The Atlanta Constitution cites comments from former Massachusetts Education Commissioner David Driscoll, who is on the National Assessment Governing Board.

Driscoll notes that twenty years ago reading scores were higher than math scores.  Now a “flip” has occurred, and math scores are higher.

…the flip reflects the success of math instruction, which is almost exclusively taught in math classes in schools. It is different for reading proficiency, which is a product of how much students read outside school and how much reading they do across curriculum, not just in reading and English/Language Arts classes, he said.

The Christian Science Monitor reported:

At the announcement of the results, Doris Hicks, a member of the governing board and principal of a New Orleans charter school, spoke about the reading results, saying that she saw the flat performance as “losing ground.”

“We need to emphasize higher-order thinking skills when it comes to reading,” Ms. Hicks said, pushing comprehension over simple regurgitation.

In the past year, we here at Merit Software have made great strides toward improving reading instruction. We are optimistic about the future.

Less than one year ago, our first web-based reading program was launched.  The program, Reading Skill Builder, is a comprehension and assessment tool for students reading at a 3rd through 8th grade level.  It is, along with other Merit web-based language arts programs, routinely used in schools every day.

Our new web-based products incorporate the latest in educational pedagogy, including the use of context-clues, textural evidence support, plus academic vocabulary exercises.

In addition, teacher-training offerings have been greatly expanded.  We encourage educators to let us help them set up their learners’ accounts and show them, quickly, how to get the most out of their Merit online products.

“It was NOT the case that the young low performers got better and the young high performers averaged out,” study co-author Cathy Price says.

Price cannot say with certainty what accounts for such changes.  Brain development may be influenced by what students focus on in their studies. If they neglect verbal-oriented learning, for instance, their scores may reflect that.

It has been our experience that teens need to “use it or lose it” when it comes to developing and sustaining their verbal skills.

Merit Software’s reading, vocabulary, grammar, and writing programs have a long track record of success with teens.  The format is straightforward, adaptive, and gives immediate feedback when students encounter areas of difficulty.

Learn more about the study here.

Published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, the report examines whether formative assessment can improve students’ writing skills and what techniques are best to help them improve.

Student writing skills can be improved by having teachers provide students regular feedback, track their progress, and encourage them to evaluate their own skills, finds a new report, “Informing Writing: The Benefits of Formative Assessment.”

Merit web-based writing programs can help teachers accomplish the three tasks outlined in the report.

The screen shot below shows how teachers can:

• View student writing within an online portfolio to give feedback. (See “View Student’s Work” in blue box.)
• Determine if students have viewed editing sections for self-assessment purposes. (See “Section Progress” in green box at left in the screen shot.)
• Monitor the writing progress of entire classes as they work. (All student records can be accessed by using the double arrows shown at top of screen shot.)

Click here to enlarge image.

Here is a link to the report:
http://www.all4ed.org/files/InformingWriting.pdf

Click here to learn more about Merit web-based writing programs.

She won a Conoco Phillips grant to purchase Merit reading comprehension software for remediation and RtI for students who are non-proficient in reading.

It is well known that middle and high school students are reading less at home and rarely write letters anymore.  Could greater use of technology strengthen reading and writing instruction in schools and raise SAT scores? We think so.

Merit Software is successfully used in many schools at the late elementary, secondary, and college prep levels. Rigorous research has been conducted on Merit as a supplement to everyday instruction.  The evidence shows it increases standardized test scores without directly teaching to the test.

Merit reading and writing software prepares students for post-high-school work and provides personal remedial activities for students who need extra help.

Teachers have observed that students who write a well-considered persuasive essay with Merit’s Essay Punch and ace eighth-grade-level comprehension and academic vocabulary questions in Merit’s Reading Skill Builder are well on the way to being able to handle college material.

Plus, as Merit has expanded its web-based offerings, teachers are able to benefit from even greater levels of reliability and support from our staff.  Application hosting and student enrollments are now handled by Merit.  Schools no longer need an IT person to set up their use of the software. They can also gradually phase in use of the programs with just a few students or classes at a time.

More students took the SAT in 2011 than ever before.  Bob Wise, the president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and a former governor of West Virginia, says the increase in the number of students taking the SAT is a positive sign.

However, the results clearly show the need for a lot more work in K-12 schools. “The workforce needs and skill needs in our society are rising, unfortunately, much faster than our SAT or ACT scores,” Wise said.

By using Merit Software’s reading and writing instructional products in schools, along with Merit’s top-notch training and professional development support, educators can help students improve their college readiness.

Johns, a mentor of young people in Peckham, a district of London, states further that educational opportunities and job prospects are all directly affected by correct use of language.

He deplores the recent tendency of many young people of all races and backgrounds across London and other UK cities to squander their rich English language inheritance by speaking in a popular street slang.

Here at Merit Software, we design learning tools to help students’ master core academic skills.  Educators can easily use the online editions of Grammar Fitness, Paragraph Punch and Essay Punch programs to help students stay focused and interested in gaining the skills they need for academic and career success.

The web-based versions measure progress and tracks time-on-task for teachers and students.  Personal, expert support ensures that all users experience success.

The following are categories we identified:

Resources

“Support and materials that are relevant to at-risk students” are cited by a professor in British Columbia, Canada.

An elementary school reading specialist in North Dakota stresses “The greatest challenge that I currently have in helping at-risk students is not having the resources available to differentiate my instruction to meet the individual needs of each student.”

Support

A teacher at an international school in Rome, Italy, mentions “Meeting their learning needs and helping them feel successful at the same time.”

A teacher at the Department of Education, Puerto Rico, cites the importance of “Helping students lose the fear of participating in class.”

An administrator in New South Wales, Australia, stresses the importance of “Improved recognition and support at school of at-risk students.”

Issues Outside of School

A lead teacher in Texas cites the challenge of creating and sustaining “Parent involvement.”

An Indiana teacher cites “Lack of family support and poor background knowledge.”

A Mississippi director mentions “Attendance and challenges at home.”

Assessment

An educator in Western Australia stresses the importance of “Assessing their needs correctly and using appropriate strategies to help them.”

Communication and teaching methodology

An exceptional needs teacher in North Carolina mentions “Making it interesting and relevant to their world.”

A Wisconsin educator cites the importance of “Establishing mutual trust.”

A special education teacher in Indiana stresses “Keeping them focused and excited about learning.”

A technology contact in West Virginia presents the challenge of  “Differentiating the instruction to allow them to express themselves on a level that is appropriate to the grade level while utilizing their unique skills.”

A classroom teacher in Florida cites the challenge of “Presenting the material in such a way that they can grasp and retain it.”

What do you think of these comments?  And, what ideas of your own would you like to share?  Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

For information, pricing, tours, and implementation ideas go to:

• English Basic Web Suite
• English Intermediate Web Suite
• English Advanced Web Suite

To deal with this issue, some have called for the elimination of standardized tests.   However, we feel that accountability data is too important to stakeholders to drop completely.

Hopelessness about how to improve student achievement is one of the reasons teachers felt compelled to cheat on these standardized tests.

If teachers had a better way to know where students stood academically, if they had a better idea about the areas where their students needed help, if the teachers felt they had a chance to help all their students, then perhaps there would be less incentive to cheat.

And it goes without saying that if students received the evaluation, support, and direction they needed, their scores improve.

Teachers need useful, formative assessments to help them determine each student’s strengths and weaknesses.  Administrators need a way to know during the school year if their teachers are actually helping their students.  Students deserve to learn and achieve.

All groups need a partner to show them how this can be done.  This is where Merit Software fits in.

This analysis was published in a recent New York Times article about how many graduates of top rated New York City high schools need remedial help when they go to college. Education officials plan to change the way high schools are ranked to reflect their students future college remediation needs.

The combined remediation rate for the 50 high schools serving the highest-achieving students, based on middle-school test scores, was 21 percent. For the 50 schools serving the lowest-achieving students, the City University of New York (CUNY) remediation rate was 77 percent.

With the cost of college high, and public expenses under greater scrutiny, it makes sense to diagnose, assess and remediate college ready skills while students are still in middle and high school.

Merit’s language arts software is used at upper elementary, secondary and college levels.  Although Merit is primarily an interactive learning tool, the assessment sections are accurate gauges of college readiness.

If students work through the Merit language arts activities, and gain mastery and demonstrate proficiency, they are more likely to be able to tackle college level work.

For example, if students master Grammar Fitness Online Levels 4 and 5 and Reading Skill Builder Level 3, they will be well on their way to being ready for college level work.

Read “In Data, A-Rated Schools Leave Many Not Ready for CUNY”