Curriculum Associates Acquires Speech Recognition Provider SoapBox Labs

Curriculum Associates, an education technology company, has acquired SoapBox Labs, a provider of speech recognition technology that caters to the unique speech patterns of children. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SoapBox's technology powers classroom-focused learning and assessment products, apps, and platforms to support early literacy, reading fluency, language learning, and more. The SoapBox voice engine generates immediate and granular insights for educators.

Curriculum Associates offers a suite of comprehensive educational programs, including its flagship i-Ready product. By incorporating speech recognition technology into its assessment and instructional programs, Curriculum Associates will support the ways children learn to read, how multilingual learners build oral vocabulary, how teachers monitor progress and provide feedback, and more broadly, how classrooms can better engage in all forms of discourse.

"Curriculum Associates and SoapBox Labs share a commitment to improving student outcomes by expanding access to high-quality instructional materials and innovative technologies," said Rob Waldron CEO of Curriculum Associates, in a statement. "This groundbreaking partnership will bring state-of-the-art voice technology to more classrooms, helping to ensure every learner is set up for success. It will also deepen and expand an asset-based, inclusive approach to learning across our entire product line."

"From the start, SoapBox has been on a mission to build voice technology that powers equitable, engaging, and frictionless digital learning experiences for all kids, regardless of age, accent, or dialect. This partnership with CA will allow us to fulfill this mission for even more young students and their teachers," SoapBox founder and Ireland's AI ambassador, Patricia Scanlon, said in a statement.

"We are excited about this partnership with Curriculum Associates, which will solidify Ireland's reputation as a hub for AI innovation and give our team the opportunity to power better, more equitable outcomes for all students as they progress through their K-12 reading, language, and math journeys," SoapBox CEO Martyn Farrows agreed.