Reading Horizons Receives 2026 EdTech Breakthrough Award for Adaptive Learning Innovation

The honor recognizes Ascend^™, the company's unified literacy system, for its systematic, evidence-based approach to literacy instruction across grades and tiers

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Reading Horizons®, a trusted leader in literacy for more than 40 years, has received the 2026 EdTech Breakthrough Award in the Adaptive Learning Innovation category, a national recognition honoring products redefining how technology supports student learning. The award recognizes Ascend™, the company's Pre-K-12 comprehensive literacy system designed to replace fragmented, patchworked literacy programs with one, coherent, connected platform.

The EdTech Breakthrough Awards program recognizes organizations driving innovation and excellence in education. Ascend was recognized for unifying foundational skills, language development, comprehension, and writing into a single instructional framework, purposefully sequenced across grade levels and instructional tiers.

Unlike literacy programs that rely on increased screen time in the name of personalization, Ascend uses technology to strengthen teacher-led instruction rather than replace it. The Mastery (core) diagnostic assessment provides personalized insights for teachers and student, while the Focus (intervention) diagnostic places students within the appropriate Phonics and Language Comprehension tracks. Shared data between the two enables educators to continuously adjust grouping, differentiation, and instructional intensity as students’ needs evolve.

"This recognition reflects what we've heard from educators for decades: teachers don't need more disconnected programs, they need a system that works together,” said Trisha Thomas, president of Reading Horizons. “Ascend was built to eliminate the fragmentation that gets in the way of effective instruction and replace it with the coherence educators need to deliver high-quality literacy teaching, sustainable and at scale."

Grounded in literacy research and evidence-based practices, Ascend is designed around the practical realities of today’s classrooms. Every lesson sequence, grouping recommendation, and progress-monitoring tool connects directly to instruction, helping educators make informed decisions while preserving the explicit, systematic teaching that students need to become proficient readers and writers.

Through a unified dashboard, teachers, interventionists, administrators, and caregivers gain actionable insights tied to daily instruction and student growth. Ascend brings Reading Horizons’ foundational literacy expertise to core literacy PK-5, intervention through 12, as well as supplemental. That experience informed every aspect of the Ascend instructional framework—from phonological awareness foundations in Pre-K to the morphological complexity instruction adolescent readers need to advance fluency, comprehension, language and writing.

For more information about Ascend, visit https://readinghorizons.com/literacy-curriculum/comprehensive/

ABOUT READING HORIZONS

For more than 40 years, Reading Horizons® has partnered with educators to combat illiteracy through effective, research-based reading instruction. Grounded in literacy and learning sciences, Reading Horizons provides Pre-K–12 core literacy, K–12 intervention, and K–5 supplemental foundational literacy and language instruction solutions that help all students become confident readers. Learn more at readinghorizons.com and listen to Literacy Talks, a podcast exploring fresh perspectives on literacy, learning, and teaching.

For more information, visit www.readinghorizons.com.