Steve has years of experience as principal and teacher in public and private schools. Robin has taught children in the lower grades as well as teenagers in both private school and foster care settings. They home schooled their own children. Steve and Robin have both completed specialized training and are certified Reading Instruction Specialists. They have seen first-hand the disadvantages for those who have struggled with reading, and since 2005 have been delighted to be able to share the life-changing success the Academic Associates^® Reading Course brings.

Cliff Ponder, an elementary school principal and teacher for 20 years, was frustrated that large numbers of students couldn’t learn to read. After leaving school administration, he bought into a franchised reading center. Recognizing that it had many flaws, he spent years devising his own program. He discovered some exciting new research on the neural architecture of the brain and began developing a logical, step-by-step method of teaching reading that would work in harmony with the brain, calling it the Academic Associates^® Reading Course. This program has helped thousands of students of all ages in hundreds of schools and learning centers around the world. With over 50 years of experience as an educator who understood the need for harmonizing brain function with reading instruction, Cliff Ponder’s work is widely recognized for its highly successful reading instruction.