Category Archives: increasing student achievement

Secrets the Big Online Education Companies Don’t Want You to Know

Online credit recovery courses are big business for education companies.  Unfortunately, they may not deliver on promises to schools and students. These programs enable students to take courses in a variety of subjects to “recover” credits lost and receive a … Continue reading

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Closing the Widening Achievement Gap

The gap in educational achievement is growing between rich and poor, according to a new book published by Stanford University’s Center for Educational Policy Analysis. Family income has become a significant factor in predicting children’s academic achievement, says the author Sean … Continue reading

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Helping Diverse Levels of Students

One of the most striking aspects of the Merit Online Learning system is the wide range of student levels instructors use the system with successfully.  Merit Online Learning is used in elementary school classrooms, secondary schools, English language learning programs, … Continue reading

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Progress in Reading Scores?

Earlier this month the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress report on 4th and 8th grade reading and math scores were released by the U.S. National Center for Educational Statistics.   Reading scores continued to show no progress.

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Teens IQ Scores May Fluctuate Dramatically Over Time

A teen’s IQ is not set in stone, according to a study published this month in Nature. In fact, the standard measure of intelligence — often used to predict future success — can fluctuate dramatically. “It was NOT the case … Continue reading

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Improving Writing Support

According to a new report, there are three effective strategies instructors can employ to improve student writing skills. Published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, the report examines whether formative assessment can improve students’ writing skills and what techniques are … Continue reading

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Congratulations – Aztec High School!

Laurie Treat, librarian at Aztec High School, Aztec, NM, wrote in to tell us exciting news. She won a Conoco Phillips grant to purchase Merit reading comprehension software for remediation and RtI for students who are non-proficient in reading.

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Can Changing Reading and Writing Instruction Raise SAT Scores?

SAT reading scores in 2011 were the lowest on record. This is the second time in the past two decades that reading scores have fallen as much in a single year. It is well known that middle and high school students … Continue reading

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Ghetto grammar robs the young of a proper voice

“Language is power.  The ability for young people to communicate articulately and intelligently is of huge importance, not only for themselves but also for the way in which they are perceived by others,” writes  Lindsay Johns in the August 16, … Continue reading

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Greatest challenges teachers face for helping at-risk students

Recently, we conducted an informal survey about the greatest challenges teachers face for helping at-risk students.  Their responses seemed to break out into various categories, which we present here.

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