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.

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.

I like Merit because it is not just drill and kill. It helps my students think and dig deeper, which helps them learn the skills I am teaching. It also helps them get ready for standardized test formats.

I have 5 computers set up with the Merit Basic Skills Pack and when time allows, I have students practice the skills I teach in class. Thank you for making such a great difference in children’s lives.

In that time, many instructors and students have shared with us best practices for using them.  Based on their input we’ve posted new teaching tips for the writing process on our web site.

Click here for the new process writing teaching tips.

Are Common Core standards an effective tool to reform U.S. public schools?

The new standards have a strong possibility to help improve overall student performance. The standards shift the focus from learning grade-by-grade rules and the practice of “teaching to the test” to standards that are aligned with college and workplace expectations.

The most apparent shifts in the new standards come in English language arts. There is more emphasis on analyzing and writing throughout the curriculum. The standards call for students to read texts of increasing difficulty and to learn to clearly synthesize information from them and to communicate their ideas and understanding.

Research conducted on students using Merit Software in schools demonstrates the importance of incorporating writing into the curriculum. Most notably the evidence showed that improving reading, grammar and writing skills of secondary level students was correlated with gains in social studies and science test scores.

This research supports the conclusions of the writers of the Common Core standards and their emphasis on writing and language arts literacy.

Merit’s newest products are engaging, easy-to-use tools that help teachers implement writing and language arts exercises in online versions. These editions of Grammar Fitness, Paragraph and Essay Punch, as well as the creation of Book Punch, help a wide range of students improve and develop language arts literacy skills.

Instructors will benefit from materials and training to help them provide differentiated, personalized, instruction in the Common Core standards skills and content areas.

While the standards allow room for teachers to reach the goals in the context of their own teaching style, what materials do think would help you with your students?

All grants must help close the achievement gap, be scalable and sustainable, and be supported by prior evidence.

With these goals in mind, the DOE has said that there will be three tiers of grants. The Department has also outlined funding priorities.

Based on our review of the new guidance we believe there are opportunities for educators to use all Merit programs and remain within the i3 guidelines.

 All Merit products are researched based, and several of them have been subjected to rigorous studies. The research that has been conducted on Merit shows that it has been effective in closing the achievement gap.

To discuss ways to work with us and learn how to apply for the i3 grants using Merit programs, please contact us.

To learn more about the Investing in Innovation (i3) grants, click here.

Still too many high school graduates cannot adequately perform some of the essential college-ready skills in English, writing, reading, mathematics, and/or science, according to a new report from the publishers of the ACT college entrance exam.

In writing, for example, approximately 40 percent of 2009 ACT-tested graduates were not able to use the correct adverb or adjective form in a sentence, use the correct preposition in a phrase, or make sure that the subject and verb agree in a sentence.

In reading, 30 percent of the graduates were unable to evaluate the contribution that significant details make to the text as a whole.

And, in math, nearly 40 percent of the 2009 graduates could not solve multi-step problems involving fractions and percentages.

ACT’s research shows these types of skills are needed by students to be ready for college and work.

Merit Software has been used successfully in many college preparation programs to help teach each of these skills.

Unlike the previously announced Race to the Top funds which were only for public schools, i3 funds will also be available to non-profits, charter schools, colleges, and private companies.

i3 will look to fund programs that advance key education reforms, four of which include: building college and career-ready standards, providing data systems to support improved instruction, strengthening teacher and principal quality, and helping to turn around failing schools.

Later this fall the U.S. federal register will publish procedures for applying for the i3 fund. There will be a comment period, followed by an application, and then awards will be made in early 2010.  

“We’re looking for ways to boost student achievement, matriculation, and graduation rates– and we expect successful applicants will be able to demonstrate some success in closing achievement gaps, moving students toward proficiency, increasing graduation rates, and retaining high-quality teachers and principals,” said Secretary Duncan.

Areas of concern specifically mentioned in the speech were:

• supporting promising interventions for at-risk students;
• accelerating adolescents who are years behind;
• helping ELL students learn the language and the content;
• developing online content; and
• assisting students with disabilities to complete college-ready work.

Merit Software products have a strong track record of helping educational organizations provide innovative school reform efforts.

The full text version of Secretary Duncan’s speech is available at http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2009/08/08202009.html

For more information about Merit Software’s full product line go to http://meritsoftware.com/

U.S. educators who have questions about how to access stimulus funds can click here to contact a Merit representative.

The study found that in schools in need of improvement teachers are more likely than those in higher-achieving schools to ask students questions with one or a few right answers.

Conversely, teachers in high-achieving schools are more likely to take an almost 180-degree, opposite, approach.

They use more open-ended teaching strategies such as leading class discussions, hands-on activities, reading aloud and learning centers.

Is it just us, or is this strange? Sadly, it appears that when faced with the reality of harsh penalties, administrators had their teachers “teach to the test.”

Before switching away from time-tested, open-ended teaching strategies to try to boost test scores, we believe struggling schools should give their teachers the tools they need to make their classrooms more effective and engaging.

Teachers in low-achieving schools need tools to help provide personalized instruction, promote a deeper understanding of the curriculum, and help manage classroom behavior.

These tools should also be intuitive and easy to learn to use. Tools like Merit Software.

Merit helps teachers scaffold instruction while implementing open-ended, in-class, teaching strategies. It also frees up teachers’ time to provide extra individual instruction or work in small groups.

These benefits happen to align to another finding in the study — that teachers in low-achieving schools want to spend class time modeling instruction and working in small groups.

In particular, Merit’s Punch writing programs, including Paragraph Punch and Book Punch, provide step-by-step instruction to help students learn how to answer open-ended questions.

Because the Punch writing programs support a wide range of skills and expressions, more students can participate in class.

Randomized control group research conducted on Merit shows that this approach improves student achievement and test scores — without teaching to the test.

The sample size in the CEP study was very small. It was not possible to try to determine statistical differences between high and low achieving schools.

However, the findings do suggest that instructional practices do vary among schools with different levels of achievement.

Should low-achieving schools continue teaching to the test? What’s your opinion?