How does Mastermind improve reading fluency?

Mastermind Cognitive Training strengthens the visual attention and eye-movement skills that fluent reading depends on: tracking a line of text, holding steady on each word, and shifting accurately to the next. A baseline assessment reads where a student's eye movements stand, game-based sessions strengthen the ones that need it, and a later reassessment shows what has changed.

What did the research find about eye tracking and reading?

A registered, randomized controlled trial (ISRCTN75915439) found statistically significant improvement in eye-tracking measures of visual control for students who trained on Mastermind, compared with a control group (p=.001). The RightEye assessment measured fixation stability, saccadic eye movements, and smooth pursuits, the same eye-movement skills that predict reading fluency. See the trial's findings for the figures, the institutions, and the preprint.

Does Mastermind replace reading intervention programs?

No. Mastermind strengthens the visual and cognitive skills that fluent reading depends on, and works alongside the reading instruction and intervention a school already uses. It gives that instruction a stronger foundation to build on rather than replacing any part of it.

How much staff time does implementation require?

Minimal. The baseline assessment takes about 30 minutes. Training sessions are self-guided and auto-leveling, run 20 minutes three times a week, and need little to no ongoing staff facilitation. Mastermind is designed to extend staff capacity, not add to it.

Improve Reading Fluency in Schools

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Mastermind Cognitive Training strengthens the visual attention and processing skills that fluent reading depends on. It assesses, builds, and measures how well a student's eyes track a line of text, hold steady on each word, and move accurately to the next. Those skills are among the strongest predictors of reading fluency.

A registered clinical trial at the University of Bedfordshire found significant improvement in student attention and eye movement control: the steadiness that lets a student track along a line of text and find the next one.

ISRCTN75915439 · N=168 · See the trial's findings

3×

Growth in reading fluency

Reading smoothly and accurately at a natural pace
2.5×

Growth in reading comprehension

Understanding and holding onto what was read
20%

Growth in reading speed

Words read per minute

Across Mastermind studies

The skills reading fluency depends on

Fluent reading rests on a set of skills, not a single one: the eyes tracking a line smoothly, holding steady on each word, and shifting accurately to the next, and the speed to recognize a word the moment it lands. Each grows with practice, and shows up in daily reading long before it appears in a score.

Follows a line of text smoothly without losing the place

The eyes follow a line of print in one smooth sweep, from the first word to the last, then drop to the start of the next line in a single move rather than hunting for it.

Lands on each word and holds steady before moving on

The gaze settles on a word and holds there long enough to take it in, steady on the mark rather than sliding off it or drifting, before it moves on to the next one.

Jumps accurately from one word to the next

The eyes step from one word to the next and land where they mean to, then jump back to the left margin at the end of a line and meet the next one cleanly.

Takes in a word at a glance, not letter by letter

A familiar word is taken in at a glance rather than sounded out letter by letter, so recognition keeps pace with the sentence and the reader is not held up on words they already know.

How Mastermind assesses and builds the skills behind reading fluency

Assess

30 minutes

Standardized cognitive protocols and performance tasks produce a Mastermind Learning Readiness Profile.

Train

20-minute sessions

Training starts where each student is and adapts as they improve, so it fits every student.

Measure

Standardized and comparable

Growth shows up skill by skill, so each student's progress is easy to see.

Case study

Fusion Academy

With more than 80 campuses, Fusion Academy serves students with learning, social, or emotional differences. The school ran this study in partnership with Mastermind Cognitive Training.

In the published Fusion Academy study, students using Mastermind improved reading comprehension 3.1× as much as their peers and read about 21% faster while the comparison group slowed. Both were measured off the training platform. That growth rests on the underlying cognitive skills, led by working memory and visual attention.

38 trained · 27 control10–18 weeks7 locations~60 minutes per week

See the research

Mastermind students vs peers

Visual Attention & Tracking: 4.7×
Reading Comprehension: 3.1×
Working Memory: 6.9×
Cognitive Flexibility*: 5.3×

Students not using Mastermind Students using Mastermind

*Cognitive flexibility is the ability to shift and adapt cognitive responses.

View all Fusion results

Mastermind students vs peers

Cognitive

6.9× Working Memory
5.3× Cognitive Flexibility
5.1× Overall Cognitive Performance
4.7× Visual Attention & Tracking

Reading

3.1× Reading Comprehension

Speed and efficiency

Reading

21% faster reading after training
35% reduction in reading response-time variability

Math

24% faster math processing, without losing accuracy
13% faster mathematical decision-making, without losing accuracy

Processing

10% faster processing and response speed vs peers (~18 ms)

Also observed

Improved performance on skills that support focus and attention
Improved oculomotor performance (saccades, pursuits, fixations)

Independently studied

Across 168 students in UK primary schools, Mastermind produced significant improvement in teacher-reported attention (p=.017) and in eye-tracking measures of visual control (p=.001), the foundation of fluent reading.

Led by Dr. Anastasia Giannakopoulou, lead researcher on the trial, with Dr. Joaquin Anguera, a UCSF cognitive neuroscientist and leading researcher in game-based cognitive training.

Read the Research

Preprint

Virtual Reality and Tablet Cognitive Training Improve Attention and Academic Skills Without Dose Effects

Giannakopoulou A, Gordon AM, Gallen CE, Seaman M, Fedele D, Anguera JA

doi: 10.1101/2025.09.16.676629 ISRCTN75915439 · N=168 · Ages 8–10 University of Bedfordshire · UCSF Neuroscape

Preview a Learning Readiness Profile

A Learning Readiness Profile does more than measure. For each student it shows which skills are strong, which to build first, what helps in class, and what progress looks like, so a classroom teacher has somewhere to start. For reading, it reads the visual-attention skills fluent reading rests on, so support can target the skill beneath the reading rather than the reading alone.

Mastermind Learning Readiness Profile

Learning is most accessible for this student when work has a clear first step and a quick reset when it feels hard, before frustration builds or attention drifts.

Maya R. · GR 4 · Baseline

Support first

Focus & AttentionStarts work and stays with it Emerging

PacingKeeps pace across multi-step work Developing

Response InhibitionPauses to check before answering Developing

Working MemoryHolds directions while working Developing

Build from

Processing SpeedTakes work in at a steady pace Age-typical

Object TrackingFollows information on the page Age-typical

Sample reportAn instructional tool, not a medical diagnosis.

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What it takes to run Mastermind in your school

A student works through a session on a tablet at a classroom desk while classmates work nearby.

Evidence to focus reading support

The skills fluent reading depends on are rarely measured directly, so support often aims at the reading itself rather than the skills beneath it. When a reader would benefit from more support, the Learning Readiness Profile shows which skills to build, so a plan can target the right one, alongside the reading instruction your team already provides.

Schedule a Demo

When it runs: Two twenty-minute sessions a week, built into an intervention block, rotation, or the start of a period. It fits into time your schedule already has.
How students begin: Sessions are self-guided, allowing students to start immediately without educator training or curriculum prep.
What it runs on: A tablet. Each session is individualized, so one device can serve multiple students across the week just as easily as an entire class.
How it is funded: Title IV-A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment) can support programs like this. Title I funds can also be used in schools that qualify.

We have never seen this many students improve a reading level or even a full grade level in one term as we have with the Mastermind program.

Ms. Dani Strickler Teacher · Icknield Lower School, Dunstable

Where reading fits

This page covers the visual and cognitive skills fluent reading depends on. When the concern is wider, or sits with a different skill, these pages go deeper:

Frequently asked questions

The questions institutional buyers ask first. For pricing and rollout specifics, a member of our team can walk you through it.