Achieve3000 continues to invest in your success with exciting new updates! From targeted new solutions for English learner, intervention, and foundational literacy programs to robust reporting and data tools for teachers and administrators, Achieve3000 is committed to finding innovative new ways to help every educator extend their reach – and empower every student to reach their dreams.
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Back to School 2016 Webinar for New Teachers
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Make the Break Contest Winners
Congratulations to all of the teachers and students who participated in the 2016 Make the Break Winter Holiday Contest. We’re excited to announce the winners of the contest!
Students who completed at least four lessons on KidBiz3000®, TeenBiz3000®, or Empower3000™ between December 21, 2016 through January 4, 2017 were entered in state-wide drawings for a chance to win Beats by Dr. Dre® Tour2 In-Ear Headphones.
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Five Tips for Getting Blended Learning Right!
In this research-driven webinar, Julia Freeland Fisher, Director of Education at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, shares key findings from her organization’s years of blended learning research, as well as lessons learned from the hundreds of school systems that the Institute has studied. She will cover both essential considerations for systems just getting started with blended learning, plus effective professional development and evaluation techniques for schools further along in implementing blended models.
Participants will also get the chance to explore the Christensen Institute’s Blended Learning Universe, the largest national database of blended learning schools. The database features comprehensive and searchable profiles of schools around the country that are pursuing a variety of models aimed at transforming instruction away from our monolithic factory model to a student-centered one.
Join Julia to find the best blended learning model for your needs and learn how to get blended learning right for your students. She will field questions after her presentation. This live, interactive event is designed for all PreK-12 administrators and educators.
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Read to Succeed2 Contest
Back by popular demand, Achieve3000® is excited to announce another contest for KidBiz3000®, TeenBiz3000®, and Empower3000® students!
From February 20 through March 17, we’ll be awarding Read to Succeed points to your class. The class in each school that has the most points, wins!
Class Prize
The winning class will win a $30 virtual gift card to spend on a class celebration of their choice.
How to Earn Read to Succeed Points
Monday, February 20 through Friday, March 17, every time a student in your class does a multiple choice activity, your class earns one point. For every score of 75 percent, your class earns two points. And for every score of 88 percent or higher, your class earns three points!
If your class has the most points on average, per student, you’ll win a class party!
Note: To be eligible to win, 75 percent of your class must complete at least eight multiple choice activities during the contest period.
Registration
If you haven’t already, log into your Teacher Edition and register between February 6 and February 19 in order to participate. To register, sign into your Teacher Edition and scroll to the CELEBRATION AND SUCCESS section. In the Read to Succeed Contest panel, click the More button to register. (Note that once a single teacher in your building has registered, your entire school will be registered for the contest.)
Please be sure to register by February 19!
Student Flyers
Post these student flyers in your school to get kids excited about participating!
- Download Read to Succeed Flyer (English)
- Spanish flyer coming soon.
Official Rules
Once your school has registered for the contest, get 75 percent of your students to complete at least eight multiple-choice activities from Monday, February 20 through Friday, March 17. To encourage your students to put forth their very best effort, we’re giving out extra points for high scores. Every time a student does an activity, your class earns a point. For every score of 75 percent, the class earns two points. And for every score of 88 percent or higher, the class earns three points!
The winning class is the qualifying class of five or more students with the most points on average per student, in each registered school. If there is a tie, a winner is randomly selected.
At the end of the contest, we’ll look at all of the classes in the school where 75 percent of students have completed eight activities during the contest. The class with the most points (on average, per student) wins a $30 gift card to spend on a celebration of their choice. Remember, all you have to do to qualify for the contest is get 75 percent of your students to complete at least eight activities from Monday, February 20 through Friday, March 17. We’ll keep track of their progress and notify you when your class has qualified.
There is only one winner per school. Once the contest has ended, the teacher of the winning class will see an email in the Teacher’s Edition with details on how to redeem an e-gift card for the class so that students can celebrate right away! Feel free to call 877-235-2525, or visit our support site if you have any questions about the contest.
If your students belong to more than one class, be sure they are selecting the correct class when they log in. Work will be credited to the class selected upon login. This contest is open to residents of the United States only.
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Literacy = Language Production: Going Beyond the Text & Embracing the Talk
Too many use the term “literacy” interchangeably with “reading,” but the reality is that literacy is more encompassing: it is reading, writing, and speaking. Ensuring all students have mastered these capacities is perhaps the greatest challenge facing schools today – and it touches all disciplines, from language arts to social studies to science. How can we overcome this challenge and ensure our students are mastering all aspects of literacy? The answer is simple, although not easy: the production of language. It’s time to get students talking!
Join Kevin Baird, Chairman of the Board at the nonprofit Center for College and Career Readiness, for an interactive webinar about the critical role of discussion and debate in building strong literacy skills. Kevin will delve into the latest research to outline priority steps and pragmatic strategies for leveraging the power of student talk in accelerating literacy growth
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Unstoppable Learning
Join Dr. Douglas Fisher for a live, interactive webinar focused on insights and findings from his latest book, Unstoppable Learning. In this research-driven professional development session, Dr. Fisher will help participants discover how systems thinking can enhance teaching and learning schoolwide. Topics include:
- Essential elements for unleashing student potential and accelerating student growth
- Adapting learning and differentiating instruction in response to students’ individual needs
- Strategies and tools for creating clear learning targets and preparing effective lessons
- Assessing instruction and leveraging that data to inform more impactful instruction
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Text Complexity: Best Practices for Matching Students and Texts
Join Dr. Nancy Frey, Professor of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University, for a research-driven webinar focused on the quantitative and qualitative factors of text complexity as well as the ways in which readers can be matched with texts and tasks. In this interactive session, Dr. Frey will examine how close reading of complex texts can build students’ reading comprehension strategies and allow them to develop the skills necessary to read like a detective.
During this session, you will learn how to:
- Become familiar with quantitative and qualitative tools for analyzing texts
- Consider reader and task demands and how they influence teaching
- Utilize these qualitative measures to plan instruction
- Explore close-reading strategies that can help students read more complex texts
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Spring to Success: A New National Contest
We’re thrilled to announce an all-new contest for Achieve3000 students! Each week from April 10 through May 14, when students meet target activity goals on KidBiz3000®, TeenBiz3000® or Empower3000®, they will be automatically added to a nationwide drawing for a chance to win one of ten big-ticket prizes.
Here’s how it works:
From Monday through Sunday each week, when a student completes 2 activities on Achieve3000 with a first-try score of 75% or greater, he or she will be automatically added to a drawing to win one of ten prizes. If he or she completes 4 lessons with a first-try score of 75% or greater, we will enter him or her twice!
Winners will be announced each Wednesday via an email to teachers and notifications in KidBiz3000, TeenBiz3000 and Empower3000. We’ll also post their names here.
Print or share this flyer to get students involved and achieving all spring long!
Prize Schedule:
Questions? Email contests@achieve3000.com or call 855-664-5888.
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Achieve Summer 40-Activity Challenge
Use Achieve3000® this summer and have a chance to win exciting prizes!
After school ends, students can continue to read articles and complete activities so that they’ll start the new school year with an edge! They can complete the activities at home, in the library, on a computer, or even on a mobile device – even without Internet access!
How to Participate
During the summer, students who complete 40 activities with a first try score of 75% or more on each, will be automatically entered into a raffle to win an iPad mini! Plus, each week we’ll send an exciting prize to the student with the most achievement points across the nation. These are the points students earn automatically for completing work within the program. No registration is required to join this contest.
The contest runs from your first day of summer to the first day of school in the fall of 2017!
Student Flyers
Post these student flyers in your school to get kids excited about participating, and send them home for students and their parents, too!
Summer Information for Parents and Guardians
Ensure that parents are aware of their child’s free home access by sending home or emailing a letter that supplies information on how they can support literacy achievement all summer along:
Official Rules
The AchieveSummer 40-Activity Challenge is open only to students in the United States. Students have to be active subscribers to KidBiz3000®, TeenBiz3000®, or Empower3000®.
The contest will run from the first day of the student’s first day of summer to the first day of the new school year or September 8, whichever comes first, according to the start
date at the school in which the student is enrolled for the 2017-2018 school year.
date at the school in which the student is enrolled for the 2017-2018 school year.
During the defined contest period, students may log onto KidBiz3000, TeenBiz3000, or Empower3000. Students should start a lesson, read the article, and complete the multiple choice activities for that lesson. If a student receives a first try score of 75% or more on the lesson’s multiple choice activity, the lesson will be counted towards the contest eligibility. If a student receives a first try score of less than 75%, the multiple choice activity will not be counted. Students will have to complete at least 40 lessons, getting a first try score of 75% or more on each of those multiple choice activity sets in order to quality for the contest.
Each participant is eligible to receive a maximum of one contest entry. If a student completes more than 40 activities, he/she will not receive any additional entries.
Over the contest there are weekly prizes and a grand prize drawing:
Weekly drawings: Achieve3000 will provide a prize to the Top Scorer each week in the United States for each of KidBiz3000, TeenBiz3000 and Empower3000. For a full list of those prizes, view the dashboard on the KidBiz3000, TeenBiz3000, or Empower3000 home screen (titled “Weekly Prizes”).
Grand Prize Drawing: On or around September 8, 2017, Achieve3000® will randomly select six (6) winners from students who were eligible (received 75% or higher average first try score on 40 or more lessons). The winners and his/her teachers will be contacted directly by Achieve3000’s contests department.
All potential winners are subject to verification by Achieve3000. Achieve3000’s decisions are final and binding in all matters related to the contest.
Publicity: Winners agree that Achieve3000 may post their first name and state on their website, in the program, and via social media channels at the conclusion of the contest period to notify all students that winners were chosen and the contest period has ended.
General Conditions: Achieve3000 reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and/or modify the contest, or any part of it, at any time, should they choose to do so.
Disputes: Any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or in connection with this contest or any prizes awarded will be resolved by Achieve3000 at its sole discretion.
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Embedding Purposeful Literacy Scaffolds and Strategies to Support EL Learners
English Language Learners (ELLs) are the fastest-growing student population in our country, and these students deserve to be supported throughout their learning process – especially when it comes to reading and writing. Join this research-fueled session to learn how leveraging targeted and embedded scaffolds as part of a differentiated instruction approach can dramatically accelerate language and literacy gains for ELLs at every stage of English acquisition. Marisa Russo, M.Ed., Executive Director, EL Development and Early Literacy Instruction, at Achieve3000, will share:
- Critical scaffolds for ensuring mastery of foundational literacy skills such as phonics and fluency
- Proven strategies for supporting vocabulary development across the content areas
- Tips for using consistent language and frequent visual aids to support comprehension skills
- Ideas for providing ongoing opportunities for listening and speaking to ensure students are able to express their ideas and opinions
With the right supports and opportunities for engagement, ELLs can become successful, lifelong readers and writers. Together, we can help EL students – from beginner to advanced – overcome barriers and raise the educational attainment, career prospects and prosperity of future generations. There will be time to ask Marisa your questions after her presentation. All K-12 educators, administrators, librarians, and literacy leaders are invited to this live, interactive edWebinar.
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Leave No Child Offline and Leave No Teacher Behind
Digital equity and access in the 21st century are crucial to students being able to compete on a global level: There are few places in society where technology is not utilized or playing an important role. As a result, it’s more critical than ever that students graduate with the 21st-century literacy and technology skills they need to navigate, read and succeed in our increasingly interconnected, digital world. In this edWebinar, Dr. Darryl Adams will address the following questions with audience participation:
- What resources does your organization need to ensure that digital equity and access is affordable to those you serve? Which platforms and partners will help you ensure that every student has a 24/7 “anytime, anywhere, any-device” learning experience?
- What are the “Why, How and When” of digital conversion for all? How can your education partners support these efforts?
- How does the new ESSA legislation supporting digital equity and access impact the future of educational technology in light of the perceived policies of the new Trump administration?
- How should instructional and engagement practices change in order to incorporate personalized learning, blended learning, online learning and learning modalities not yet on the horizon?
Dr. Darryl Adams, recently retired Superintendent of Coachella Valley School District, CA, was recognized in 2014 by the U.S. Department of Education and the Obama White House as one of the Top 100 Innovative Superintendents in the Nation. President Obama praised Dr. Adams’ leadership and creativity and spoke to the importance of his “iPads for All” and “Wifi-on-Wheels” programs as being innovative ways in connecting students and families to educational opportunities. Under Dr. Adams leadership, Coachella Valley School District was the first in the nation to provide a mobile device (iPads) for every student from preschool through high school and the first in the world to ensure students 24/7 internet access by putting wifi routers on school buses by way of his Wifi-on-Wheels initiative. Dr. Adams has also led the way in educational technology and digital conversion, broadband infrastructure expansion for schools and homes and in developing teacher educational technology certification programs.
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Effective Collaborative Conversations with Doug Fisher
Join Dr. Douglas Fisher for this informative live session!
The power of peer-to-peer learning has been well documented in the research base of effective instruction. Perhaps the most influential theorist on the role of peer-assisted learning is Lev Vygotsky, who believed that all learning is mediated by interactions with others. Therefore, collaboration with peers becomes a necessary part of the learning process of a child.
In this session, we will consider the ways in which collaborative conversations compliments instruction in a gradual release of responsibility framework.
Objectives and Outcomes:
Participants will examine components necessary for group work to be productive.
Participants will identify quality indicators of productive group work.
Participants will assess various classroom instructional routines for their usefulness in productive group work
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Literacy: More than Lexiles – Engaging the Hearts and Minds of All Students
Discover new ways to inspire students toward greater learning. In this research-driven edWebinar, Kevin Baird, Chairman and Senior Faculty Member at the Center for College & Career Readiness, goes beyond Lexile® scores to explore two often overlooked keys to increasing literacy – motivation and engagement.
Literacy is driven not only by differentiation to skills, but also by differentiation to interests and passions. In this session, Kevin Baird will review both the research and new methods for engaging the hearts and minds of all learners while differentiating content according to each student’s skill level, learning temperament and learning pace.
Get information you can apply immediately with answers to these questions and more:
- What does student engagement look like in the classroom?
- How do educators turn struggling readers into children who love to read?
- What innovative educational tools are available that leverage both engagement and differentiation to make a radical difference in children’s motivation to spend more quality time on task?
Join Kevin to gain the latest tools for inspiring students to love learning. A Q&A session will follow the presentation to give participants an opportunity to ask Kevin about their school or district’s unique needs. This live, interactive event is designed for all PreK-12 administrators and educators.
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Close Reading with Doug Fisher
Join Dr. Douglas Fisher for this informative live session!
Attending to the information presented in the text while recognizing their own assumptions, background knowledge and biases helps readers deeply understand what they are reading. As part of an instructional approach, close reading teaches students these skills as they read a text several times, often for different purposes and based on different questions, and critically examine it. Teachers and students also ask questions regarding the text, some of which can be answered prior to reading it and others that require a deeper understanding based on evidence from the text.
In this edWebinar, Dr. Douglas Fisher will focus on questions that require repeated close readings to be answered. These questions involve general understandings, key details, vocabulary and text structure, author’s purpose, inferences, and opinions and arguments. Attend this session to learn how to:
- Identify the major components of close reading
- Describe the differences between close reading in elementary and secondary schools
- Differentiate between questions that do and do not require evidence from the text
There will be time to ask Dr. Fisher your questions after his presentation. All K-12 educators, reading specialists, administrators and librarians are invited to attend this live, interactive event.
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ISTE Contest Winners
At Achieve3000, we know student success is only possible thanks to dedicated teachers. We are proud to partner with inspiring educators to accelerate learning for millions of students in classrooms around the world. Their innovation, passion, and excellence in their practice makes a real difference, every day.
It is our pleasure to announce the 3 grand prize winners of an all-expenses paid trip to ISTE 2017!
| Name | School | District | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lauren Garcia | Lake Elementary School | Vista Unified School District | CA |
| Jasmine Kennedy | Senator Frank Lautenberg/School #6 | Paterson Public Schools | NJ |
| Victoria Lightfoot | Deerlake Middle School | Leon County | FL |
First Place Winners ($100 Amazon.com Gift Card)
Also, in thanks for the overwhelming response we’ve seen, we’ve extended our rewards to include outstanding educators who have submitted truly impressive stories and strategies. Thank you!
| Name | School | District | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eliviva Acosta | George C Clarke | Fort Worth ISD | TX |
| Susan Ames | Hampton Elementary School | Hampton School District | NJ |
| Sarah Bunts | Everglades Prep Academy | Miami Dade | FL |
| Janeen Burkhart | North Decatur Elementary School | Decatur County Community Schools | IN |
| Molly Deist | Jury Elementary | Hazelwood School District | MO |
| Frank Devereaux | Savanna Oaks Middle School | Verona Area School District | WI |
| Aundra Harris | Einstein Charter School | Orleans | LA |
| Alana Hurdle | Iao Intermediate School | Maui | HI |
| Arti Jain | Energy Tech High School (Q258) | NYC District 30 | NY |
| Arlette Johnson | Peralta Elementary School | Cartwright School District | AZ |
| Chris Kajtor | University Prep Value High School | Value Schools | CA |
| Maria Leos | Thurgood Marshall Middle School | MNPS | TN |
| Gayle Oura | Kauluwela School | Honolulu | HI |
| Pearl Mills | Williams Annex | Gary Community School Corporation | IN |
| Lisa Simmerson | China Grove Middle School | Rowan-Salisbury School System | NC |
Second Place Winners ($50 Amazon.com Gift Card)
| Name | School | District | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antoinette Dawson | Fairwood Elementary School | Columbus City Schools | OH |
| Sara Finegan | Hage Elementary School | San Diego Unified School District | CA |
| Leonard Gonzalez | Slaton Junior High | Slaton I.S.D. | TX |
| Hansel Hernandez | Sunshine Elementary School | Broward County School District | FL |
| Tracy Holmes | Eisenhower 9th Grade School | Aldine Independent School District | TX |
| Elaine Hyres | Marlboro Middle School | Marlboro Township | NJ |
| Denise James | Hope Charter | Orange County | FL |
| Kathryn M. Kessler | Barron Collier High School | Collier County Schools | FL |
| Leilani Nissen | Poston Junior High | Mesa Unified School District | AZ |
| La Yanesa Parong | Prince Jonah Kalaniana’ole | Hawaii | HI |
| Deborah Robson | John N. C. Stockton | Duval | FL |
| Amelia Rodriguez | United High School Annex | United Independent School District | TX |
| Katie Runyan | Brentmoor Elementary | Mentor Public Schools | OH |
| Fatai Tuifua | Mana Academy Charter School | Mana Academy Charter School | UT |
| Sandy Wisneski | Ripon Middle School | Ripon Area School District | WI |
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Literacy = Language Production: Going Beyond the Text & Embracing the Talk
Too many use the term “literacy” interchangeably with “reading,” but the reality is that literacy is more encompassing: it is reading, writing, and speaking. Ensuring all students have mastered these capacities is perhaps the greatest challenge facing schools today – and it touches all disciplines, from language arts to social studies to science. How can we overcome this challenge and ensure our students are mastering all aspects of literacy? The answer is simple, although not easy: the production of language. It’s time to get students talking!
Join Kevin Baird, Chairman of the Board at the nonprofit Center for College and Career Readiness, for an interactive webinar about the critical role of discussion and debate in building strong literacy skills. Kevin will delve into the latest research to outline priority steps and pragmatic strategies for leveraging the power of student talk in accelerating literacy growth
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Supporting Your Success: Exciting 2017-2018 Updates for Teachers & Educators
From foundational literacy for young learners and struggling readers to new high-interest content to help older students build college and career literacy skills, we are investing millions to help all students succeed in school and beyond.
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Powerful Updates for 2017-2018 for district and campus administrators
From foundational literacy for young learners and struggling readers to new high-interest content to help older students build college and career literacy skills, we are investing millions to help all students succeed in school and beyond.
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LevelSet™ Challenge
The goal of the LevelSet™ Challenge is to get a minimum of 75% of your Achieve3000 students to complete their LevelSet online reading assessments by September 29, 2017. If 75% or more of your students complete their assessments, you will be automatically entered into a national drawing to win one of 35 prizes.
Prizes
Grand Prize Winners: Ten lucky teachers will receive a $50 Amazon gift card for their classrooms.
Second-Place Winners: Twenty-five lucky teachers will receive an Achieve3000 travel mug.
Contest Flyer
Download the LevelSet™ Challenge Flyer
Get Started Today!
Login to your Teacher’s Edition to administer the LevelSet assessment, or find resources, LevelSet introductory videos for students and more when typing LevelSet into the AskAchieve3000 tool in your Teacher’s Edition.
Official Rules
The 2017 LevelSet Challenge runs through September 29, 2017. Your goal is to get a minimum of 75% of your Achieve3000 students to complete their LevelSet* online reading assessments by September 29, 2017. If 75% or more of your students complete their assessments, you will be automatically entered into a national drawing to win one of 35 prizes.
Grand Prize Winners: Ten educators will receive a $50 Amazon gift card for their classrooms.
Second-Place Winners: Twenty-five second-place educators will receive an Achieve3000 travel mug.
Second-Place Winners: Twenty-five second-place educators will receive an Achieve3000 travel mug.
Once the contest has ended, we will reach out to the winning teachers using the email address provided when logging in the first time to the program. If we do not hear back within 30 days after contacting the winner, the prize will not be awarded. Please call 877-235-2525, or email us at contests@achieve3000.com if you have any questions about the contest.
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Testing export
Bloomingdale School District was moving to a new national assessment exam, and Kristine Dudlo was concerned.
As the supervisor of curriculum and instruction for the Bloomingdale, NJ district, she was uncertain about how well the district would be able to prepare students for the change from the NJASK (NJ Assessment of Skills and Knowledge) exam to the new Common Core aligned PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Careers) exam..editor…acc
Their fourth graders were already struggling with language arts testing, and appeared to lack the skills and strategies needed to master testing in past years. In addition, the district had historically focused on student mastery of fictional text, whereas the PARCC test also requires students to master reading and writing around informational text.
“We were moving forward with the PARCC assessment, and needed to do something with state testing and everyday learning to promote higher-level thinking skills, and help students work with informational text,” she said.
Without these skills, her students wouldn’t have a fighting chance come testing time.
The Search for a Literacy Solution
Kristine began to research solutions that could help increase literacy levels for all of their students, including English language learners and special education students. During the process, she came across a variety of free literacy and homework program options that the district considered.
However, she quickly realized that these options required a lot of manual input, which was impractical for their busy teachers and administrators, and in addition, left room for inaccuracies.
Because they were looking for a solution that would be easy for their teachers to use, one area of particular concern was the fact that Lexile reading levels – the measure a student’s reading level – would need to be input and updated manually.
“There are free services out there, but you have to preset the Lexiles yourself,” she said. “They don’t move the students along, and you don’t know the quality and accuracy of the information you’re giving to students.”
She also found that many homework programs did not assess student comprehension very thoroughly.
And when it came to how well materials were aligned to the PARCC test, she added that many companies seemed to simply take their existing materials and claim that they were PARCC and state-aligned without any evidence to back those claims.
Then she discovered Achieve3000.
How Can We Meet the Needs of Every Student?
“We were looking for something to meet the needs of all of our students,” said Kristine. “Not only gifted and talented, but special education, mainstream and ELL students. Achieve was able to meet all of those needs for every student.”
So, which criteria were most important to Bloomingdale as they assessed various solutions?
Research-Based: “We wanted something that was proven, and research-based,” said Kristine. “Achieve has been around for many years. The research is there. I was able to see that it was doing what they say it does.”
Standards-Aligned: In assessing Achieve3000, Kristine found that the materials represented the “closest simulation to the PARCC assessment.” She also found that the standards-aligned writing component, and the free state-specific bonus lessons really helped moved the students forward.
“The writing component of Achieve3000 is aligned with state assessments, and the bonus lessons are huge,” she said. “This is one of the biggest reasons why we went with Achieve3000. It doesn’t cut it that the content is standards-aligned – you need to have the research, and Achieve3000 had it in the background.”
Ease of Use: With a very brief overview of the solution, Kristine said that even her new teachers caught on very quickly.
“Achieve3000 provides one-stop shopping for even the most inexperienced teachers,” she said. “They have resources at their fingertips – standards, instructional guides, lesson models, and writing center. All of these resources just keep getting better.”
Flexible Access: Kristine noted that the ability to access Achieve3000 outside of the classroom benefits not only students, but parents and teachers, as well.
“We had a teacher who had to take partial leave, but with Achieve3000 was able to monitor students when not in school,” she said.
She also credits Achieve3000 with helping to extend student learning beyond the classroom, citing that 99 percent of students used Achieve3000 after hours.
Affordability: Kristine noted that although Achieve3000 is affordable, they did have to spend on computers, laptop and infrastructure such as updating their wireless connection, in order to support the program.
“We’re making it work,” she said. “We’re ensuring that the funding is there because it has proven to be effective in our district.”
Getting Started with Differentiated Reading Instruction
Bloomingdale School District – which began with Achieve3000 four years ago – has two elementary schools for grades PreK-1 and grades 2-4, and one middle school for grades 5-8.
Before implementing Achieve3000, the district had one computer in the 2-4 school, and the middle school was just getting hotspots installed, said Kristine. Now, they have wireless connection, a computer lab and four laptop carts for the middle school, and two computer labs in the 2-4 school, providing more online accessibility.
In addition, all teachers have SMART boards and projectors in their classrooms.
Throughout the Achieve3000 implementation, and after, Kristine was impressed by how quickly Achieve3000 staff responded to their needs.
“The responsiveness of the company is so highly commendable,” she said. “They were always able to help us with any glitch we had, and move us forward.”
As far as usage in the classroom, Kristine says that one day each week, students complete a mini lesson in Achieve3000 using the Stretch article – which is designed to expose students to higher-level text. Teachers work on strategy with the whole class, and the students then use that strategy as they work on computers and laptops to read articles at their own pace during class time.
The district also uses Achieve3000 to monitor student Lexiles, she said.
“The reports are so thorough that teachers can see where students are, where they’re struggling, and focus on a particular concept to teach,” said Kristine. “They can take an article that is fine-tuned with that skill and work with students.”
Finally, the district uses Achieve3000 for summer reading – probably one of the biggest impacts they’ve ever seen for student summer reading, said Kristine.
“The students were assigned three articles by teachers for the next year, and were given their choice of three other articles,” she explained. “Every student was reading the same article at their own level. It is so meaningful because they can have that success, no matter what their level.”
She added that the summer program also helped their gifted and talented students who were struggling to feel accomplished.
“The summer reading program at Achieve is tremendous!” she commented.
Ensuring Teacher Readiness
Kristine credits the ongoing professional development provided by Achieve3000 staff with preparing teachers to successfully work with the program.
The first year, the Achieve3000 curriculum and implementation manager assigned to their district provided two full days of professional development. In the second year, they had three more training sessions.
“The professional development has been absolutely amazing,” said Kristine. “It is so focused, and so on target. Our trainer asked what teachers needed to work on, and she came in focused and ready to run with them.”
For example, they recently had a session on how to analyze reports in order to drive instruction and move students forward.
Kristine also commented that their teachers will be participating in Learning Paths this year. Teachers can easily create personalized or small-group MAP Informed Learning Paths using Achieve3000 lessons, saving planning time and providing targeted skills-based instruction.
Each teacher will have two different Learning Paths to complete in order to prepare for upcoming professional development sessions, she added.
Kristine stressed the importance of including all teachers in the professional development program, and not just those in language arts, explaining that the district had placed a lot of focus on sessions for both social studies and science teachers.
Finally, she noted that the key to keeping teachers up to date with Achieve3000 materials, is to conduct professional development on an ongoing basis.
“Ongoing is necessary, not optional,” she said. “Because the program gets better and better each year, the teachers need to continue that professional development.”
Students Gain More Self-Confidence, Higher-Level Thinking Skills
Because they’ve just switched from NJASK to the PARCC assessment, Kristine says they haven’t yet compared the scoring of the different assessments, and doesn’t have data regarding how Achieve3000 has impacted their test scores; however, she has seen growth in the students’ ability to read independently, as well as boosts in student self-confidence and higher-level thinking skills.
“As students grow with Achieve, their Lexiles increase, as have the levels of the books they choose to read independently,” she said.
Kristine has also seen lifts in comprehension levels, as well as increased exposure to non-fiction materials.
“Their levels of comprehension have changed for the better, and the amount of narrative we observed students reading was through the roof,” she said.
She’s also seen an impact in other content areas such as math, science and social studies.
“This is a great shift for students,” said Kristine. “The PARCC assessment has so much reading – even in math where students need to understand directions and processes. Achieve3000 really lends itself to helping students ensure they’re answering the questions that are being asked.”
And, for students who in the past may have struggled with context-poor content in generic textbooks, teachers can pull up the context in Achieve3000 so that students can better understand the material.
Kristine credits Achieve3000 with helping her teachers differentiate instruction in the classroom, without eating into the precious few hours they have to spend with their students.
“When you have a class of 22 students with 22 potentially different reading levels, having a product that can meet those varying needs while using the same strategies is invaluable – no money can pay for this.
“And with all of the requirements we have as educators, Achieve3000 is one of the most effective solutions to meeting the needs of all of our students.”
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