What others say about Study Island

Study Island Helps Increase Standardized Test Score Performance -- New Study Released

Review of Study Islandby khayden5 (1,213 pts ) Published on Aug 16, 2008
http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/reviews/4636.aspx

Study Island is a web-based computer program that allows students to practice state standards and indicators. The best part is that students, teachers and parents can keep track of student progress.

To help improve standardized test scores mandated by No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), many schools across the nation direct their students to log-on to Study Island to practice state standards and indicators. In the future, 50 states will have their standards aligned with Study Island’s programs; currently, however, only 36 states participate.
Connected to Research

NCLB requires that all educational programs need to be based on research. Study Island has provided documentation that they are using research based procedures. A new independent study, Study Island Scientific Research Base by Magnolia Consulting in July 2008, shows that it “provides documentation that connects the key features of the Study Island program to scientific and academic research literature.”

In addition, the research showed that when “teachers used web-based instruction to supplement classroom instruction it was 13%36 more effective than classroom instruction alone at teaching declarative knowledge, suggesting a combination of the two formats may lead to better achievement than classroom instruction alone.”

The content on Study Island is written from state standards. The program gives diagnostic, formative and summative results to teachers and administrators. In addition, it allows for an assessment feedback loop, reinforces learning through practice, motivates students, supports mastery, and uses a web-based platform. Anther great feature is that it encourages parental involvement.

How It Works

Study Island allows students to practice and to build skills over time toward mastery. Students can practice math, reading, writing, science or social studies. Once students are connected to the online program, they choose how many questions they want to answer. If they are not familiar with an indicator or standard, basic lessons are available. When they begin their session, they receive immediate feedback for their answers. Students and teachers can see the progress in any subject and/or indicator on the computer screen.


This supports the research from the report that says that the best feedback encourages students to keep working until they succeed and tells students what they know about the target knowledge instead of telling how they did in comparison to others.
Assessment Tools

Research also recommends that teacher assess students in ongoing classroom assessments called formative assessment. Not only do students receive immediate feedback when working, teachers can keep track of student performance at any time as well. How teachers use this assessment data to change teaching practices and for remediation is the key to helping students.
In addition, the reports offer diagnostic data to show student weaknesses and summative data that shows their mastery of indicators or objectives.

Helps Improve AYP

Magnolia Consulting reports that the best way to improve AYP status is for teachers to use the results of assessment data to tweak teaching practices. Study Island allows teachers to monitor student growth and student deficiencies. The program is easy for students to see their progress as well so that they can move towards mastery of a subject indicator or standard.
The research also suggests that students who receive frequent assessment have higher achievement scores, especially when the assessment is cumulative and students can learn from the assessments.


As teachers and administrators continue to work towards improving scores on state standardized achievement tests, the new buzzwords to make improvments are research and data. Study Island is another way to attain test data and it is reserached based. Teachers need to not be afraid of the information and use it to drive their curriculum and remediation.
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Below is a sample letter on introducing parents to Study Island:

Dear Parent,

Our school now has access to a great resource for preparing our kids to master the Kentucky Core Content Standards. We have a subscription for a web-based program called Study Island, which is accessible to students from school or home. If you have Internet access, your child can access Study Island from home as well.. The information below provides an overview of the program. We are excited about the potential benefits this program can bring to our students, and we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity by using Study Island. Please feel free to contact Study Island at 800-419-3191 x3 or support@studyisland.com if you have any questions.

Using Study Island from Home

Since the Study Island program is completely web-based, students can access it from any computer with an Internet connection and a standard web browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape). Results from students study sessions are recorded and made available to the teachers. This includes results from sessions completed at home. The program is divided into sections based on subject (math, reading, etc.). Each section is made up of 10 to 25 topics. Each topic contains about 20 to 25 questions with explanations. All topics are accompanied by a lesson, which includes some brief information about the material covered by the questions in the topics. It is helpful to view the lesson before answering the questions in the topic.

Follow the instructions below, in order to use the program:
1. Go to www.studyisland.com
2. Enter your username and password at the upper-left of the screen, and click “Login”.
Note: Students will receive a username and password from their teacher at school.
3. Click on the section tab (math, reading, etc.) that you wish to work on.
4. Click the "Pretest" in order to begin the pretest for the section. You must complete 10 pretest questions before moving on to the topic in the section.
5. Once you complete the "Pretest,” you may work through the remainder of the topics in any order you like. You must "pass" all topics before taking the "Post Test".
6. To pass a topic, you must satisfy the topic’s passing requirements which are based a minimum number of questions answered (usually 10) and a minimum percentage correct (around 70%). A blue ribbon icon is displayed next to all passed topics.
7. Once you have passed all the topics in the section, you have to pass the "Post Test" for the section before the section is complete. Ignore this step if the section has no "Post Test".
8. When you pass all topics in all sections, you have completed the program for that grade level!To access the Reports:
1. After your child has logged in, select a subject from the left-hand side of the screen to access the reports.
2. Here, you will find a variety of reports with information such as how much time your child has spent on various subjects, how they used their time, and what questions they missed. You will also be able to compare your child with other children in their class and in their state that are using Study Island. You can select reports by Subject or select the Summary option to get all subjects.

Back to School with Study Island-Making the Home/School Connection

As we start another school year, it is a great idea to make sure that all parents know about Study Island. Maybe a family is new to the school, or maybe a family did not use Study Island from home in the past, but the beginning of a school year marks a great time to involve parents.

Study Island has created a letter which you will see on the bottom of the page. You can use this as a template to create your own parent packet regarding how to access the program from home. Because the program is web-based, any Study Island user can access the program 24/7 from any Internet connection...which is such a great benefit for your families!

While Study Island was not designed to replace all teacher generated homework, it is a great way to supplement what is being done during regular school day. Teachers can either assign specific topics that compliment their current lesson plans, or students can choose which topics they would like to tackle.Beyond sending home an informational packet to parents, another successful way that I have seen Study Island being introduced to parents, is by having a Study Island Session on Back to School Night, or during the first Parent-Teacher Conferences. Set up a computer lab, and allow parents to drop-in and learn how to log into and navigate the program for themselves.

Make sure your families know how to get on Study Island this fall!

I'm happy to provide more ideas on how to get your parents involved, so feel free to call or email with questions!

Pat Ryan
Kentucky Sales Rep
pat@studyisland.com
1.800.419.3191 x 7617