Houston County Board of Education Implements Classworks to Increase Math and Reading Scores.

Business Editors/Education Writers

HOUSTON COUNTY, Georgia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2004

The Houston County School System is implementing Classworks, a technology-based tool correlated with Georgia's K-12 reading and mathematics curriculum. Installed worldwide in more than 2,000 schools, the software management system has successfully and consistently raised math and reading test scores.

With Classworks (www.curriculumadvantage.com) a teacher can easily import Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) scores and immediately see a list of activities per student that address specific areas of weakness. After students complete their assigned activities, they can then take a Classworks test which will generate a report so that the teacher may evaluate progress and prescribe additional work if necessary.

Classworks was piloted in Westside Elementary School this year. Greg Peavy, Westside Elementary Principal, commented, "Classworks is the epitome of differentiated instruction. It provides customized instruction specific to each child's needs. Not only does it help the student who is having difficulties, it also challenges and extends the learning opportunities for gifted students." He added, "Students love the variety of software activities that keep them on the edge of their seats and engaged in learning. Another great feature is that parents can be actively involved in helping their children learn. Teachers can print specific activities for homework, plus the program has an Internet search engine accessible by password that provides activities relevant to what the child is learning in school."

The Classworks library includes 8,600 learning activities from hundreds of educational software programs, all of which are correlated with the Georgia Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) standards and National Education Standards in math and language arts. Classworks is also specifically aligned with the five key components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, as defined by the National Institute for Literacy and the Partnership for Reading. This alignment ensures that Classworks is an effective curriculum and remediation resource to address guidelines of the Reading First Initiative and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which focus on early literacy.

The instructional tool will help the system achieve its goals for adequate yearly progress (AYP) as mandated by the NCLB. "Classworks will provide instructional equity across our system, will give teachers a resource to diagnose student weaknesses based on current CRCT results, and prescribe an instructional path for the student to succeed," said Dr. Greg Gentry, Director of Testing and Instructional Technology.

Training on Classworks will begin in June. Students enrolled in the summer remediation program will benefit from the software management system. The software is being installed in 30 schools systemwide.

About Curriculum Advantage

Curriculum Advantage, Inc. (www.curriculumadvantage.com) has offices in Los Angeles; Austin, Texas; and Wayne, Neb. Curriculum Advantage's flagship product is Classworks, a network-based system of K-12 reading and mathematics curriculum and learning tools that comprise over 3,000 hours of curriculum. Classworks activities are correlated to national and state learning standards and state tests. They include prescriptive and summative assessment, remediation and reporting tools. Classworks is installed in 2,000 schools in the United States and worldwide. INET Classroom, also from Curriculum Advantage, is a comprehensive library of web-based curriculum linked to state and national standards.