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3:15 p.m., July 30, 2003--Charles A. MacArthur, a UD professor of education, has been named to Kurzweil Educational System’s Educational Advisory Board (EAB).

Charles A. MacArthur

The board was formed to advise Kurzweil, developers of the world’s first reading system for the learning disabled, on the latest in literacy research, educational practice and policy and emerging issues so that the company can forecast future technologies.

The company developed the Kurzweil 3000, a computer-based system that produces clear, human-like synthesized voices and easy-to-use features for accessing, reading, managing and creating text and images.

MacArthur, considered one of the nation’s authorities on literacy instruction for students with learning disabilities, said, “Kurzweil is a leader in producing effective software in the assistive technology area. EAB members are going to be using Kurzweil’s software, then meet to review and evaluate it. My area is the design of assistive technologies for reading and writing. My role is to help improve the design of Kurzweil’s products and anticipate the market.”

When the company announced the formation of EAB, its president, Michael Sokol, said, “Kurzweil Educational Systems has a long history of helping struggling students to read better, learn faster and succeed in the classroom. Now we are teaming up with experts in education who, like us, are committed to the cause of literacy and student success.… We hope to capitalize on their expertise and the latest research results to find new and improved ways of assisting these students and to extend that assistance to a broader population of students.”

MacArthur, who received a doctorate in special education from American University, taught in public and private schools from 1971-74. He was a research associate with the Institute for the Study of Exceptional Children and Youth in the Department of Special Education at the University of Maryland in College Park for 10 years before joining the UD faculty in 1993.

MacArthur is co-editor of the Journal of Special Education and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Educational Psychology, Contemporary Educational Psychology, the Journal of Learning Disabilities, Learning Disabilities Research and Practice and the Learning Disability Quarterly, and he is a member of the Standing Panel for Discretionary Grant Competitions in the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.

Article by Barbara Garrison
Photo by Duane Perry