A group of Basic Math classes at Florida State College at Jacksonville improved from a 66.75% passing rate in Fall 2011 to 84.5% average in Fall 2012 after using Learning Upgrade courses.

Dr. Sarae Mathews shared the results from her Basic Math MAT0018 classes.  Students completed the Pre-Alebra Upgrade 60-lesson online course from Learning Upgrade. In addition, they completed the Math XL program traditionally used in the classes.

With the addition of the Pre-Algebra Upgrade in the 2012 school year, scores improved significantly for the classes:

This semester my overall success rate was 85%, which signifies a huge improvement for this course. In addition, I had no Withdrawals. 

Here’s the breakdown.
TR 5:30 class: 83% success
15 out of 18 passed with an A, B, or C
3 failed with an F or FN (failure for nonattendance)

MW 1:00 class: 81% success
17 out of 21 passed with an A, B, or C
1 received a D
1 signed a contract for an I (incomplete) grade – she has up to 8 wks to finish her work
2 failed with an F or FN

MW 10:00 class: 89% success
17 out of 19 passed with an A, B, or C
2 failed with an FN

TR 1:00 class: 85% success
17 out of 20 passed with an A, B, or C
1 received a D
2 failed with an F or FN

I think the following contributed to these great results: 

• by front loading the course with LearningUpgrade lessons, the foundation was laid for the MathXL work 
• LearningUpgrade was most engaging – it “forced” the students to WORK intently the first month of the term
• 45% of the students completed the course early, by Thanksgiving, so I could spend more time helping the slower learners.

 Feedback from Students: 

LU was engaging:   SA & A    91%

LU was easy to complete:   SA & A    77%

LU was clear:   SA & A    82%

LU helped me with MathXL:   SA & A    96%

I liked LU online program:   SA & A    69%

I feel prepared for Elementary Algebra:   SA & A    100%

I feel I am more successful in solving math problems:   SA & A    100%

Dr. Matthews plans to continue using the Learning Upgrade courses in the Basic Math classes for next semester and develop best practices to improve the passing rate.

Learning Upgrade,

Once again I am happy to report that the test scores went really well using the learning upgrade system.  Our students had an 11 point average over their projected scores on the TCAP exam.  Two students had as much as a 24 point gain over their projections.  This system has proven itself once again.  Thank you for the opportunity for letting our students further their education through your system.  With many school systems focusing on math scores this program has been a major asset in assisting our students to make gains and should be able to help any student on any level.  We look forward to using this system again.

Sincerely,

R. Anderson

Happy Valley Middle School

8th grade math

My son started with the reading upgrade you provided last summer after kindergarten. He worked very diligently until level 28 or so and it got a little hard for  him. We provided an incentive and he pushed through it. This spring break he completed the entire program. My son is now reading chapter books and loving every minute of it. [Read more...]

Email from parent JW in Kenfield California:

Learning Upgrade Folks:

Just a quick and complimentary note regarding
your pre-algebra program. My 12 year-old daughter, who is otherwise an outstanding student, got a bit ‘lost’ in math this past year perhaps due to a few months in school in England.

Your pre-algrebra course has helped her immensely first, by identifying her weak areas, and second, remediating them. As of last night we are half way through the course to lesson 31 and look forward to finishing the remainder while on vacation in Italy.

Once we complete pre-algebra we intend to explore some more advanced programs and make this part of our routine.

Great stuff. From a former college teacher….