from Amy English, Math Dept Chair
Knight Middle School Louisville Kentucky
A group of 57 students Grades 6 to 8 completed Math Upgrade lessons as part of math intervention classes in Fall 2007. The students were assessed at the elementary level in math before the intervention. Each week, students completed 2 to 3 sessions of 40 minutes length with the course. By the end of the semester, students had gained an average of 1.6 years on the STAR MATH assessment. All but one student showed improvement, with 68% showing gains of 1 year or more.
I just wanted to take a moment to share with you our experience with the Learning Upgrade programs. My 9 year old son with autism was not reading when we were told by the school psychologist that some teachers in our district were finding success with the trial versions of Reading Upgrade.
We put Alex on the program at home and in a short time he was above other students his age in reading. We quickly realized this program was worth many times the nominal costs being asked for the literal miracles it packed for Alex. We signed up for the full program and sent him down the path to being a great reader.
The struggles to get him to read were over instantly. The program was exciting, engaging, and paced just right. I would tell him to work on two levels a day but at times have come back to see that he has far surpassed the daily goal. There has never been a need to remind him to do his levels. I say do it and it is as good as done. Anyone who has a child with PDD/Autism will know this in itself is nothing short of miraculous. This is all thanks to Reading Upgrade. It is a reward within itself for my son.
Thank you so much for such an awesome program. Alex has gone from no hope to a great reader thanks to Learning Upgrade programs.
I am returning to college and have to take a math placement test. I can not tell you how very happy I am with your Math Upgrade course. I have always avoided math with the explanation that “I’m just not good at it.” Well, I have completed your course in six weeks (about 20 hrs) with a 99.87%. I now have a new found love for math and feel very confident that I will pass my test with flying colors! I have never been as proud of myself (academically that is) as I was when I printed out my Gold Level certificate of achievement!
The same year that California high school students were required to pass an exit exam to graduate, high school dropouts spiked, according to an AP/Los Angeles Times article. One of the original goals of the exit exam, often referred to as CAHSEE, was to boost performance of California’s high school students. An unintended consequence is that students who cannot pass the exam after repeating it several times may be dropping out of school.
The key issue this brings up is effective instruction or intervention for at risk high school students. A test alone does not make student performance increase. Schools need to provide effective instruction for 9th graders at risk to fail CAHSEE or 10th graders who fail on their first attempt. While schools may be having success with “bubble” students just below the threshold of passing, the “far below basic” students are failing repeatedly.
It is our hope that new approaches to intervention for students failing CAHSEE are put into place, to prevent further dropouts. This includes high interest online courses targeting at risk youth, such as Comprehension Upgrade and Math Upgrade.
In recent months three new low-cost notebook computers have been introduced that will bring access to web-based learning to a new group of students worldwide. The first is the One Laptop per Child (OLPC), which will be sold to governments to bring computing to children in developing countries. Next comes the Classmate PC from Intel, which also aims to bring a low-cost notebook computer to families who would not be able to afford a traditional computer.
Both these computers are aimed at children in the developing world. However, a new computer called the Eee PC from Asus is bringing an affordable, child-friendly computer to any family that wants to buy one. For $399, you can buy this small, sleek notebook. It lacks a hard drive or Windows software, but includes a web browser, WiFi for internet access, and basic software for editing documents, email, etc.
Traditionally, a notebook this small and portable would have cost around $2,000. The Eee PC can fit in a student’s backpack or move with them around the house.
We at Learning Upgrade are hopeful that these new affordable student computers will provide more students with access to the world of online learning. Over the next few months, we will be testing to make sure our Math Upgrade and Reading Upgrade courses work on these new computers. If you have an experience with our courses on these laptops, please let us know in the comments.
Math Department Chair Amy English at T.T. Knight Middle School in Louisville Kentucky was kind enough to share with us the syllabus of their new Math Enrichment Course: Pathways to Proficiency. This course is designed to help students struggling with math through a one-semester intervention program. A variety of strategies are used, including our Math Upgrade online course. You can read the syllabus below:
T.T. Knight Math Enrichment Course: Pathways to Proficiency
Objective: To decrease novice-performing students in mathematics while providing a strong base of fundamental mathematics, which will improve student self-perception and confidence. Read the rest of this entry »
Based on feedback from students, teachers, and parents around the world, we have “gone live” with a new version of Comprehension Upgrade! Everyone now enrolled with the course will automatically see the new version. Key new features:
The course pauses after help is given, to allow students to understand why they missed a question
Questions and passages are given in a different sequence on lesson repeat for less guessing, more variety
Students must earn a minimum of 75% correct to pass on to the next level
Numerous small changes to individual lessons, too many to list!
Check out the updated Demo to experience some of the updates.
San Diego Based Learning Upgrade Helps Students Stay Ahead with Fun Online Learning Courses for Reading and Math
Many students are prepared and excited to do well this year: Bags packed, summer reading list checked off, and visions of A’s and B’s on the refrigerator. There are, however, thousands of students starting the year already behind; sometimes by 2 or more years in reading and math. To the rescue is San Diego based Learning Upgrade who has fine-tuned its popular online courses, Reading Upgrade and Math Upgrade, to help students get a head start on the school year. Read the rest of this entry »
Take a look at our first podcast: Learning Upgrade offers thoughts on education’s hottest topic and offers solutions to help students who start off the school year behind in reading and math.
