Lumosity today announced the introduction of Lumosity Education Access Program (LEAP), a program that offers Lumosity memberships for students, with access to cognitive training exercises to improve memory, attention span and problem-solving skills. The program is open to both private and public school educators with students in third through twelfth grades. Educators can apply for up to 50 six-month memberships for their students to use within school, a $3,000 value, in exchange for feedback on the use and effectiveness of Lumosity with their students.

Created by neuroscientists from Stanford University, Lumosity offers more than 40 proprietary exercises, games and assessments that engage students. In a recent study involving 93 middle school students, the students training on Lumosity showed significant improvement in performance on standardized math and reading tests. After just 10 sessions of Lumosity training, students advanced at twice the expected rate, demonstrating two semesters of advancement in just one semester, compared with the students who did not train.

“We are very encouraged by the initial results of students’ classroom and test performance after training with Lumosity,” said Dr. Joseph Hardy, PhD, director of research and development at Lumosity. “We are also thrilled to have donated more than $150,000 of Lumosity training, and to introduce LEAP and offer educators and their students a new resource at a time when education is being deeply affected by state budget cuts across the United States. We are committed to continuing to develop fun, useful tools that have a positive impact and promote advancement in children’s education.”

There are currently 42 schools with approximately 2300 students in the United States, Mexico and South Africa enrolled in LEAP. Educators incorporate Lumosity into their curriculum at their discretion, typically as a free play activity or extracurricular option. Lumosity encourages educators to share feedback on the students’ performance – always keeping students’ identities anonymous – which can be incorporated into the research and development of future cognitive exercises and programs.

“I have about 30 kids in my Fourth and Fifth grade classrooms using Lumosity regularly and they absolutely love it,” said Mike Baker, a computer teacher and online learning coordinator in the South Side School District of Hookstown, Pennsylvania. “When kids are in school all day, they become ‘brain dead.’ They are mentally exhausted. But after 10 minutes on Lumosity, students are recharged and re-focused. Leap has been a wonderful, encouraging experience for the students and for me. I believe Lumosity can benefit all students and offers both immediate and long-term results.”