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My original target - My district is considering Study Island to help boost
test scores (No Child Left Behind). If you are familiar the site, what can
you us about it? Does it help? How much? Do the students like it? Is it easy
to navigate? What else can you share?

I missed another target sent in January as at that point I had not heard of
the program. Here's the hit posted in January –

My concern with Study Island is that it not be used as an alternative to
teaching, rather as a supplemental piece.  I'm also concerned it may become
a "babysitter."  I also am concerned that SI does not tell students why they
chose the incorrect answer, although, it does, however tell students why
they chose the correct answer.  I feel it'd be more beneficial if it told
students why the answer they chose was incorrect.
It provides mini-lessons before each test.  These are good if the
teacher review these lessons with students, but, as a stand-alone
activity for a student, I don't foresee them being beneficial for a
second grader to sit-down and read through.  In addition, I don't
anticipate students reading the explanations of why the correct answer was
correct.  Please see below for what others had to say.



I helped implement the program at Hatherly Elementary School in Sterling
Heights, MI.  I was only there for one year with it but the teachers and
students really liked it.  The teachers could check on results and test
taking over the summer and communicate by emails within the program.  I
don't know how it impacted the test scores but it got off to a positive
start.



I don't have any facts on test scores, but I can tell you how I saw kids
using it. There is a part that has games that kids are suppose to read and
answer questions. Kids were just pushing any keys to play the games and not
reading anything. I finally had to say that in the library if they were on
study island there could be no games because I  got tired of kids beating on
the keyboards.





We use it in our district at elementary and middle schools.  I am not
sure about concrete evidence, but one school that has been recognized or
exemplary some years in a row swears by it.  The teachers need to buy into
it I would say.  Nothing particular to be wary of that I know of. If you
have other questions, I will be happy to try and answer them.



Our school has had it for a few years now and loves it!  The kids enjoy it
because of the games, and the teachers love it because the kids like it.
Teachers have the ability to determine which skills their kids can take;
this is helpful to keep them from playing "easy" stuff just to play more
games.  Teachers can also turn the games off altogether if needed.  It used
to be that you could get a free trial to try it out for yourself.  You might
want to check on that...



Our intermediate uses it with great results.  Our version is very out
dated.



I work in a 6-8th grade school and we had Study Island for about 2
years.  The teachers really liked the math component, but HATED the language
arts part.  Many of our special ed teachers had very good results using the
3rd-4th grade math with our 6-8th grade special ed students.  I personally
wouldn't want to guess whether or not our test scores improved because of
the use of this product.



Our Title 1 schools in the district have paid for it for several years.
It is a good, sound program.  Each student has a login password and can
access it at home or school.  There are many questions in all categories of
study - meeting Oklahoma PASS objectives for testing.  There is even a game
format to be played.



One seventh grade Language Arts class at my school did a trial.  One of the
comments made was that you had to do all the modules to do any post testing,
preventing the ability to only focus on specific objectives.
My role in the trial  as media specialist was setting up the laptops and
getting user names set up for the students.  This is what the teacher of the
classroom told me.

I believe there was also a feeling that what was being done wasn't any
different to what is done in workbooks to reinforce skills





Additional replies to my post –

We do use study island.  The kids do enjoy it, especially when they can go
to game mode.  But, ours is set so they may not play games until they have a
certain average in the test mode.  I would recommend this.  We have been
using this for the last year+ and have made AYP.  We like to think that this
has helped.

We use it here for elementaries.  One school in particular has used it a
while and they have recognized and exemplary scores.  The students like it
better than another program we have used.  I find it fairly easy to deal
with, but use it mainly from admin point of view.   It's got various options
that help in dealing with students.


Our kids (gr. 3-5) love Study Island, but I'm not sure they're getting much
out of it academically. They guess at the answers to the questions until
they get enough right to go on to the attached game (skateboarding is the
current favorite). They put great effort into the fun bits, but pay little
mind to the educational part. May be they're getting something anyway. I
hope so!

I was in a school that used it last year. The setup was that the computer
lab was used as a dropoff so that teachers could have planning time. The
kids would come for a 50-minute class and they spent the entire time working
on Study Island.
By the 4th month of school the kids were sick of it but the real eye-opener
is that at the end of the year our test scores had actually dropped from
expectation. They were in the mid 70s in general. I don't know whether it
was because of HOW it was used or if it was the content/style of Study
Island but it did NOT work.
I don't know how much we paid for it and I never used it personally - I can
only tell you how I saw it from across the hallway. HTH


We just got it in our school, so I can't tell you if it will impact
standardized test scores yet. It works well, is easy to navigate and the
kids like it. They want to do the math section more than the reading because
they can answer the questions quicker and get to the games. Students can  do
a section in test mode which merely asks a multiple choice question, or game
mode, in which the student must first answer the question, and then can play
a game. The game is for one question only, then they must answer another one
to play the game for a short period of time. The program detects guessing
and will keep the kids from playing any games if it appears they're just
clicking around.
Our school is hoping it will improve our Connecticut Mastery test scores,
but we'll see. The students can access it from home as well. The teachers
like it because it makes review of material easier.

We had it a couple of years ago and didn't renew our subscription.  Our math
teachers liked it and thought it was helpful, but our LA teachers didn't
find the program useful for their classes.  We are a 6-8th grade school

I have used it with my 8th grade math support.  I find it difficult to keep
students, trying their best and on task while on it.  They seem to just
click through the multiple choice answers. Although I know their are ways to
address this, I find that the pencil, paper, book method superior in this
regard.  They do have games that may spark interest in some and I use it
sparingly as culminating or special "extra" activity.

I suppose in the end it is just another tool; it is all in how you use it;
but if your administrator is looking for that magic panacea...he/she may be
disappointed.


-- 
"Librarian. Genetically predisposed to answer questions and correct
misconceptions - whether asked or not." 2 01 2007

Barbara Fritz
Elementary Librarian
Bloomsburg Area School District
Bloomsburg PA
bfritzlibrary@gmail.com
http://bloomsburgasd.schoolwires.com/62784211610220/site/default.asp

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