial program release presents concise biographies of ten outstanding Hispanic-Americans. Students learn about the accomplishments and contributions of these notable individuals, as well as the obstacles they faced, and it presents these biographies in a form that has proven extremely powerful for strengthening writing, reading, and reasoning skills. The approach used is called text reconstruction. Included are biographies of astronaut Ellen Ochoa, Cesar Chavez,  noted educator Jaime Escalante,  former US Surgeon General Antonia Novello, former US Secretary of Energy Federico Pena, Sandra Cisneros, Gloria Estefan, Jimmy Smits, Roberto Alomar, and Cristina Saraleugi. 

A comprehensive data recording and reporting system is included.  The program keeps a record of each student's progress, and includes multiple class management capabilities. A set of point-and-click analysis queries allow a teacher to interrogate the database for a single student, or for students in a particular class, or for multiple students' data for a single lesson. Teachers can use this information to assess a student's progress, and in individual conferences with students.