Story posted Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Computer Program Key To Leyden Improvement Plan
By TOM ROBB Journal & Topics Reporter
Leyden High School Dist. 212 sent its school improvement plan to state education officials last week.
Under the No Child Left Behind education law, if schools or any subset of identified students do not meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) scores, administrators must institute a school improvement plan aimed at bolstering those scores and send that plan to state education officials.
Leyden recently failed to make its AYP scores and must produce a school improvement plan.
Assistant Supt. for Curriculum Dr. Jack Denny briefed the school board on the district's improvement plan for next year at a meeting late last month.
The plan's key component involves the use of an interactive computer program that cannot only adapt and tailor learning exercises to each individual students level but also immediately notify the teacher when a student is struggling with a particular question through a master program monitored by teachers as students work on assignments.
Denny said the program is also helpful in accurately identifying an individual student's skill level allowing for more individualized instruction based on real data for a particular student.
Supt. Dr. Kathryn Robbins said students are "buying in" to the program.
Denny said new data would also help to identify issues in feeder schools.
He said students entering the district without the basic skills to handle the high school curriculum continue to challenge the district.
Board member Jim Lima said this tool could give high school administrators more accurate data to bring back to feeder elementary schools and track the performance of those schools.
Denny also said that because students are participating in their own individual program rather than in an interactive classroom setting, students have a sense of privacy they might not have in a traditional classroom setting where a wrong answer stated in front of other students might prove embarrassing.
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