Digital Directions International a Top Twenty Investment Ready Showcase Company

Jan. 26, 2011 - PRLog -- Digital Directions International (DDI) was selected as one of the twenty Investment Ready Showcase Companies at the Aspen Institute’s Education Innovation Forum last week. DDI was honored after a rigorous selection process where companies were vetted by a panel of investment and education experts. The Education Innovation Forum was held in Washington D.C. on January 20th and 21st and included over 500 of our nation's leading education innovators and philanthropic, for-profit and institutional investors, with some of the country's most creative public and private sector leaders. Education Secretary Arnie Duncan, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling were in attendance for the panel discussion on education innovation moderated by Walter Issacson.

“We are deeply honored to be one of only twenty companies to be selected as an ‘Investment Ready Showcase Company’ by the influential Aspen Institute,” said John Ramo, CEO of Digital Directions International Inc. “DDI and our HELP Math for ELL and Special Needs solution have received several accolades in the past few years; however to be selected by the Aspen Institute at their highly regarded Education Innovation Forum is for me personally the most significant tribute our company has received to date.”

DDI is the creator of HELP Math for ELL and Special Needs, a web-based math intervention for ELL and other struggling learners. HELP Math is ideal for inclusive classrooms because it is able to differentiate instruction and create individualized learning pathways based on the specific background knowledge and academic vocabulary that students need to reach grade-level proficiency in math. The intervention enables teachers to effortlessly target and fill the specific learning gaps of their students. Gold standard research has proven the effectiveness of HELP Math in improving the math achievement of ELL and other students with math difficulties. A video showing HELP Math being used in a classroom can be viewed through this link: HELP Math Video.

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 both English Language and other struggling learners to reach proficiency. Developed according to Sheltered Instruction principles, HELP Math is proven effective for students in grades 3-8 who need to develop the academic language and concepts in the math content area. HELP Math is the only multimedia, internet-delivered math program that embeds research-based principles found to be successful for ELL and special needs 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 focused on developing and co-distributing online supplemental and educational intervention software products in mathematics. DDI is a thought-leader in developing solutions that address the unique requirements ELL and special needs students have in learning math and has been awarded several Federal Grants to continue their cutting edge research.

About the Education Innovation Forum
The Aspen Institute’s National Innovation and Investor’s Forum, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education, convened leading innovators and some of our nation’s most resourceful public and private sector leaders to address the most intractable challenges facing American education. By connecting creative educational thinkers with those with the potential to support or implement solutions, the event capitalized on the momentum created by the tremendous response to the Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) to ignite a broader national conversation on creating and sustaining an innovation culture in public education. The national forum was held January 20-21, 2011 in Washington, DC as educational performance and its effect on our economy and global competitiveness has become a critical bipartisan national issue.

About The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute’s mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners.

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, 516-429-1877.

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Digital Directions International, Inc. is a socially-responsible, educational technology publisher of digital educational content focused on developing and co-distributing online supplemental and educational intervention software products in mathematics.