Cane Tassel Article (Jun2009) "Lexile Growth in Achieve Surpasses Expectations"

Content of Article:
Achieve3000 has become an integral part of English classes since its introduction to students at the beginning of January 2009. Teachers used the first level set assessment to determine if students had any present deficiencies in reading comprehension. As students complete their minimum of 40 article assignments goals and a second level set assessment, it is expected that student reading levels eventually improve.

Teachers have observed growth in comprehension, both great and small, although some declining scores in comprehension were due to students’ lack of seriousness. Chris Doyle, the Curriculum and Implementation Manager, presented the school with the facts: Waipahu students spent 48,722 hours on Achieve3000, and 87 percent of students logged on outside of school, accumulating a total of 34,506 log-ins since the program began. From August 10, 2008 to May 23, 2009, students completed 103,579 activities. Most important to our teachers and staff is learning that when,"comparing summative assessment scores, students demonstrated a mean gain of 66.4 percent in Lexile points." Students surpassed the expected percentage growth by 38.2 percent.

" Participating in the Achieve3000 program is helping me in my reading," said junior Geraldine Gasmen. "The stories [introduced] me to new topics and vocabulary words that I never knew before."

With exposure to contemporary non-fiction articles, students are preparing for the Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) with activity questions that have a similar style to the HSA. Acheive3000 lacks fiction readings, however, which would appeal to students and also prepare them in greater depths for different types of reading.

During the year, English teachers and students encountered difficulties with Achieve3000. The save function was not available on some articles, and dissatisfaction grew as interesting articles had no activity button. The program’s adjustment to the level set after the required consecutive number of 100 percents was not always consistent. Some teachers would like assessment tools that sort and orgranize specifically.

The common obstacle faced is student trust. "[Acheive3000] is no different from class work. We read, answer questions and write," said junior Matthew Melton.

With Waipahu’s first year with Achieve3000, teachers see potential with this program and will be working with Doyle to improve student and teacher usage and comprehension growth.