It's really a simple formula; more time equals more learning. This is not news to those of us in education and it certainly doesn't seem like an earth shattering revelation to others. A recent study by Harvard economics professor Roland Fryer looked at the correct "recipe" for highly effective schools. His study is highlighted in a recent Boston Globe column by Gareth Cook. Mr. Fryer identified 5 common elements, one of them was extended learning time. This one aspect has proven to be very challenging for public schools mainly due to the large scale financial implications of extending the school day.
Before Fryer recognized the need for purposeful learning beyond the traditional six hour school day, Lincoln and the Melrose Public Schools starting using a variety of technology tools to "expand the learning day" with targeted activities.
Lexia, a powerful literacy development tool, is web-based and provides individualized student accounts that are closely followed by teachers, tutors and administrators. The folks at Quantum Learning, New England's largest Lexia user group, know full well the benefits of this program and how it's consistent student use with teacher follow up instruction based on the Lexia results, can make huge improvements with students decoding and comprehension skills. When students use Lexia from home or in school 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes each, we have seen students close a 1 year reading gap in 6 months.
Similarly, the Symphony Math program, is a web-based program where students progress through various stages of math skills, while the program responds to student answers, forcing students to tackle additional problems they demonstrate difficulty with. This program, uses a strong visual component to learning math, which for struggling math students, can be the piece that ties it all together.
In both programs, teachers and administrators can view each individual student's progress, where they are struggling and then respond by providing the students with some additional instruction. These programs are powerful, but they still will never replace direct, explicit instruction. However, when they are used consistently by students and the information is used by teachers to help students, the results for us have been impressive. It is real time data and assessment without testing.
With only 6 hours in the school day, we must find ways for students to engage in meaningful and directed work outside of the school day. Technology, and in particular, web enabled responsive programs like Lexia and Symphony, may be the answer for those who are looking to catch students up, but are constrained by time.
Before Fryer recognized the need for purposeful learning beyond the traditional six hour school day, Lincoln and the Melrose Public Schools starting using a variety of technology tools to "expand the learning day" with targeted activities.
Lexia, a powerful literacy development tool, is web-based and provides individualized student accounts that are closely followed by teachers, tutors and administrators. The folks at Quantum Learning, New England's largest Lexia user group, know full well the benefits of this program and how it's consistent student use with teacher follow up instruction based on the Lexia results, can make huge improvements with students decoding and comprehension skills. When students use Lexia from home or in school 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes each, we have seen students close a 1 year reading gap in 6 months.
Similarly, the Symphony Math program, is a web-based program where students progress through various stages of math skills, while the program responds to student answers, forcing students to tackle additional problems they demonstrate difficulty with. This program, uses a strong visual component to learning math, which for struggling math students, can be the piece that ties it all together.
In both programs, teachers and administrators can view each individual student's progress, where they are struggling and then respond by providing the students with some additional instruction. These programs are powerful, but they still will never replace direct, explicit instruction. However, when they are used consistently by students and the information is used by teachers to help students, the results for us have been impressive. It is real time data and assessment without testing.
With only 6 hours in the school day, we must find ways for students to engage in meaningful and directed work outside of the school day. Technology, and in particular, web enabled responsive programs like Lexia and Symphony, may be the answer for those who are looking to catch students up, but are constrained by time.
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