| State: Rhode Island | Number of Students: 3,111 |
| School Type: Public School District | Free and Reduced Lunch: 17.0% |
| Grade Level: PK-12 | English Language Learners: 1.0% |
School Context
This is a public school in a suburban neighborhood, but the assistant principal is a part of a blended learning fellowship, so they've been trying to infuse blended learning into their school through the math department. There are over 1,100 students in the high school.
State of Technology
This school has been building out a blended learning program in Geometry last year in order to be more student centered, individually pace content and differentiate for students at different skill levels. Now they would like to improve their program and implement it for Algebra. They will need an adaptive learning Algebra 1 tool that can: support students to practice Algebra 1 content; provide students with instructional support when they are struggling with content; give formative assessments along the way; and give students instant feedback on their results of formative assessment. They would like the tool to teach core content and also intervention components to fill basic skill gaps and support students to work on fluency. All the content should be Common Core aligned to Common Core sub skills. Ideally, it would align to the STAR assessment, but that is not a non-negotiable. They will use this tool daily for Algebra 1 students in a 60 minute skills class and the 60 minute core class. If the tool covered Geometry content as well, they would love to increase the number of licenses they purchase.
Last year in geometry, they spent a lot of time creating our own video lessons, guided notes and had small groups working on problems and materials. It took a lot of teacher effort and they did not get a lot of online formative assessment. They also tried using several tools for Geometry. Accelerated Math was great, because it is STAR aligned. However, the practice component does not have any instructional components, it also does not think it has good content support for Algebra 1 in particular and it lacks rigor. Math Facts in a Flash was great for quick skills practice but does not do anything else they need. With Ten Marks, the teachers did not seem to like it. They did like the PARCC questions, but it seemed pricey for a weak teacher experience. They are looking for more formative assessment, online practice and instant feedback.
Tech Needs & Requirements
This school wants teachers to have the ability to control the sequence of the content. Editing content would be a plus, but not a non-negotiable.
The tool must give teachers some control over content sequence so they can make tweaks as needed, be Common Core aligned (which is critical) and must give instruction, along with practice. The school offers students 1:1 Dell laptops. The tool needs to monitor student progress and mastery. The school wants immediate feedback so they can make changes in the classroom and provide support on the spot, so an effective teacher dashboard is critical. CSV exporting and aligning with STAR data would be great, but not a non-negotiable. The tool should have Active directory integration, but this is not a non-negotiable.