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.

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.

The report finds that the educational gaps between black and Latino students and white students impose on the U.S. the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession.

Because U.S. school districts rely heavily on local taxes, McKinsey concludes that less experienced, less qualified, and probably less effective teachers are more likely to work in schools teaching to poorer students of color.

The report notes that teacher salaries are a large part of school districts’ budgets and that affluent districts routinely outbid poorer ones for the best teaching talent.

Another conclusion is that changing system-wide strategies, building-level leadership techniques, or teaching practices can significantly improve student outcomes.

As early as fourth grade, McKinsey says, lagging student achievement is often a powerful indicator of high school and college graduation rates, as well as lifetime earnings.

Students who are able to improve their performance between third and eighth grade are much more likely to graduate and benefit from higher earnings over time.

In our view one of the most practical ways to narrow the achievement gap is to give teachers the tools required to develop their students’ reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Based on research with upper elementary and middle school teachers and students, using Merit reading and writing software in the classroom can have a big effect on student achievement.

Merit works because it is easy to use, scaffolds instruction, and provides personalized instruction to students. It breaks core concepts down into understandable parts for students, helping them grasp ideas that they might have missed.

Merit also frees up teachers’ time to work one-on-one with struggling students. With Merit, all students are engaged in the classroom and have greater odds to experience success.

Despite the high economic costs of chronic black and Latino student failure, the U.S. has only a limited amount of financial resources.

Affordable, easy-to-use tools that personalize instruction, enhance teacher efficiency, and raise student academic performance are the keys to narrowing the achievement gap in America’s schools.