Carla Small | Co-Founder and CEO
Nadine Gaab, PhD | Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor
Yaacov Petscher, PhD | Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor
“Giving educators and families the tools and confidence they need to ensure children enjoy the rewards of reading —that’s our mission.”
For the EarlyBird team, reading education is rich with power and promise. It is also very personal. Some of us know, first-hand, the challenges families face when a child struggles with reading. Others have spent their entire professional lives studying and implementing the rich body of the science of reading.
We know, in our heads and hearts, the unmatched role reading proficiency plays in the life of a child. Our children. Your children. Children we all very much want to grow into happy, satisfied, successful, adults who enjoy reading.
EarlyBird was born from this passion. If you feel as strongly as we do, join us.
Innovation from the Head. And Heart.
As a developmental neuroscientist at Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Nadine Gaab developed a screener proven effective at predicting which children would develop dyslexia and other reading disorders. Recognizing the power of a proactive, preventive approach instead of a reactive response to struggling readers, Dr. Gaab partnered with the Boston Children’s Hospital Digital Health Accelerator to create EarlyBird.
The game also incorporated assessment research from Dr. Yaacov Petscher, an Associate Director at the Florida Center for Reading Research, who has a long track record of creating and disseminating reading assessments. Recognizing their work’s potential to transform not just reading education, but whole lives , Dr. Gaab and Dr. Petscher brought together years of research, data and expertise to create EarlyBird.
As the parent of a child with dyslexia, a business executive, and leader of the Accelerator while EarlyBird was in development, Carla Small combined forces with Drs. Gaab and Petscher to launch EarlyBird Education, Inc. in 2020.
Research-based.
Scientifically-tested.
Scientifically validated, developed and tested at Harvard-affiliated Boston Children’s Hospital, EarlyBird’s effectiveness is supported by validation studies in schools across the country representing the diverse demographics of students nationwide.
Utilizing our ongoing roots in scientific research, EarlyBird Education is committed to bringing research to practice, improving screening efficacy, lowering barriers to access, and, as a result, significantly increasing the number of students who are reading at grade level by 3rd grade.
Supporters who believe
as much as we do.
Developed with the generous support of numerous foundations.
