I had several requests for HITS and a few comments from people whose
district is trying to get it loaded. It doesn't sound promising at this
point! We also have concerns about some of the reports that if in the
wrong hands could be dangerous in the 'us vs them' comparison. Also,
the ESP service agreement which is now $338 for AR and STAR Reading
will then be almost $900. (it's 'only 99 cents per student per program
per building'!)
Barb
*****************************
My school has purchased StandardsMaster, which is a component of
Renaissance
Place We have had problems for months getting all the bugs out of it.
There
are services on the server that simply will not run consistently. The
fact
that it is web based may be some of the issue - I don't know. Our tech
support personnel and their tech support have been working for quite
some
time without success. I'm ready to demand a refund because the program
is
virtually worthless!
***********************************
My district is in the process of switching over to RenPlace. Hopefully
it
will be up and running soon, because our AR has been shut down for 2
weeks
so far while they do all the changes. I don't know what the costs of
the
old system or of this new RenPlace are. However, I do know that with
the
new system we will be able to have up to 78,000 quizzes in each school
at no
additional cost. When you consider how much is spent on quizzes at each
school, at $2.58 each, it seems like there would be a tremendous amount
of
savings. Our district sent the MARC records from each of our libraries
to
Renaissance and we are supposed to have every quiz available for our
libraries when it comes up. I'm skeptical that they'll get that done
right,
but I'm planning to make sure I have every quiz available for my
library as
soon after it's up as I can get them ordered.
I also think it will be very handy to be able to download new quizzes as
needed instead of always trying to come up with the money.
Also, we have a revolving door in our district - kids change schools as
often as the rent comes due. With the new system, the kids' AR records
will
follow them to any school in the district.
I'm looking forward to the new RenPlace with a little fear and
trepidation.
I know that any time we make big changes, there are problems.
Hopefully,
though it will be a good thing in the long run. If you think of it, you
might email me in a month or two and ask me how our change over went.
I'll
be happy to fill you in.
[COMMENT: When I contacted RenLearn about purchasing new quizzes they
indicated I would purchase them as usual but someone with server rights
would have to install them. They told me nothing about having access to
all 78,000 quizzes so I don't know if this is something that this
district arranged or what. Barb]
*********************************
I have replied to three separate requests on the listserv on this topic.
Beware. We tried to implement the system this summer. It does not work.
We went all the way to the software engineers for tech support. We gave
them full access to our servers. Rebuilt and reloaded twice. No dice.
The system does not live up to its expectations. Additionally the data
transfer made going back to the LAN a headache. We know have corrupt
data that Renaissance is trying to fix. I would say wait and see if they
can work the bugs out. If you would like any more info I can put you in
touch with our technicians who waste a lot of time this summer on the
program.
It is interesting that no one has posted a hit on this topic. I am
interested if others have had similar experiences.
******************************
Our district says we have. This is our seventh week of school. At the
building level we have no evidence Renaissance Place works. We cannot
do anything. No STAR and no AR no anything.
*****************************
Barb Engvall
Teacher-Librarian
John Campbell Elem
Selah, WA
macbarb@charter.net
http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/JC/jc.cfm
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