Achieve 3000
Achieve 3000 is made up of KidBiz 3000 and TeenBiz 3000. Combined they form a supplemental, web-based literacy program in vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and writing for students in grades 5 – 12. The program provides practice reading non-fiction text and includes extension activities designed to address vocabulary, reading comprehension, a relevant math problem, and written output. The goal of the program is to supply students with independent practice reading and writing for a minimum of 40 minutes twice per week at their appropriate reading level.
Achieve 3000 is designed to be a supplemental practice to accompany an existing core reading program. The goal is to provide differentiated readings to all students in the program. The program approaches differentiation with the work of Carol Anne Tomlinson as its theoretical framework. Achieve 3000 is unique in that the teacher doesn’t provide the differentiation, but rather the software program is designed to use previous student performance to select the appropriate reading level for each student. As a result, the vocabulary and comprehension questions for each student are differentiated by reading level. All the students in a class are reading the same news content so each student can fully participate in classroom discussions. Each reading is followed by multiple choice questions arranged to assess comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, and higher order thinking skills within the framework of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The content specific questions range in type from knowledge to evaluation.
There is a beginning level of research support for the effectiveness of Achieve 3000 for 5th graders. Further studies that employ random assignment to groups of different grade levels are desirable to further establish the evidence base for this program.
Strengths of Achieve 3000:
Program is web-based for easy access by teachers and students.
Students are provided practice reading the same nonfiction content articles as their peers with adjustments for their appropriate Lexile reading level.
All articles are linked to the Sunshine State Standards for Language Arts and content areas.
Games and other motivational activities are included for students to play.
Assessment windows are set by the program and thus do not require teacher set up.
Weaknesses of Achieve 3000:
None were noted.