Awesome Customer Email

Dear Study Island Staff,

I had to just stop my work today and just say a heart felt thank you to each and everyone of you. From the custodial staff to the top executives and equally the middle men and women, I will forever be indebted to you.

You have no idea how much you have done for myself and my students. I've taught 4th grade for about 9 years and never have I felt more effective than this year when I committed to using your program to guide us through the common core standards. The general nature of common core standards overwhelmed me but you have really been here for me and it is more than words. A retiring teacher made me commit to trying your program this year and I can not imagine life without you. Thank you all tremendously.

Sincerely,
Dorothy J. Taylor
djtaylor@interact.ccsd.net

Archipelago Learning’s Study Island Introduces Product Enhancements and Common Core Benchmarking Program for Grades 3-5

Virtual science labs and district dashboard offer new functionality for students, teachers and administrators DALLAS--Archipelago Learning announces the launch of its latest enhancements for award-winning Study Island, a web-based instruction, practice and learning program built from individual state testing standards. New features include virtual science labs for middle and high school students, embedded Khan Academy math tutorial videos, and a district dashboard for administrators. In addition, Archipelago Learning has made available a new Common Core Benchmarking Program for educators to evaluate proficiencies for the Common Core State Standards in grades 3-5, math and reading.

“We’re excited to announce the latest round of product enhancements for Study Island”

Virtual science labs for middle and high school students provide interactive labs that allow students to simulate science experiments they might not have access to in a regular classroom setting. New embedded Khan Academy videos help reinforce middle and high school math lessons by giving students a brief, step-by-step lesson of specific math concepts and examples. The videos also provide extra support for parents, who may need help explaining lessons to their children.

“We’re excited to announce the latest round of product enhancements for Study Island,” said Donna Regenbaum, executive vice president of marketing and product development for Archipelago Learning. “The new virtual labs offer students a chance to interact with content, enhancing their learning experience by allowing them hands-on participation to build understanding.”

District administrators have access to a new district dashboard, which allows them to monitor district-wide progress from a single location. Also included in the district dashboard is a new weekly district report that shows weekly and yearly district statistics broken down by grade level, school, subject, and numbers of questions answered. Additionally, students can now access Cup Speed Stacking and Slingshot games on their mobile devices, allowing for more practice and reinforcement outside of normal school hours.

“Among the new feature releases, Study Island has also released our new Common Core Benchmarking programs for teachers,” added Regenbaum. “Unlike other benchmark products, each Study Island benchmark test is built specifically from the Common Core State Standards. These assessments will prove useful in highlighting areas where students may need more practice prior to end-of-year testing.”

Study Island’s elementary Common Core Benchmarking Program enables teachers to get a snapshot of student proficiencies at any time throughout the year with one of four different benchmarking tests. These assessments will give teachers and administrators valuable diagnostic information, in the form of real-time reports, which can be used to drive classroom instruction.

Study Island used to ensure students are meeting state curriculum benchmarks

This article is from the "HolmdelPatch" February 2, 2012
Holmdel Schools Mid-Year Progress Report

Board of Education President Barbara Garrity reports on how the board is meeting its goals.

With second semester beginning, we review our progress to date in meeting our 2011-12 goals. Each goal – World Language program enhancement, Technology improvement and integration into instruction, Character Education, Differentiated Instruction, and Financial Enhancements – builds on prior years’ efforts, although this report focuses on current accomplishments.

World Language K-12
At Village School (VS), Spanish classes are now longer, allowing more to be accomplished in each session. Teachers conduct lessons in Spanish, with students responding in kind, as much as possible.
Fourth and fifth graders at Indian Hill (IH) now have Spanish weekly. As students become more proficient comprehending and speaking, reading and writing in Spanish are added to their instruction.

At Satz, the focus is differentiating world language instruction so children at all levels can benefit. Collaboration among the classroom teacher, in-class resource co-teacher, and the Child Study Team has produced In-Class Resource and Replacement classes. The World Language Lab helps tailor instruction to individual student needs. Using frequent assessments as a guide, the team will re-evaluate and tweak instruction as the year progresses. All together, there are eight in-class resource classes and two replacement classes available to 7th and 8th graders.

Holmdel High School (HHS) now has a full-time In-Class Resource teacher offering five sections of In-Class Resource Spanish, split between Spanish I and II.

Technology
New to IH is Study Island, a program that identifies and remediates student achievement gaps in math and language arts. The program is aligned with the core curriculum content on which our students are state-tested. Because it’s web-based, students and teachers receive immediate results, and the remedial work is customized to each student’s level.
Study Island is being integrated into students’ weekly homework. Thanks to gifts from the PLG and HFEE, teachers now have access to 64 Nook e-readers and 33 iPEVO Document Cameras to enhance class instruction. Every classroom is now equipped with a Sound Field System which amplifies speech while damping out distracting noises. A new half-time technology coach helps teachers by creating and modeling lessons, offering professional development, and introducing resources teachers can use to enrich their lessons, e.g., virtual field trips, video clips, music, etc.

At Satz, all students now use Study Island to ensure they are meeting state curriculum benchmarks. A new Technology lab/class for both grades integrates the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines with computer literacy. We believe it will better prepare students for life and work in the 21st century. Thanks to the HFEE, several English and Social Studies classes are using student response “clickers,” through which students respond immediately and anonymously to teacher-posed questions. Responses let the teacher see whether s/he has effectively taught a concept, or gauge class opinion. Clickers also empower shy students to more actively participate in class.

Through MCIA lease-purchases, HHS upgraded the TV studio’s software and workstation capability, refurbished the Graphic Arts and Web Design computer labs, provided 15 laptops for teacher use, bought and installed 15 more LCD classroom projectors for teaching, and more than doubled the classrooms equipped with Sound Field Systems to 47. All wireless access points were upgraded, giving HHS a solid foundation for improving classroom access to technology, and bringing it closer to filtered Internet access for personal computing devices.

Character Education
All schools are implementing the new Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying law that took effect in September. While we have always taken bullying seriously, the new law requires a precisely defined response.
Village School is using the longer school day for “Morning Meeting” which supports character education goals of kindness, compassion and empathy. The school has shared with families the language and positive reinforcements used at school so parents can reinforce the message at home. Teachers report this has increased the program’s effectiveness.

At Indian Hill, Morning Meeting now occurs in all classrooms, grades 4-6. With Holmdel Alliance funding, IH is in the fifth year of the Heroes and Cool Kids program. HHS students mentor 6th graders to reinforce the importance of abstaining from drugs and alcohol. Character education is reinforced by Red Ribbon Week activities, a food drive for Project Paul food pantry, and an “I Pledge Tree” art project on which students show their commitment to developing good character traits.

Satz is continuing the 7th grade Peer-Proof program using grant funding from the Holmdel Alliance. New this year is GenerationTextOnline, which focuses on ending cyber-bullying with its devastating effect on students.

Holmdel High provides the mentors for Heroes and Cool Kids, and is now seeing former 6th graders step up to become mentors for others. “Transitions” has evolved into a mentor program that matches groups of 9th graders with upperclassmen mentors. It helps freshmen settle into HHS, supports school involvement, and includes activities designed to build character and combat bullying.

Differentiation of Instruction
Village School staff use data analysis and technology to help differentiate instruction to meet students’ varying needs. Study Island and Running Records (reading) are both used. The Reading Specialist and Columbia University’s Readers/Writers Workshop support these efforts.

Indian Hill is also using Readers/Writers Workshop. New this year is a Reading Specialist who supports teachers by modeling lessons and offering feedback. Teachers will also participate in Columbia’s Teachers College Workshop training.

Satz uses Study Island to pinpoint and address individual gaps, and “clickers” to spot areas in need of further teaching or reinforcement.

Holmdel High is focused on its “Collaborative Team Teaching Initiative”, which pairs general and special education staff in one classroom to meet divergent student learning needs. Monmouth University is providing workshops and class visits to enhance team teaching.

Curriculum revisions in Social Studies (K-6) and Language Arts (1-6) are in process to meet revised state core curriculum content standards for fall, 2012. New elementary science standards are being reviewed, as well as HS science course needs. Math course pre-requisites and placement levels are also under review.

Financial Enhancements
Our 2½ year old Energy Conservation program has cut energy use by more than 50%, saving $3 million. Outsourcing the final 40% of student transportation services this year saved roughly $400K. In January, we approved a power purchase agreement, utilizing roof-mounted solar panels at each school, which will reduce our energy costs roughly $2.3 million over the 15 year life of the contract. The solar panels will be installed this summer. By bidding our paving work with the Township, we saved roughly $250K. We joined the Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission to gain further joint purchasing opportunities.

We are exploring the possibility of accepting tuition-paying students for a complementary Kindergarten program that would provide a full day of activities for kindergarteners.

All schools are reducing costs by changing from paper communications to email, Parent Portal, web pages and the like. Our parent groups continue to support student activities and learning with their time and funds, as do the Holmdel Alliance, HFEE and other community groups and members. We are most grateful for their support.

We look forward to sharing our final progress report at our State of the District presentation this spring.
On behalf of my Board colleagues,

Barbara Garrity, Board President

"To the Lords and Ladies of Study Island"

H.L. Brockett Elementary School in Aubrey, TX has used Study Island for grades 2 – 5 for several years now. In the initial year of use, the technology teacher partnered with classroom teachers to provide a prize drawing for digital cameras, MP3 players, flash drives, and more. Students received entries into the drawing for completing Blue Ribbons for all topics in a section. Wildly successful, students began to crave more.



Enter the Study Island Royalty Wall-of-Fame. Students who completed all topics in a section in Blue Ribbon fashion were photographed wearing a crown, and the pictures were displayed in the hallway for all of the “subjects” to see! The students loved the photographic pat on the back, with many students spending hours over the weekends and during school vacation days perfecting their Study Island skills.
As an added bonus, students who achieved “king or queen” status were given special invitations to a “Study Island Royalty Party” at the end of the year. The festivities included food, beverages, lively music, and the high-light of the afternoon – 100 feet of bubble wrap! Each student was allowed to make one pass across the popping-pathway on a tricycle, as those awaiting a turn cheered them on from the sidelines!
Not to be outdone, Mr. David Cox, the technology teacher and champion of Study Island is adding a live band to this year’s “Royalty Ball”. Students from Brockett are averaging well over 10,000 questions answered every week, and teachers have embraced the powerful re-teaching and skill strengthen impact that Study Island has on all of the kids, regardless of grade level. As a result of the amazing results that Brockett, and sister campus J.A. Monaco Elementary have seen since introducing Study Island, Aubrey ISD has recently extended the program to include implementing Study Island through middle school and high school!
Please consider the innovative and creative efforts of Mr. David Cox and the Brockett teaching staff when searching for great success stories for future use. To contact Mr. Cox, please e-mail at dcox@aubreyisd.net
Thank You,
Ron Gregory
Monaco Elementary
Aubrey ISD

"Study Island is one of the most innovative programs in use at Immaculate Conception."

Immaculate Conception lays foundation for academics



TimesReporter.com staff report   Posted Jan 29, 2012 @ 11:54 PM


Immaculate Conception is moving forward, educating students in mind, body, and spirit. The students at Immaculate Conception develop an appreciation and understanding of the faith, plus a solid foundation in academics.


Academically, Immaculate Conception students continue to perform to high expectations, averaging from the 80th to 99th percentile on all parts of the “Terra Nova,” a national normed standardized test.


While the faculty believes that this is an indication that teaching and curriculum are sound, they remain committed to continuous improvement. Data reports from the Terra Nova test are used to determine any areas in the curriculum that need to be strengthened.


Principal Anthony Amicone said he is pleased with the school’s educational technology program.


“The school has burst into 21st century technology in education arena,” he said.


Currently in use in the classrooms are Smart Boards, Acer laptop computers, a new computer lab consisting of workstations, and Apple I Pads.


These technological devices are being incorporated into daily instruction to enhance the delivery of the Core Standards in all subject areas. Students are exhibiting a new enthusiasm for learning and are taking a more active part in that learning.


Study Island is one of the most innovative programs in use at Immaculate Conception. Study Island is a web-based software program for students beginning in the third grade, used to assess students’ mastery of concepts in the core subject areas. Since it is web based, students can access their accounts from home and get their homework. The work can be individually tailored to meet students’ needs and abilities and many different reports can be generated to assess student progress.


Reading Eggs is in use with kindergarten, first- and second-graders. With this program, teachers have observed a tremendous surge of enthusiasm and marked gains in reading skills. Parents of students in those grades have indicated that students are enthusiastically pursuing their schoolwork at home. he school’s technology plan seeks to provide even greater access to technology.


Creativity is essential to the development of the child as a well-rounded person. Various art and music activities are provided to the students to foster that creativity. Students have many opportunities within the curriculum at Immaculate Conception to develop their musical and artistic talents. Singing in the church junior choir allows them to use the voice to praise God.


Service to others is a very important aspect faith-based education at Immaculate Conception. Students participate in service programs such as providing canned goods for the food pantry, volunteerism in the community during events, and assisting the elderly.


The teaching staff of Immaculate Conception continues to develop new and innovative ways to teach the core standards. They are actively engaged in various religious and academic professional development programs and classes.


“Small class sizes, dedicated and highly qualified teachers, teaching and reinforcement of faith based morals and behavior, a safe and clean environment, and superior standardized test performance all make Immaculate Conception a premier educational institution,” Amicone said.

“The research has shown that the districts that are using the Study Island and the Reading Eggs are the districts that have greater success ...

This article was posted February 1, 2012 and is from the "Independent" [Greater  Media Newspapers - A Group of Ten Community Newspapers Serving Monmouth and Middlesex Counties]


Mat-AB BOE sets 2012-13 district goals


Increases in literacy, morale, nontax revenues, graduation rate targeted



BY NICOLE ANTONUCCI, Staff Writer


The Matawan-Aberdeen School District will focus on increasing student performance and morale and reducing spending for the 2012-2013 school year.


During the Jan. 23 Board of Education meeting, board President Charles Kenny highlighted the district’s top four goals for this academic year.


“These goals are very demanding and they will be hard to achieve,” Kenny said. “The nuts and bolts of how this would be achieved is a fluid process and it is a process the administration is charged with.”


According to Kenny, the board held a special meeting on Nov. 20 to prioritize goals for the coming year.


“There are many goals that the board wants to achieve, but these were the goals that we thought were important,” he said.


Superintendent David Healy explained that the administration has already begun to implement various measures to make the goals more attainable.


The first goal is to reduce the non-proficiency rate on the statewide NJ ASK test in reading among third-grade students by 15 percent.


Upon coming to the district, Healy learned some students, particularly in third grade, weren’t meeting the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmark in language arts on the NJ ASK test.


“Having worked in Middletown, being closely involved in a lot of literacy initiatives in Middletown and seeing that success, the most important thing was analyzing the data and knowing what to do with the data,” he said.


Based on the data, different tools are being used, including guided reading for grades 3 to 5 as well as training for teachers.


A portion of the $584,217 in additional 2011 state aid was used to provide classroom libraries with level readers for classroom instruction, Healy said.


He added that a recently added Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) tool would assess progress three times a year.


“It gives us an indication of how students are progressing in the area of language arts literacy, and based on that information, we create strategies toward really addressing what the data provides to us,” Healy said.


“Depending on where the students are or how well they do on the assessment, we either continue to provide the whole-group instruction, small-group instruction, or one-on-one instruction, with the goal to bring every student to at least grade level or above.”


In addition, monies were allocated from No Child Left Behind funds to conduct a language arts literacy summer school for students exiting first through fifth grades who are two grade levels or more behind on the DRA.


The idea, Healy explained, is for those students who are falling behind to attend summer school so they can improve reading grade level.


Students are also utilizing Study Island (grades 3-12) and Reading Eggs (grades K-2), two Web-based programs that follow the core curriculum content standards and directly correlate to the NJ ASK. “The research has shown that the districts that are using the Study Island and the Reading Eggs are the districts that have greater success on the NJASK and some of those other assessments,” Healy said.


Healy said the focus is on early childhood literacy since it can ultimately impact areas such as science, social studies and math literacy.


He added that if students progress in literacy, it could help decrease the need for additional special programs.


“It reduces the need for things like resource room, it reduces the need for basic skills, and we will see a reduction in the classification of students for reading disabilities.


“Oftentimes when we classify students for reading disability it’s not because they can’t read, it’s because they never learned how to read properly,” he said.


The second goal is to prepare an annual budget with a tax levy increase that does not exceed 1.5 percent from the prior year without any reduction in programs.


To do this, the administration plans to improve operational efficiency and to increase nontax based revenue.


“[We are looking at] our use of custodial overtime, we are looking at the utilization of the utilities and how they can be better addressed such as more energy-efficient systems, replacing some of our boilers with more efficient systems,” Healy said.


He said the district could also save money by bringing out-of-district students back to the district.


“When we bring students back to the district, we are bringing them to a program that is equal to, if not better than, the program they are currently in. That is a more efficient way of managing our students that are currently out-of-district placements,” Healy said.


“That can be a tremendous cost savings to the district and we can utilize that money to enhance our programs to benefit those students.”


The district also will identify revenue sources that are not based on taxes, Healy said, including studying how facilities can be used by outside organizations.


“Although we believe that we should provide a service to the community in terms of our facilities we want to make sure the district is appropriately compensated for the use of those facilities,” Healy said.


He added that the state has also approved advertisements on district-operated school buses.


“That can be a pretty solid revenue source when you consider that our buses run all day long between the school programs, our preschool programs, our athletic programs, our summer programs. It is a great opportunity for our district to use the buses to advertise.”


The third goal is to enhance the morale for students and staff by decreasing districtwide suspensions by 10 percent and decreasing district-wide violence and vandalism incidents by 10 percent.


“We have been addressing the problems and not necessarily the symptoms,” Healy said, adding that early intervention is needed.


“We have developed a partnership with CPC Behavioral Healthcare where students are referred and behavioral plans are put into place, creating positive behavioral support systems,” Healy said.


He said that supervision in school hallways and cafeterias has been increased to address problems that may be happening between classes.


“It comes down to good building management and having the team approach from the teachers and administrators to the students all working together. It is very important to have a positive, nurturing environment in our buildings.”


Finally, the district plans to reduce the number of high school seniors taking the Alternative High School Assessment (ASHA) by 25 percent.


When students do not pass the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), a requirement for graduation, they have the option of taking the ASHA, Healy said.


To reduce the number of students taking the ASHA, Healy said HSPA preparation would be increased.


Healy said that while the district will work to attain the four goals recognized as priorities, there are about 50 other goals that have been identified.


“We believe,” Healy said, “we are going to meet the challenge.”