Broward County’s Margate Elementary School Seeing Greater Than Expected Literacy Gains in Their First Year with Achieve3000
Lakewood, NJ (PRWEB) December 27, 2016 -- Almost a year into its partnership with Achieve3000, Margate Elementary School in Margate, Fla., is seeing greater than expected literacy gains among fourth- and fifth-grade students using KidBiz3000®, one of Achieve3000’s differentiated literacy solutions. The goal of this long-term partnership, which started in November 2015, is to accelerate learning, improve literacy and put students at the school on track for college and career success.
Margate Elementary has more than 980 students, with around 350 students in the fourth and fifth grades. Overall, the school’s fifth-graders achieved greater than expected Lexile® reading growth, with an average gain of 160 points or 2.5 times the expected growth; with typical instruction, they would have been expected to make a gain of only 58 points. Fourth-graders made gains that were 1.5 times the expected Lexile growth, with an average gain of 108 points compared to an expected gain of 72 points. In some classes, the percentage of students who showed an increase in reading skills was as high as 90 percent.
At the end of the 2015-2016 school year, Margate inducted fifth-graders who had made Lexile gains of 150 to 300 points into the school’s Achieve Hall of Fame. Eighty percent of those students went up a level on the Florida Standards Assessment, either from Level 2 (below satisfaction) to 3 (satisfactory) or from Level 3 to 4 (proficient).
“That fifth-grade implementation really showed significant growth,” said Thomas J. Schroeder, principal of Margate Elementary. “From 2014-2015 to 2015-2016, we went from 39 percent of fifth-graders being designated as proficient to 47 percent.” Additionally, Margate saw a 162 percent increase in college and career readiness among fourth- and fifth-grade students over the 2015-2016 school year.
Previously, only 11 percent of fourth- and fifth-grade students were considered “on track” for college or career readiness and meeting or exceeding grade-level literacy goals. Now, after actively participating in an Achieve3000 program during the 2015-2016 school year, that proportion has jumped to 29 percent. An additional 49, or almost half of the cohort, are now approaching those readiness standards.
"The success at Margate has been simply amazing, and it is a testament to the vision of school leadership, the dedication of the teaching staff and the hard work of the students,” said Saki Dodelson, Founder and CEO of Achieve3000. "By reaching every student at their precise reading level, Achieve3000 helps educators extend their reach and have an even greater impact on student achievement. At the same time, it ensures that students can spend more time on task and have a greater level of engagement in their reading. We are so honored to be a part of Margate’s success story.”
An indicator of KidBiz3000’s positive effects on student engagement and, consequently, student reading, is the proportion of students who logged into the literacy solution outside of school hours. Research suggests that the amount of reading that students do during out-of-school hours is an accurate predictor of their in-school academic achievement. Ninety-three percent of Margate’s grade five students used the program before or after school, while 85 percent of grade four students did the same.
One of the major differences between the two grades was that Margate Elementary’s fifth grade used KidBiz3000 in conjunction with a 1:1 laptop program. Over the summer, the school expanded that combination to its fourth and third grades. They also added a new Achieve3000 program to their line-up. “We were so in love with the program that was Achieve3000 that we bought its Smarty Ants® foundational literacy program for our K-2 grades,” said Schroeder. Every Achieve3000 solution combines differentiated instruction and blended learning to reach all students one-on-one, at their individual reading levels, and accelerate their learning gains.
“We’re working towards personalized instruction, and that’s where we really feel that Achieve helps us. Because if you have one student at a 480 Lexile level and another at 780, they can be looking at the same topics, so you can have discussions but it’s being scaffolded for their level,” said Schroeder. “I think that’s the biggest benefit, having informational text available by individual Lexile levels.”
About Achieve3000, Inc.
Achieve3000 is the leader in online differentiated literacy instruction, serving over two million students worldwide. For nearly 15 years, the company has been reaching students at their individual reading levels to deliver significant learning gains, with many making double to triple the expected gains in a single school year. Based on decades of scientific research, Achieve3000’s solutions – Smarty Ants (for grades PreK-1), KidBiz3000 (for grades 2-5), TeenBiz3000 (for grades 6-8), Empower3000 (for grades 9-12), Spark3000 (for adult learners), and eScience3000 (for grades 6-8) – support core curriculum, Response to Intervention, English language learner, and special education instructional models as well as 21st-century education initiatives. From learning how to read to workforce readiness, Achieve3000 empowers all learners to develop the college and career literacy skills needed for academic, professional, and personal success. The company is based in Lakewood, N.J. Learn more about Achieve3000 online at http://www.achieve3000.com or by calling 888-968-6822.
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Charlotte Andrist, Nickel Communications, http://www.nickelcommpr.com, +1 (770) 310-5244, [email protected]
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