I CAN Learn interactive software program gaining momentum in classrooms nationwide
Hillsborough County, Fla. (Dec. 8, 2009) – Math classes in Hillsborough County are showing how an interactive software program not only improves math proficiency and test scores, but that it is also a critical teaching tool that has helped teachers become more effective in the classroom.
“We chose I CAN Learn because we know it’s effective,” said Janet Boatman, District Middle School Math Supervisor. “It gives the ability for students to work on a lesson at their own pace and we also use it for teacher training – a great program.”
Hillsborough County, recently awarded a $100 million teacher effectiveness grant, continues to show its commitment great teaching and improving math scores by partnering with I CAN Learn (ICL), an interactive software program that has reinvented math classrooms across the county.
With courses in Pre-Algebra and Algebra, independent studies show the ICL program significantly closes the achievement gap and raises test scores. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse gave the ICL Educational System its highest rating, citing “statistically significant” increases in its case studies.
In the drive to overhaul the public education system with the Race to the Top and Investing in Innovation funds, schools and school districts across the U.S. also view ICL as a boost to school reform efforts.
Across Florida, 112 classrooms in 98 schools are currently using the program, and, in Hillsborough County, ICL has been helping raise math proficiency through all of the middle and high schools.
Patricia Powell, a teacher at Buchanan Middle School in Tampa, who has taught math for 37 years has found her students have vastly improved in an I CAN Learn classroom.
“I love it,” said Powell. “I’d say 99 percent of the kids show improvement on state tests, and it’s a terrific tool for me to give me immediate data and feedback on each student’s progress.”
ICL support manager Jean Sheridan continues to see steady progress in Florida, stating, “We designed I CAN Learn with the help of teachers who use it which is why it’s so effective and why we see improvements year after year.”
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