The Need for Data

Apex Learning Tutorials Empower Teachers

Daniel GerdsSeattle, TX (USA), March 2014 - The Round Rock Independent School District in Texas was looking for a solution to empower teachers with the data they needed to provide students with relevant and timely remediation to boost student achievement. The district partnered with Apex Learning, a provider of blended and virtual learning solutions to American schools, to implement the company's Tutorials in six high schools and four middle schools as a component of its math and English language-arts remediation program.

With a highly diverse student population in terms of both academic readiness and English- language proficiency, the district sought a flexible solution that would meet a wide range of student learning needs while providing the immediate intervention many students needed to successfully pass the end-of-course assessments.

"The Apex Learning Tutorials were really a small miracle for our teachers," said Daniel Gerds, a math teacher at Cedar Ridge High School. "Since implementing Tutorials, we have cut down on the amount of afterschool tutoring sessions required, and we have more time to focus on the quality of instruction."

According to district leaders, the goal was to increase the number of students achieving a passing score on the end-of-course assessments in math and English language arts. With Tutorials, teachers have access to real-time data that enables them to easily identify where student knowledge is lacking and provides insight into the topics that need to be remediated.

"I absolutely believe Tutorials are helping me to be a more effective teacher," said Gerds. "They provide critical information teachers need to ensure students are getting the right instruction at the right time."

As part of the remediation and intervention program, students who fail an assessment in class are assigned the relevant Tutorials module to complete as homework. With the ability to access Tutorials from a number of different devices, including tablets, students work through Tutorials at their own pace either at home or during the school day. The innovative design, which incorporates elements of popular gaming and apps, resonates with students.

Due to the success of the Tutorials for remediation, Round Rock Independent School District has now expanded their use to serve a broader range of classroom needs. In January 2014, the math teachers at Cedar Ridge High School opted to incorporate Tutorials as an integral part of everyday classroom instruction.