These programs enable students to take courses in a variety of subjects to “recover” credits lost and receive a high school diploma faster than they might in a traditional classroom setting.

Critics claim many recovery courses are not rigorous and cheating is a problem.

Plus, an evaluation of what happens afterward to compare the effectiveness of online credit recovery courses to traditional courses is years away, writes Jay Matthews of the Washington Post.

While credit recovery might work in certain circumstances, we, at Merit, feel what the U.S. really needs is a scalable, affordable platform to teach students how to read well enough to succeed in school.

The Merit online learning platform and its new reading comprehension programs are a step in the right direction and available for educators everywhere to use now.

Merit has been making reading and writing intervention software for more than 25 years.  Merit programs are backed by rigorous research.  They are widely used in high schools, community colleges, and adult learning environments.

New-to-market features in Merit web-based products minimize many issues that impact customers who have used Windows or Macintosh installed software.  The company handles all required updates, and students may use the programs anytime, anywhere.

Merit covers a broad range of skills and concepts from a 3rd through 11th grade reading level.  The programs are self-paced and adaptive.  There is enough material to keep students engaged for an entire school year.

Plus, inputs are automatically logged while students’ work.  Tracking over a long time span makes it more difficult for students to cheat.

Schools may choose to pilot, or try out, Merit web-based programs with their students.  Merit believes instructors should see for themselves how its web-based software could help students improve their skills and succeed in school.

Mathews writes that online credit recovery courses are a $1 billion a year industry.  To get more for their money, schools should make sure their students are ready to do the work.

“Online credit recovery may make graduation too easy” by Jay Mathews, Washington Post.

Learn more about Merit Software.

Family income has become a significant factor in predicting children’s academic achievement, says the author Sean F. Reardon.

Merit Online Learning is used both in exclusive private schools and impoverished communities. 

Affluent students in earlier grades tend to work with the same programs that older students use in poorer areas. 

What matters is that most students eventually master the concepts presented in the programs.

For example, 6th graders in a Los Angeles private school are using the identical program and activities as public high school students in Detroit, and students in both cities are benefiting from using it.

Merit Software online solutions for closing the achievement gap

The Widening Academic Achievement Gap between the Rich and the Poors by Sean F. Reardon

This is unfortunate because for students to increase comprehension skills, they need to learn to tackle, rather than avoid, grade-appropriate texts.

Technology-based scaffolds can help students better understand texts they are reading.  Effective scaffolds give students helpful directions, and guide them when they encounter troublesome areas.

Making useful reading comprehension software is complicated. Comprehension passages, questions, and responses are subtle and require careful consideration. 

Students need suitable distracting questions and explanations when the program tells them an answer is incorrect.

Texts have to be at the right individual level for a wide span of readers.  A comprehension program must also provide enough content to prevent students from seeing passages repeated.

Merit’s new reading program - Reading Comprehension Booster Online – was designed with these goals in mind.

Students will need to learn how to write narrative and expository paragraphs and essays.

Fortunately, teaching with Merit’s Punch writing programs is a well-established method to accomplish this task.

The Punch writing programs guide students step-by-step through the writing process.  Built-in prompts help organize ideas into complete, concise works, as well as promote self-editing.

Student writing is automatically stored in online portfolios that are easily viewable by students and instructors.

Follow the links below to learn more about the Punch writing programs:

• Starter Paragraph Punch
• Paragraph Punch
• Essay Punch

Many of our users work with students with a wide range of abilities within one class.  The need to personalize instruction is paramount.

Built-in tracking enables students to quickly get to the right level of challenge.  It advances them when they are ready or provides additional work if needed.

Educators and students everywhere want the same thing – an opportunity to succeed.  Personalized instruction, combined with real-time assessments, can make a difference.

We are able to monitor all students who use the Merit Online Learning system.  Data does not have to complicate teaching.  Data can easily answer a few simple questions about students.

• Did they do the work?
• How much time did they spend?
• How well did they do?

Viewing student work in the Merit Online Learning system helps answers these questions.  Educators can easily see pupil progress and see how well they are doing.

The Merit support team helps educators learn to how to monitor students’ progress and make data manageable.

Open Punch helps students learn to write paragraphs on Narrative, Fact-Based, or Opinion topics.   Instructors may assign their own writing prompts (within certain parameters).  Merit trainers are available to assist with this process.

Open Punch is a 100% web based learning tool with built-in tracking!  It is platform independent and is accessible with popular browsers such as IE, Firefox, and Safari.  iPad and Android tablets also run the program.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Merit Software.

MORE ABOUT OPEN PUNCH

The program orients students to think about the purpose of the paragraph to be written. Students are guided to enter an appropriate topic to write about.

Using words or phrases, not sentences, students put their ideas about the topic they have chosen into the Pre-Writing Notepad.

Students choose a word or phrase from the Pre-Writing Notepad and use it in a sentence.

While students check their work, the program encourages them to improve their writing by using the revising tools: Add, Change text, Remove, or Move.

Student writing is automatically stored online, making it easy for instructors to view and check work.

A number of questions about applying to American colleges and universities were submitted to admissions officials at the University of Pennsylvania.  As expected, a key difference for Indian students as opposed to their American counterparts is the varying levels of English  (particularly academic English) preparation.

Merit Software’s web-based programs are being used in several learning organizations and universities in India, as well as other non-native English speaking countries.  Two vocabulary programs that have been successful are Confused Words Fix-Up, which helps students understand commonly misused English words, and Vocabulary Stretch Online, which helps students recognize challenging words in different contexts, and understand where many English words come from.

Both programs cover a wide range of English words.  They are self-paced and self-advancing. Students apply words as they learn them, and receive immediate feedback while they work.

Related Links:

• NY Times: 10 Questions for the Dean of Admissions of the University of Pennsylvania
• Confused Words Fix-Up
• Vocabulary Stretch Online

For Home Users:
To take advantage of this offer, visit either the Reading Skill Builder or Grammar Fitness page, add the programs to your shopping cart, and use Promo Code 5525 at checkout.

For School/Institutional Users:
This offer is available to the first 25 schools that enroll. To get started, read more about the the limited-time offer and set up your personal consultation with a Merit Software representative.

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.