Archipelago Learning Wins 2011 Stevie(R) Awards for Best Customer Service Team

Archipelago Learning has been chosen as a winner of the 2011 Stevie® Awards. For the second consecutive year in which the company has been eligible, Archipelago Learning was selected as Best Customer Service Department – Public Service and Education. Additionally, the company received the People's Choice Award for Favorite Customer Service – Public Service and Education, a new award added this year.

Archipelago Learning, Creator of Study Island and Northstar Learning is a leading subscription-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of primary, elementary, secondary and post-secondary education products.

Now in its fifth year, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is the world's leading sales awards, customer service awards, and call center awards program, recognizing organizations and individuals for their recent achievements in these disciplines. The awards are governed by a board of distinguished judges and advisors that includes many leading business figures. The Stevie Awards organization also hosts the prestigious American Business Awards.

"Providing outstanding customer service has been a guiding principle since our inception, and part of the core values our employees live by every day," said Tim McEwen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Archipelago Learning. "We are so proud to be recognized for our strong customer service efforts for the second time. It is our customers — school administrators and teachers — that make it easy for us to go above and beyond to provide them with the support they need to help their students achieve greater academic success."

Used by millions of students in thousands of schools across the United States, Archipelago Learning's web-based educational programs, including Study Island, Northstar Learning, EducationCity and Reading Eggs, create a multitude of age-appropriate, engaging learning experiences for students and teachers, alike.

More than 800 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted to this year's Stevie Awards competition, an increase of more than 60 percent over 2010. There were 25 categories for customer service professionals as well as 40 categories for sales professionals.

Archipelago Learning's award for the Best Customer Service Department of the Year was determined by more than 177,000 public votes. Companies in other business categories that received awards for Customer Service included: Macy's, Marriott Vacation Club, PetRays, and India's TATA Motors Ltd.

About Archipelago Learning

Archipelago Learning is a leading subscription-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of education products used by approximately 13 million students in over 35,000 schools throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our supplemental product offerings facilitate the evolution of education as technology transforms the learning experience. For more information, please visit us at www.archipelagolearning.com.

About The Stevie Awards

The Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com.

Project-based Learning Contest

Study Island is excited to announce the launch of a new project-based learning contest. With this contest, we are giving our customers the opportunity to submit project-based learning activities and have them published within our products! In addition, they can win some great prizes including an Apple iPad 16 GB (WiFi), a $200 gift Amazon gift card, or a $100 Amazon gift card. To announce this contest, an email and a Message Center announcement will be sent to all current customers. Additionally, we will be posting a link to www.studyisland.com/pblcontest on the Teacher Page.

Here's how the contest will work:

• Grade-levels will be broken into four categories:
  K-2 3-5 6-8 HS
• Within each grade-level category customers can submit as many individual project-based learning activities as they would like, so long as the activities are their original work and they submit the corresponding entry forms for EACH submission. Each activity will be judged individually which will give them more opportunities to win a great prize!*
• Each grade-level category will have a first, second, and third place prize.
  
• All activities and corresponding entry forms are due no later than March 14, 2011 at 11:59 PM CST.
  
• Our panel of expert judges will review all entries and choose winners based on creativity, relevance, quality, and broad appeal.
  
• Winners will be announced on May 1, 2011. The best of the best will also be published in our products!
  

You can visit our new microsite with all of the contest details, rules, entry forms, and FAQs at www.studyisland.com/PBLcontest.

Please direct all additional questions to contest@studyisland.com.

Apple and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Amazon is a registered trademark of Amazon.com, Inc.
*Limited to one prize per person.

Common Formative Assessments Using Study Island

Study Island is much more than a drill ‘n’ kill/test-prep tool. Although there are many other new features like the paperless, digitized Writing Assignment, Parent Notification, LiveView, and Common Core Standards, I would like to highlight the Custom Assessment tool in this posting.

The custom assessment option allows teachers to create online assessments for one student in a class, a group of students in a class or an entire class. The teacher can browse through questions by topic or standard. He or she can select a topic question and tell the system how many of that type of question he or she would like included in the test.

The software will randomize the numbers in a math question or change the text in a language arts question. This allows the teacher to have multiple questions that assess the same skill.

By having the ability to create custom assessments, faculty members are able to quickly develop formative assessments that will help guide instruction. The fact that these assessments can be taken online, with a student response system (classroom “clicker”) or on paper provide a number of options.

The newest release of Study Island now allows teachers to share the custom assessments that they create with the other teachers in their school as part of the teachers’ Custom Assessment Library.

When implemented correctly, Study Island is a valuable instructional tool. The software offers numerous, actionable reports, customizable options and an intuitive interface. Teachers can collaborate by sharing not only the Custom Assessments but also the resulting data. Reports can even be automatically emailed to parents

This article was adapted from an original post from:
Mr. Walker's Technology Blog
Developing 21st Century Skills One BYTE at a Time
http://blogs.jefftwp.org/wordpress/walker/2011/01/31/common-formative-assessments-using-study-island/

Mastering the ACT with Study Island

Study Island ACT, is a web-based review program that provides both students and schools with a flexible, affordable and effective option for ACT exam preparation.

Most colleges and universities today require an ACT (American College Testing) or SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) score as an eligibility factor. With more and more students applying to colleges, however, a higher ACT score could mean the difference between being accepted or not. The problem is, not every student has access to – or can afford – traditional review programs on the market today.

Not so, with Study Island ACT. Study Island ACT's web-based platform makes the program accessible anytime, anywhere an Internet connection is available, and unlike typical online practice and test-prep programs, it teaches both the content and strategies to achieve the best possible results on the ACT exam. It also allows students to build a study regimen that is completely flexible to their particular needs, and at a fraction of the cost.

Ensure Your Students Have The Best College Options

• In the highly competitive college admissions process, a higher ACT score can be a significant differentiating factor. Study Island ACT will help ensure that your students perform at their best on the exam by reinforcing key exam content and providing proven, effective test taking strategies. With cutting-edge interactive lessons in math, science, critical reading, and writing, Study Island ACT offers the same high-quality learning experience as a one-on-one tutor at a fraction of the cost.

What do you get?

• Expert ACT Knowledge - Students learn key ACT test taking strategies & content
• Interactive Lessons - In-depth, interactive lessons with animation & audio
• Flexible Practice - Teachers can assign areas of practice or students can work at their own pace
• Multiple Quiz Modes – Test mode, game mode, or printable worksheets
• Completely Web-Based - Access anywhere with an Internet connection, 24/7
• Personalized Feedback - Real-time progress reports show students strengths and areas that need more practice
• Free Tech Support - Weekday tech support by phone, email, or online chat
• Full-Length Practice Tests - Reinforce students skills & develop their confidence
• BONUS EXTRAS - Printable math vocabulary cards, an in-depth guide to writing ACT essays, and multiple essay writing prompts

How can Study Island be used to prepare for the ACT?

• Since the ACT tends to fall outside of a traditional curriculum, Study Island allows students to set their own learning pace inside or outside the classroom.

How does Study Island help students prepare for the ACT?

• Content- The Study Island ACT content was created by our partner Tutor Associates, experts in knowing how to develop ACT-like questions, which allows students to practice for both the Quantitative and Verbal sections of the ACT, including the optional writing section.
• Strategy- Using animated strategy lessons, “cheat sheets”, and other techniques, Study Island ACT helps students learn how to take the ACT test.
• Practice-The three full-length diagnostic tests allow students to experience taking the ACT, including the optional writing section, before the big day.
• Reports- Both the students and teachers have access to numerous reports that will allow them to monitor progress.

How do I use the ACT program?

ACT Diagnostic Tests:

1. It is recommended that the students take a diagnostic test first, to help gauge which topics might need more work than others.
2. Like an actual ACT test, each practice test includes four sections and one writing section.
3. A manual scoring guide is available at the bottom of the page to help convert Study Island scores to the ACT scaled scores.
4. Students, Parents, Teachers and Administrators can access a student’s ACT diagnostic results in an easily accessible report.

ACT Quantitative:

1. From the ACT Main Page, click on ACT Quantitative; students can open a voiced-over animated strategy lesson. The focus of these tutorial lessons is to help students understand how to take the ACT test as well as to provide content. These animated strategy lessons contain interactive tools that allow students to work within the module.
2. Students are free to work on any section they choose, allowing them to focus on areas of concern. A caution symbol identifies areas of concern while the blue ribbon identifies the topics that have been passed.
3. Students are able to work on topics in either Test Mode, Game Mode, or with Printable Work Sheets. Administrators can adjust game settings.
4. Students, Parents, Teachers and Administrators can access a student’s ACT Quantitative progress in an easily accessible report. The student has the option to compare his or her performance against the school or other Study Island users.

ACT Verbal:

1. From the ACT Main Page, click on ACT Verbal; students can open a voiced-over animated strategy lesson. The focus of these tutorial lessons is to help students understand how to take the ACT test as well as to provide content. These animated strategy lessons contain interactive tools that allow students to work within the module.
2. Students are free to work on any section they choose, allowing them to focus on areas of concern. A caution symbol identifies areas of concern while the blue ribbon identifies the topics that have been passed.
3. Students are able to work on topics in either Test Mode, Game Mode, or with Printable Work Sheets. Administrators can adjust game settings.
4. Students, Parents, Teachers and Administrators can access a student’s ACT Verbal progress in an easily accessible report. The student has the option to compare his or her performance against the school or other Study Island users.
5. The ACT Verbal section on Study Island also includes a Guide to Writing ACT Essays, which includes information on how to structure an ACT essay. Students and teachers can also find information on how the ACT essays are scored. There are also a number of Practice Prompts to help the student better prepare for the writing section of the ACT.

Start your students down the right path to a successful college admissions process!

Learn more at www.studyisland.com/ACT. ACT@studyisland.com 800.419.3191

ACT hints at scale of Common Core challenge

Posted on The Prichard Blog: 07 Dec 2010

When we start assessing students against the Common Core Standards, what kind of results will we see? ACT, Inc., has just offered a set of blunt estimates. Using results from the states where all students participate in the ACT (including Kentucky), the report projects that in first literacy testing of 11th graders:

• 38 percent will meet the new standards in reading.
• 51 percent will meet the new standards in writing.
• 53 percent will meet the new standards for language.

Since the Common Core calls for added focus on informational text and on literacy skills that work for specific fields of study, the report also offered estimated results for 11th grade results in those subjects, estimating that:

• 24 percent will meet the standards for literacy in science
• 41 percent will meet the standards for literacy in social studies.
• 38 percent will meet the standards for informational text.
• 37 percent will meet the standards for literature.

Mathematics is exactly as grim, with 11th grade projections that:

• 34 percent will meet the mathematics standards for number and quantity.*
• 42 percent will meet the mathematics standards for functions.
• 37 percent will meet the mathematics standards for statistics and probability.

The rationale for the Common Core has always been that American schools need to aim higher and American students need to achieve at higher levels. This preliminary study provides a first glimpse of how much work we have ahead.

* The ACT mathematics categories come with short explanations of what's in each subdomain. Number and quantity includes the real number system, quantities, the complex number system, and vector and matrix quantities. Functions includes interpreting functions; linear, quadratic, and exponential models; and trigonometric functions. Statistics and Probability includes interpreting categorical and quantitative data; making inferences and justifying conclusions; conditional probability and the rules of probability; and using probability to make decisions.