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

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.

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”

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the program would offer incentives to states and schools for reforms aimed at achieving the administration’s goal of adding eight million college graduates by 2020. ”

We all know that the best jobs and fastest-growing firms will gravitate to countries, communities, and states with a highly qualified work force,” Mr. Duncan said.

Both English and mathematics teachers are more likely to rate the ability to write clearly and persuasively higher than mathematical ability as absolutely essential for college readiness, according to a new MetLife Foundation survey.

Merit’s College Prep Software can help students benefit from the new initiatives planned by the administration. Merit has a long track record of working with colleges to help improve students’ writing skills.

Read the full news story here

I found your website and used it to practice and sharpen my writing skills. It worked. Yesterday, on the spur of the moment, I challenged my essay test, and needed a 5 to pass it.

Well, I got a 7, because of Essay Punch. I am now exempt from 2 English classes and only have to take English I to be done with that commitment.

I am a 42-year-old LPN, about to pursue my RN degree, and this foray back into school after so long has not been an easy one. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Find a full-working sample, pricing, and a screen shot tour of Essay Punch on the Merit Software web site.

The major reason students fail is poor grammar, reports CBC News.

Part of the blame should go to cellphone texting and social networking sites, says Joel Postman, the author of SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate, who has taught Fortune 500 companies how to use social networking.

Bad grammar may be acceptable in an email to friends and family, but it can have a deadly effect on one’s career if used at work.

“It would say to me . . . ‘Well, this person doesn’t think very clearly, and they’re not very good at analyzing complex subjects, and they’re not very good at expressing themselves, or at worse, they can’t spell, they can’t punctuate,’ ” he says.

The good news is that Merit Software has just launched a new, online edition of Grammar Fitness to help students and instructors cope with this problem.

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.