In the past few years, Charles Drew Elementary \u2014 a Title I school in Broward County, Florida \u2014 has witnessed a remarkable transformation in student proficiency. They\u2019ve grown from 33% to 82% proficiency in science and from 15% to 56% proficiency in reading.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Why so much growth? According to educators at the school, it can be attributed to the implementation of Progress Learning.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
We sat down with Ms. Sylvestre, the Science Instructional Coach, and Ms. Lee, the 5th Grade Academic Support and Reading Coach, to hear their thoughts on the program, its impact on their school, and their secrets to success.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Prior to the 2021-2022 school year, Drew Elementary relied on traditional school-based materials such as STEMscopes, J & J Boot Camp, and district-provided resources. Ms. Sylvestre first learned about [Progress Learning] through an educator in Leon County, whose school had phenomenal science scores. She spent a year looking at the program before finally getting an account. \u201cI was like, let me just see what the student plan looks like and I really liked it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
She ended up getting a subscription for her 5th<\/sup> graders for the 2021-2022 school year, and \u201cthe students responded extremely well.\u201d At that point, Ms. Sylvestre reached out to her principal. \u201cI was like, we have to get this program. The kids love it. They like it for reading, they like it for math, they like it for science.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Since Drew Elementary purchased the program, they\u2019ve used every part of it, from assessments and diagnostics to remediation and independent practice. They have weekly, monthly, and quarterly assessments that they easily create in Progress Learning. When it comes to independent practice, it\u2019s used on a daily basis to supplement teacher-led instruction. Students know the drill: they work on their red and yellow lessons and their focus area in their study plan. \u201cBy constantly doing their study plan and always going back to their focus area, it helps maintain their retention of that information,\u201d says Ms. Sylvestre.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Speaking about the remediation component, Ms. Sylvestre says, \u201cIt\u2019s one of the best remediation tools I\u2019ve ever used, to be honest.\u201d She adds, \u201cWhen I just go to the standard and I click \u2018assign remediation,\u2019 it literally went to those individual students. So that took the weight off of me\u2026 where, boom! It went exactly to who needed it. And that went for any standard. I love that about the program.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n She was also impressed that the scores from the Progress Learning diagnostics matched the state tests perfectly. \u201cThe first year, we projected 36% [on the diagnostic], we got a 36% on the state test. The second year, we projected 57%, we got a 57% on the state test.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A big part of the program that has contributed to the school\u2019s success is the reward system. When students master a standard, they earn three Galaxy Stars, which they can then use to unlock games and avatars in the program. Students responded particularly well to this.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cOur demographic of students are very hard to push, to motivate, and to capture their attention,\u201d says Ms. Sylvestre. But Progress Learning motivated them anyway. \u201cThey realized that they had to work a little bit harder to earn those Galaxy Stars to unlock those games.\u201d Students would come up to Ms. Sylvestre in the hall to share their latest achievement, exclaiming, \u201cHey Ms. Sylvestre, I\u2019m a spaceship engineer!\u201d or \u201cHey Ms. Sylvestre, I got this many Galaxy Stars!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n She says that Progress Learning is the only program where she doesn\u2019t have to battle her students to get on it. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t, \u2018Oh I don\u2019t want to do this.\u2019 As they realized they could unlock more games as they got more Galaxy Stars, they wanted to be on it even more and it wasn\u2019t a battle.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It was the same in reading. Ms. Lee shares, \u201cIt honestly caused the kids to become more intrinsically motivated, like they wanted all three stars. If they didn\u2019t get those three stars, they would go back to actually watch the video and complete the assignments that were accompanied with the video.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n One student even continued to use the program months after he had left the school. \u201cThat\u2019s how much he liked the program!\u201d says Ms. Sylvestre.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Before Progress Learning, Drew Elementary had never reached above 33% proficiency in science. By the end of 2021-2022, after using Progress Learning for a few months, the school’s science proficiency had risen to 36%. The next year, they used Progress Learning the whole year and achieved a new record: 57% proficiency. This year, they reached another extraordinary record: 82% proficiency, or 87% proficiency when excluding first-year ELL students. Ms. Sylvestre said that many of the students are struggling readers, \u201cso to be able to get these high science scores, it\u2019s because they knew the content. They absolutely knew the content.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ms. Lee shared a similar success story in reading. She initially used district resources like Journeys and iReady but saw significant improvements after switching to Progress Learning. They went from 15% in August 2023 to 56% proficiency by the end of the school year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n “We beat the district and the state,” Ms. Sylvestre proudly states. \u201cWe\u2019ve never had that in the history of the school.\u201d Drew Elementary also received an A rating \u2014 another first in the school\u2019s history.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It\u2019s important to note that these 5th<\/sup> grade students were in 1st<\/sup> grade when the pandemic happened, so there was a lot of lost learning. The teachers didn\u2019t know if they were going to be able to pull it off, but they did. \u201cWe do thank Progress Learning for definitely helping and supporting our students getting these scores,\u201d says Ms. Sylvestre.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The educators at Drew Elementary attribute their success to several key factors:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Ms. Sylvestre added one last thing to our conversation, saying, \u201cI wholeheartedly believe in the program. They get sick of me talking about Progress Learning here at Drew. But the data doesn\u2019t lie, and that\u2019s what it comes down to \u2014 the data does not lie.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHow Drew Elementary Uses Progress Learning<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Student Motivation<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The Results<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The Secret to Success<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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