According to
Applied Scholastics in 1991, there were 150 schools using the Study Tech worldwide. However, a report by the
St Petersburg Times said that response has been mixed. One school was forced closed in Germany and another one stopped from opening. Whereas in South Africa where the schools are backed by South African corporations, they reported success among poor black families. The Clearwater Florida schools were unaccredited, and some students reported learning more in the public schools. In the United States, the method has been used in private Scientologist schools such as
Delphi Schools, which runs a number of primary, middle, and secondary schools, and the former
New Village Academy which was a private school in
Calabasas, California. In 1997, the
California Department of Education reviewed the five Study Tech books as potential "supplementary texts" and found them to not be overtly religious. They were concerned, however, with the lack of social and gender diversity displayed in the books. The materials were criticized by a number of experts; for example, the practice of "word clearing" was criticized as a means for advancing the Scientologist use of
clearing technology, and as inadequate for all levels of reading ability. Experts also criticized the inclusion of religiously-loaded terms such as "mass", "gradient" and "demo kit". There have been several documented complaints of abuse and neglect, including students being lied to about the academic value of Study Tech. The Literacy, Education and Ability Program (LEAP) of
Memphis, Tennessee, an Applied Scholastics member organization, received a grant of $250,000 from the U.S. government's Fund for the Improvement of Education (FIE) in 2005. In 2012, the
Pinellas County School Board revoked the Life Force Arts and Technology Charter School's charter. Teachers blamed new school management's implementation of Study Tech curriculum for poor test results; the curriculum was not approved by the school board, which in part caused the charter to be revoked. Study Tech was introduced in September 2008 at Bambolino
Montessori Academy, a private school in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; the school's principal and dean said that the method is secular and that they do not teach Scientology. However, by 2012 Toronto, as well as
Georgia,
San Antonio,
Texas,
St. Louis, and
Nevada had backed away from supporting Study Tech, after numerous complaints from educators and parents. == See also ==