New York — Aug. 31
Students in Perry Township, Ind., will be going back to a different kind of school this fall — one where math class doesn’t require a textbook and each day’s lesson is tailor-made, based on the student’s progress the previous day. After a unanimous school board vote this summer, Perry Meridian Middle School and Southport Middle School will be using McGraw-Hill Education’s revolutionary Power of U, an all-digital math program that uses an adaptive, personalized model to drive student achievement.
“The Power of U program avoids the traditional ‘one size fits all’ approach to teaching,” said Robert Bohannon, former principal of Southport Middle School. “We’ve seen that real-time feedback impacts not only students’ achievement, but also their attitude toward math.”
Perry Township was the first district to pilot the Power of U, a program developed through the district’s partnership with McGraw-Hill Education, its assessment arm, CTB and ActivProgress, a Web-based data management and social learning product, by Promethean. The summer pilot program grew from 26 participants in 2010 to 180 participants in 2011. Now that it is being fully implemented, more than 1,200 middle school students will participate in the program this fall.
The data-driven Power of U program creates learning groups based on an individual student’s skill or content mastery, rather than traditional grade structures. Using key components from the assessment, data and information managements systems, teachers are given recommended instructional techniques and content that will challenge students to higher levels of achievement. The digital platform matches students with teachers and lessons focused on specific math skills. These skills are taught using the most appropriate instructional method (e.g., teacher-led instruction, small group instruction, one-on-one tutoring and independent study), and adapts to students’ progress daily. The Power of U program also enhances the teacher’s ability to guide students through the effective use of real-time data to inform and tailor instruction.
Source: McGraw-Hill School Education
