I-Ready (literacy & math)- This is a highly effective research based educational literacy and math application that has proven to be very successful with our primary students. The program is HIGHLY interactive where it will use student input in a "realtime" situation to direct avenues for instruction. Additionally it notifies me, of the specific problem areas a student encounters. I then use that information to target instruction for their individual needs. I will not be having students use this program at home. Students will receive between 50-70 minutes a week (possibly more depending upon the student) of I-Ready time. The program is designed for between 45-60 minutes a week, so you can see we will meet that need easily. *** It has been observed by myself and the faculty here at DCSB that too often students receive help when they don't understand a topic. Although well meaning, it is not in the student's best interest for you to help them. The program is created to "stage" the instructional responses by authentic student input. Many times I see students who are on a specific "level" in I-Ready, but in class have no idea what they are doing. That hurts them. I-Ready is designed for no outside assistance.
It is my expectation to send to parents/guardians student performance "feedback" from I-Ready. This will happen subsequent to the the MID-Year Diagnostic and End-Of-Year Diagnostic assessments. It is very important that you look at this information as "part" of your child's performance and not a SOLE INDICATOR of their performance. I-Ready is a DIGITAL LEARNING PLATFORM and therefore has an inherent bias towards learners who grasp digital concepts readily and easily. There are many students who do NOT embrace digital learning and their growth will not be achieved through this approach. For that reason, we look at NWEA, and student grades (in addition to I-Ready) to ascertain a students' growth (learning gains). All three factors should be considered.