Technology, Assessment

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Technology, Assessment Training
Ensure No Child is Left Behind

• Jonathan A. Bower

Learning Systems, Inc.
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Federal Goals

• All children reading by end of 3rd grade
• Adequate yearly progress in all populations
  including LD
• Research-based materials
• Advanced professional development

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4th Grade Predicts 9th Grade
4th Grade Reading Score
9th Grade Reading Score
78 Accuracy
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And, Students Who Fail Dont Recover

• 2/3 of students who can not read proficiently by
  the 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare
• Loisa Moats

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Curriculum Is Not Key

• Research can not establish a link between
  curricula and reading performance

Sandy Jones, Ph.D.Hanson Initiative for Language
and Literacy
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And, Software Has Not Solved the Problem
Sources QED Technology Purchasing Forecast
2002-2003, 8th edition NAEP 2000 Report
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Teachers are Key

• The best teachers worst students outperform the
  average

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Data Helps Teachers
Data-driven Decision Making
Teacher assesses student
Re- assessment
Student Type
Lesson Planning
Assessment Chosen
Instruct-ion

• Customizes instruction for each student
• Best chance for success

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Data Improves Results
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95
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Assessment is the First Step

• Teachers who know what their students need to
  learn next are more effective

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A New Marilyn Adams Study Shows the Power of
Assessment

• From 1996 to 2000, over 600 California teachers
  gradually adopted direct reading skills
  assessment tools (their choice)
• The students of teachers using assessments
  outperformed the others
• The use of regular assessments counteracted the
  poverty effect

Marilyn Adams, presented in 2002, scheduled for
publication
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The Vehicle Technology

• Technology use can reduce costs and help improve
  education

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Effective Technology Making Teachers More
Productive
Instruction
Tomorrow
Practice
Reporting
Today
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Lexia Assessment

• Comprehensive Reading Test?
• 5 - 20 minutes per test
• Skills assessment plus comprehension
• Norm-referenced levels
• Practice prescriptions
• Reports on students, classes, schools
• Grouping by skills
• Progress tracking

• Quick Reading Test?
• 5 - 8 minutes per test
• Skills assessment
• Individual class reports
• Practice prescriptions
• Grouping by skills
• Progress tracking

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Lexia Computer-based assessment takes less time
than other approaches
DIBELS(Based on Ashland, MA)
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The Computer Increases Accuracy
Drawn from independent study of Lexia software
impact in Revere, MA during 2001-2. Paper test
Gates McGinity
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Lexia Skills Development Software

• Lexia Early Reading ?
• Lexia Phonics Based Reading?
• Lexia Reading S.O.S. (Strategies for Older
  Students)

Go
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Lexia Software Provides Crucial Time on Task

• Software supports individualized practice
• Non-judgmental
• Automatic branching
• Engaging

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Software Supports Good Teaching

• Skills Assessment
• Focused Instruction
• Individualized Practice
• Real-time Reporting

Assessment
Instruction
Reading Skills
Practice Reporting
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Software Helps Kids Master Key Reading Skills

• Lexia provides four key benefits 1) it engages
  the kids, 2) it helps the teacher manage and
  monitor the teaching process, 3) it provides a
  structured curriculum that I can depend on, and
  4) it helps kids to shift to effective word
  attack strategies early. I feel that every child
  needs the kind of phonological awareness taught
  in the activities Cathy Milton, Special
  Education Teacher Claypitt Hill School,
  Wayland, MA

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Your Education Competition Uses Technology

• Sylvan Learning Systems uses student data
  management incorporating reading software into
  the required curriculum used by all 870 tutoring
  centers nationwide
• Huntington Learning Centers use reading software
  in all 285 tutoring centers nationwide

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Technology Use by Industry
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Technology Investment in Business and Education
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What are the Killer Apps?

• Those that provide the most useful data for
  decision making
• Those that save the most time
• Those used as tools

• Assessment
• Practice
• Teacher support

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Successful Technology
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Selecting Technology
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Where are the Benefits?
Communications
Hardware
Benefits
Training
Applications
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Training is Crucial
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Avery, CA

• 30 Teachers
• 1/3 know of Lexia
• No administrative introduction
• Computers not pre-loaded
• Principal unaware of order contents

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Avery, CA

• Few teachers ready for use
• Principal hears bad things about the software
• Requested return
• Wasted 1 year

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Usage Approaches

• Supplemental work in the classroom
• Supplemental work in the computer lab
• Group learning
• Homework

ion on un ? Act___
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Typical 1st Time User
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Typical Experienced Use
Lexia Assessment Program Teaching Lexia Skills
Devt
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Now Available Professional Devt
Lexia MSL Training
Instruction
Classroom Software
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Impact of Professional Development

• Chicago 2001-2
• 2 Two-day workshops in phonemic awareness
• Principals
• Teachers
• New materials purchased
• New Kindergarten program by 2002-3

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Lexia Interventional Curriculum

• Small Group Instruction
• Developed for LD and other Struggling Students
• 3 Days to Learn
• Complete Materials
• Reading, Spelling, Writing

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Case Studies
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Herman Method Results
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Herman Method Results
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Software Reduces SPED Costs

• The money we spent on Lexia is chump change
  compared to what we would have spent down the
  road on Special Ed. placements.
• Daniel Leclerc, Assistant Superintendent,
  Ashland, MA

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Claypitt Hill Elementary Wayland, MA

• Background
• Wealthy suburb of Boston
• Top 10 ranked schools
• Screens every Kindergartener with QRT
• Uses Early Reading and Phonics Based Reading for
  early intervention

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Claypitt Hill Elementary Wayland, MA

• Results
• Almost every child reading at or near grade level
  by grade 4
• Extensive integration of LD students into the
  classroom
• Costs equivalent to far less successful programs

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Arriba JuntosSan Francisco, CA

• Background
• A community center in the Mission district
• 36 students from 20 countries
• Average 0.1 grade level improvement in reading in
  the previous year
• Accelerated Reading program based on one-on-one
  instruction and practice with Reading S.O.S.
  software

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Arriba JuntosSan Francisco, CA

• Results
• Average 1.7 grade level improvement in 7 months
• I can get the same results working with four
  students with Lexia that I could get before
  working one-on-one. Robert Ruth - Reading
  Specialist

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Arriba JuntosSan Francisco, CA

• Results - Year 2
• Average 2 grade level improvement
• Effective instruction with a 81 student /
  teacher ratio
• Robert Ruth - 2001

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Arriba Juntos Savings

• Yr. 1-2 Instructional Costs
• 3 extra students per instructor per 90 minute
  class (4/day) at 60,000/yr
• For 36 students
• Saves 180,000/yr

• Future Year SPED Costs
• 31 students reintegrated into mainstream
  class-rooms after 2 years
• 5,500 gap between classroom SPED
• Saves 170,500/yr

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Tornillo ElementaryTornillo, TX

• Background
• 287 children in grades K-5
• 98 Hispanic origins
• 96.5 qualify for free lunches
• TAAS results historically on the line between
  Low Performing and Satisfactory (around 15th
  percentile)

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Tornillo Training

• Principal involved teachers in selection
• Principal introduced training session
• 14 teachers/session
• Retraining the next fall

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The Results in Tornillo, TX

• In 1996/97, every student spent 30 minutes/day
  using Phonics Based Reading

• The school jumped from the 15th percentile in the
  state on its TAAS results to the 75th percentile
  in one year

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Tornillo, Texas Details

• Improvements in both math and reading drove a
  nearly 50 improvement in the overall TAAS pass
  rate

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What Happened in Year 2?

• The principal was promoted out
• The school bought new computers without checking
  to see if they ran the software
• The next years class scored lower on TAAS

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What Happened since then?

• A new superintendent required the use of a
  different software system
• The pass rate fell below 25
• A second new principal revived the use of Phonics
  Based Reading
• The pass rate rose again above 60

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Key Success Factors
Commitment
Commitment
Training
Application
Test Scores
Support
Reinvestment
Commitment
Commitment
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More Detail

• Include everybody in the decision making
• Train everybody responsible for success
• Include Technical Support
• Plan the implementation
• Upgrade the software hardware regularly
• Measure success including
• Share the credit

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Measuring Success

• Control Group
• Useful measurements - skills
• Reasonable time period - months
• Clear results
• Estimate costs savings - soft dollars
• Publicize the results

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Use the Technology to Meet Your Vision

• "I can only hope to tell you how much the Lexia
  software has meant to my students, and to me.
  With these two programs, many, many of our at
  risk students have a fighting chance of breaking
  the cycle of little to no education that so
  seriously impedes their future chances of being
  contributing, fulfilled citizens in this
  society.
• B.J. Streeby, Reading Specialist, Great Falls, MT