Midland ISD Adopts New Technology for Struggling Students
Midland Independent School District partners with educational software company Imagine Learning as part of an early intervention strategy that will help students master language skills and meet state standards.
Provo, UT (Vocus) October 14, 2010
In Midland, Texas, hundreds of kindergarten through second-grade students have come back from summer break to find a new learning tool in their classrooms. This year, Midland Independent School District has partnered with educational software company Imagine Learning to provide struggling students with access to Imagine Learning English, a language and literacy software program.
Midland administrators identified Imagine Learning English as an accessible and affordable way to provide young English learners and special education students with a highly individualized curriculum.
“Imagine Learning English was designed to benefit the individual student,” said Dianne de Mik, instructional designer for Imagine Learning. “We know that every student is unique and that students will make the greatest gains when their specific needs are addressed directly. Imagine Learning English has been crafted to provide that sort of personalized tutoring.”
Throughout the school year, students who qualify for additional support will spend a recommended twenty minutes a day using Imagine Learning English. The program is part of a response to intervention strategy that Midland administrators anticipate will give students the classroom support they need to build language and literacy skills and meet state standards, all without overburdening teachers or holding back other students.
“These students often have large gaps in their academic language and/or vocabulary. The instructional day does not provide for a direct teaching time to address these deficiencies,” said Nancy Isaacs, director of special education for Midland ISD. “Imagine Learning English can be used to help build these skills during the students’ independent learning time when the teacher is providing instruction to other students.”
Imagine Learning English offers unique technology like multisensory content, adaptive assessment tests, scaffolded support and customizable teacher reports. These features fit well with the district’s strategy to engage students while providing direct and individualized instruction.
“Technology captures the attention of our students and is a positive motivator for them. Technology can be used to provide intervention on an individualized basis in a classroom with many students with many individual academic levels,” said Isaacs.
About Imagine Learning
At Imagine Learning, we’re passionate about bringing language and literacy instruction to the students who need it most. That’s why we used state standards and scientifically based research to develop Imagine Learning English, an innovative software program that uses first-language support, continual assessment and differentiated instruction to meet the needs of four key student populations: English learners, struggling readers, students with disabilitiesand early childhood education students. Imagine Learning English gives students one-on-one instruction, continual assessment, and scaffolded support while keeping teachers abreast of student progress through real-time reports. Visit our website at http://imaginelearning. com to find out how we’re giving students, parents and teachers essential tools for language and literacy development.
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