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Collaborative Classroom Announces the CC PAL Student Practice App for Foundational Skills Mastery

ALAMEDA, CA, April 1, 2025 — CC PAL (Practice App for Literacy), the first-of-its-kind student-facing app to provide individualized and independent practice in foundational reading skills, was announced today by Collaborative Classroom, a leading publisher of evidence-based early childhood and K–12 instructional materials.

CC PAL aligns with Collaborative Classroom’s proven instructional scope and sequence for foundational skills and reinforces student learning through interactive practice activities and connected text reading.
The new app is available to purchase now for use during the 2025–2026 school year. Watch a video tour of CC PAL at https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/programs/cc-pal-practice-app/

A Research-Based Approach to Foundational Skills Practice

The science of learning has shown that students need sufficient, deliberate, and targeted practice to master and retain the foundational skills necessary for proficient reading.

Through its research-based design, CC PAL meets this need with adaptive, independent practice that adjusts to each student’s instructional level. The app offers age-appropriate activities for both younger students and older striving readers, ensuring that practice remains engaging and relevant to each student’s developmental stage.

Chris Janzen, who was recently appointed as Collaborative Classroom’s Chief Product Officer, said, “CC PAL represents an exciting step forward in how we support educators and students with innovative digital tools. With this new foray into student-facing technology, we are responding to the needs of teachers who want effective, research-based solutions for independent practice.”

“To master new learning, students must get the right types of independent practice in sufficient amounts—and that’s exactly what CC PAL delivers,” said Kelly Stuart, President and CEO of Collaborative Classroom. “CC PAL is also the only reading foundations practice app that is 100 percent instructionally aligned with our proven literacy curricula. That alignment sets up students and teachers for even greater success.” 

CC PAL represents an exciting step forward in how we support educators and students with innovative digital tools. With this new foray into student-facing technology, we are responding to the needs of teachers who want effective, research-based solutions for independent practice.

Key Features of the CC PAL App

  • Daily, Targeted Practice: Reinforces previously taught foundational skills instruction with interactive activities that provide skill, word, sentence, and text-level practice.
  • Aligned with Instruction: Follows Collaborative Classroom’s evidence-based foundational skills scope and sequence.
  • Self-Leveling for Growth: Adjusts to each student’s needs, ensuring just-right challenges.
  • Age-Appropriate Activities: Designed to engage older readers as well as younger students.
  • Teacher Insights at a Glance: Provides real-time progress tracking.
  • Research-Based Design: Rooted in the science of learning’s insights about sufficient, deliberate, and purposeful practice.

Interactive Practice Activities Reinforce Foundational Skills Instruction

The app includes wide-ranging activities that allow students to practice and reinforce previously taught foundational skills instruction:

  • Letter Recognition – Activities such as Letter Train and Letter Puzzle build letter-name fluency.
  • Phonemic Awareness & Early Decoding – Games like Sound Detective and Sketch-a-Sound strengthen sound-symbol connections and early spelling skills.
  • Phonics & Decoding Mastery – Activities including Burst-A-Balloon and Word Golf reinforce blending, decoding, and encoding.
  • Advanced Phonics & Morphology – Interactive exercises such as Super Syllables and Morpheme Mania help students develop polysyllabic decoding and vocabulary skills.
  • Connected Text Reading – The Learning Library offers decodable books, progressing from word-level to full-text reading.

To master new learning, students must get the right types of independent practice in sufficient amounts—and that’s exactly what CC PAL delivers.

CC PAL Provides Real-Time Progress Tracking for Educators

A teacher-facing, web-based app provides educators with real-time insights into the usage, trends, and performance of users, including instructional subgroups and individual students.

  • Average practice time per day (per subgroup and student)
  • Average days per week (per subgroup and student)
  • Top spelling-sounds reviewed (per subgroup and student)
  • Top errors (per student)
  • Letter sounds and high-frequency words reviewed (per student)

Watch a Video Tour of CC PAL and Learn More

CC PAL will be available for use in the 2025–26 school year for schools and districts using Collaborative Classroom’s evidence-based literacy programs. Watch a video tour and learn more about CC PAL at https://www.collaborativeclassroom.org/programs/cc-pal-practice-app/.

About Collaborative Classroom

Collaborative Classroom is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization committed to ensuring that all students become readers, writers, and thinkers who learn from, care for, and respect one another. Through evidence-based programs and embedded professional learning, the organization transforms teaching and learning and builds thriving school communities.

Since the organization’s founding, our work has reached more than 10 million students and 440,000 educators across the country.

Learn more at collaborativeclassroom.org/.