Florida Schools Using Lightspan eduTest Assessment Boost Student Achievement
SAN DIEGO, April 15 /PRNewswire/ — Lightspan, a leading provider of high- quality educational products and services used in schools and homes to help increase academic achievement, announced today results of a new evaluation that demonstrates significant positive student achievement tied to the systematic use of data-driven decision-making, of which Lightspan eduTest Assessment was a key component.
One of the most dramatic examples of the impact of ongoing classroom assessment such as Lightspan eduTest Assessment involves an analysis of learning gains experienced by students attending Spencer Bibbs Learning Academy in a high-poverty area of Pensacola, Florida. These results reflect continued analysis of data generated during a joint project conducted by the Florida Department of Education and Lightspan, which took place during the 2001-2002 school year and involved 126 schools in their final year of a three- year Comprehensive School Reform grant. Two years ago, this school had the dubious distinction of being named a “failing school” under Florida’s new strict accountability law. At the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year, the school was one of two that had the lowest state rating for a school, an F.
Designated as a federal Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) site, Spencer Bibbs Academy developed a plan to turn things around, led by 30-year teaching veteran Linda Scott, who accepted the academic challenge and developed a plan centered on community involvement, data-driven decision-making, and ongoing teacher professional development. Two years later while the only other school in the same position was closed, Spencer Bibbs Learning Academy has gone from an F rating to a C … and has gained a position of trust and respect among teachers and the community.
Among the research findings from the Florida study:
* Overall academic improvement in mathematics, reading and language arts
* Positive association between the use of classroom formative
assessments (Lightspan Create-A-Test) and student gains in reading
* Positive association between the use of classroom formative
assessments and reading gains among the lowest quartile students
* Academic improvements significantly greater in schools that
implemented classroom formative assessments for more than 50% of their
total completed test parts versus schools that used fewer classroom
formative assessments
Linda Scott, Principal at Spencer Bibbs Learning Academy, said: “We have become a data-driven school through the use of a component of the Lightspan assessment program which allows teachers to create tests specific to their own instruction. This has enabled us to make better decisions about individual student needs and appropriate instructional approaches. My staff and I agree that the classroom data from our own classroom assessments was a key factor in our school’s greatly improved academic performance.”
Thirty-seven of the state’s 67 school districts were included in the Florida CSR initiative involving Lightspan eduTest Assessment. More than 60,000 students in 92 Florida CSR schools completed over 153,000 test parts during the study.
About Lightspan
Lightspan(R) provides curriculum-based educational software and online products and services that increase student achievement and enhance teacher professional development. These products are used in schools and homes and align to all key federal education reform initiatives, offering school districts a complete solution to assess, align, instruct and evaluate, as a comprehensive achievement and accountability system. More than 1,000 independent studies prove that Lightspan products enhance student achievement, improve teacher effectiveness and help build stronger connections with families. Lightspan offers products in the following areas: early reading (the Lightspan Early Reading Program(TM) and the Lightspan Reading Center(TM)), K-8 interactive curriculum (Lightspan Achieve Now(TM)), K-12 online teacher resources and professional development (The Lightspan Network(R)), assessment (Lightspan eduTest Assessment(TM) and Lightspan Assessment Builder(TM)), and secondary and higher education (Interactive Mathematics, Interactive English, and academic.com). For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.lightspan.com.
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SOURCE Lightspan
04/15/2003
CONTACT:
Robert S. Scheid
+1-866-251-6694Lightspan
Web site: http://www.lightspan.com
