[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 29, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GEMSTONE FOUNDATION

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                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 2010

  Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Gemstone 
Foundation, a not-for-profit organization in my home state of 
California working to improve reading skills of low-performing 
students.
  The Gemstone Foundation's work is based on the theory that many 
students with poor or below grade level reading skills suffer from low 
``eye-brain coordination''. Their research shows that children who read 
below grade level often have problems with coordinating the two eyes, 
tracking and scanning, or re-focusing their eyes rapidly. Most 
students' eyes glide across a page as they read without difficulty; 
however, up to 50 percent of poor readers experience one of the 
problems Gemstone identified. This may prevent those readers from being 
able to finish reading a line without stopping or skipping, 
significantly impairing their reading and comprehension.
  Through an innovative, computer- and Internet-based course, Gemstone 
helps people who demonstrate ocular discrepancies to train their eye 
muscles, improving their reading abilities. In 2009, the foundation 
used ARRA grant funding from the National Institutes of Health to 
complete a pilot project of their technique at a Los Angeles Unified 
School District campus. Low performing elementary school students who 
participated in the project, called ``The Eyes Have It!'', demonstrated 
an average 25 percent improvement in reading fluency in just two 
months.
  I applaud the Gemstone Foundation for their special focus on helping 
people who otherwise would not have access to visual skill development 
programs: children in low-income or low-performing schools; juvenile 
offenders; and people in adult literacy programs. I commend the 
foundation and its board members for their work and encourage my 
colleagues to learn more about it.

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