Fairview Elementary School
Fairview, PA
(Pearson Digital Learning SuccessMaker)
 

Community Profile
Located in a suburb of Erie, PA, Fairview Elementary serves 600 students in grades K-4.

Challenge and Goals 
Building mathematics skills for all students

When Fairview Elementary School moved into a new building in 1996, none of the school’s educational software worked on the new system. For Fairview’s principal, Dr. Linda Goldsmith, and her faculty, this was a chance to start fresh with a new technology solution that met students’ needs. “We decided to focus on mathematics by purchasing software that supported our mathematics curriculum, challenged our accelerated students, remediated, and monitored basic skills for all,” said Dr. Goldsmith.

In her search for new software, Dr. Goldsmith visited a few schools in Arizona and South Carolina and was impressed by SuccessMaker, an Pearson Digital Learning (formerly known as CCC) product. “When I saw SuccessMaker, I was sold immediately,” said Dr. Goldsmith. “SuccessMaker is extremely teacher-friendly as well as student-friendly. Anyone could run it without a lesson plan. I didn’t want the software to be more planning for the teacher.”

The next step? Dr. Goldsmith and Fairview’s technology team needed to convince teachers to be just as enthusiastic about SuccessMaker as they were. The solution was a one-day, head-to-head demo of SuccessMaker and another software product from a different company. One of Fairview’s empty classrooms was set up with six computers running SuccessMaker and six running the other software. “In the morning, the representatives had to get both software solutions ready for the students,” explained Dr. Goldsmith. “The SuccessMaker side of the room took no work to set up, while the other side took quite a bit of work.”

Students at all learning levels and learning styles were invited to try out the systems. After students used the software on both sides of the room, they were asked which they liked better. Students unanimously chose the SuccessMaker side of the room.

Dr. Goldsmith and the technology team drafted the pros and cons of each software solution and presented the results to the Fairview School District board. Fairview Elementary began using SuccessMaker for mathematics in February 1997, and added reading instruction in fall 1999 using funds from a Read to Succeed grant.
 

Implementation

Individual Instruction in Grade-Level Labs
Fairview Elementary set up five SuccessMaker labs, one for each grade level. The second-, third-, and fourth-grade labs have 26 workstations, while the first-grade lab has 24 and the kindergarten lab has 12. According to Fairview’s principal, SuccessMaker training went smoothly. “SuccessMaker is so easy to use,” said Dr. Goldsmith. “Our teachers were trained in one in-service day and students were using SuccessMaker the next day.”

Each student in grades K-4 uses SuccessMaker for 15 minutes a day, three times a week, during the math block and for the same amount of time during language arts. “SuccessMaker exposes students to a lot of concepts before they see them in the classroom,” said Dr. Goldsmith. “Students recognize concepts when they come up in class and are able to teach other students. I’ve seen some of our fourth-graders working on quadratic equations, and those students were eventually placed in seventh-grade math at the middle school, which houses grades 5-8.”

Fairview Elementary uses the SuccessMaker management system to monitor students’ progress. In addition to daily reports for themselves, teachers run quarterly reports on grade level gains and time spent using SuccessMaker. Parent reports are utilized at the end of grading periods and parent workshops have been provided to share students’ skills.
 

Results

Score Improvements in Mathematics and Reading
The results are in! Average SAT 9 National Percentile Rankings improved from 78.5% in mathematics in 1995 to 84% in 2000. In reading, average rankings improved from 71% in 1999 to 77% in 2000.

A comparison of Fairview Elementary SAT 9 scores since the implementation of SuccessMaker showed steady improvements, with the 2000 scores being the highest ever for first, second, and third-graders in reading and first, second, and fourth-graders in mathematics. Take a look at these impressive improvements:

SAT 9 Mathematics Scores in National Percentile Rankings:
 

Grade	1997	1998	1999	2000
1	76	73	75	83*
2	70	74	80	83*
3	81	83	85	85
4	76	80	82	84*

SAT 9 Reading Scores in National Percentile Rankings:
 

Grade	1999	2000
1	66	74*
2	77	81*
3	69	74*
4	72	78*

* Highest score in the history of Fairview Elementary 
 

“There’s nothing else out there that compares with SuccessMaker,” said Dr. Goldsmith. “Other software just doesn’t produce the same results.” 

For more information on how Pearson Digital Learning can help you achieve results, visit http://www.pearsonedtech.com or call 888/627-5327; Canada and other international locations: 800/400-6192.

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