Ed-tech presentations to Kansas committee: Amira reading tutor and Story of America history supplement

Representatives from Amira Learning and its companion curriculum project Story of America presented to the Kansas Senate Committee on Education on the company’s AI-based reading tutor and a multimedia U.S. history supplement.

Joe Sodlecki, chief impact officer at Amira Learning, described the product as an AI-powered reading assistant that listens to students read aloud, provides in-the-moment tutoring, and supplies teachers with instructional reports. “Amira marries the science of reading with AI to do three things,” Sodlecki said: assess student learning, provide personalized tutoring during reading, and give teachers actionable reports.

Sodlecki said independent studies show measurable gains for students who use the tool. He cited a Columbia University study in Savannah, Georgia, finding an effect size of 0.45, which the presenter described as roughly six months of additional learning, and a similar independent evaluation in Utah that replicated those gains. Sodlecki also described statewide or large-scale adoptions in states including North Dakota, Utah, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Rhode Island.

Chris Blevins, senior vice president for strategic partnerships, described Story of America as a supplemental U.S. history program that integrates videos and literacy strands. Blevins said the program partners with authors and states, and offers modules intended to align with state standards while engaging students through multimedia content.

Details presented and study claims

- How Amira works: Students choose short passages, read aloud to the system, and receive instant feedback when they struggle; the product then adapts subsequent reading selections to an appropriate challenge level and delivers teacher-facing reports with phoneme- and skill-level diagnostics.

- Evidence cited: Presenters referenced multiple independent and state evaluations (Columbia University/Savannah; Utah; North Dakota) that they said found positive, statistically significant reading gains for regular users. Sodlecki said North Dakota’s analysis found students who averaged about 18–19 minutes per week with Amira saw larger gains than peers, and that similar positive results were reported in other evaluations.

- Program use and scale: Presenters said Amira is used by millions of students globally and cited state partnerships and subsidized statewide implementations. In Kansas they identified Haysville as the largest local district using Amira, with smaller pilots in Piper and Colby and some Catholic schools.

Questions from senators focused on alignment with state literacy efforts and the science of reading. Sodlecki said Amira was developed with reading scientists, cited partnerships with Carnegie Mellon University during development and named KU reading researcher Mabel Rice as a contributor to vocabulary work. He also said Amira won an industry award for science-of-reading alignment.

Ending

The committee moved the presentation along because of floor scheduling; presenters said they would share studies and additional evaluation materials with members who asked for them.