A third grade teacher, Mrs. Kable approached me with this problem. She had a student who was rushing through lessons on Study Island. I picked three Reading Workshop students, Trindi, Dylan, and Jacob to take turns helping this student with his sessions. One goes each day for 20 minutes, rotating so none miss too much class.
The Study Island SAT and the Study Island ACT programs were examined for this review; they are very similar programs with test-specific differences. Both programs are web-based subscription services that can be used by students or teachers at any time from any location—lab, classroom, library, or home. This review will focus on the Study Island SAT program.
Study Island has partnered with Tutor Associates, a one-on-one tutoring company, to offer the SAT (and the ACT) review program. The mathematics portion of Study Island SAT helps students master both computation problems and word problems similar to those used on the test; the verbal portion includes practice for the critical reading and writing sections of the SAT.
Animated interactive instructional videos help students learn key test-taking strategies and help them avoid common pitfalls. The program also provides hundreds of printable flashcards designed to help students practice common SAT vocabulary. Practice exams allow students to get a score estimate. Full-length practice tests can be generated on request.
Subscribing users can log on to an opening page that provides specific user statistics and desired reports. To the left of the screen, a menu offers choices including School Stats, Class Manager, Benchmarking (an add-on at an extra cost), Create New Topic (to generate new practice exercises), New Message, My Attributes, and My High Scores. Below the menu is a list of subscription services available to the user’s school. At the top, users can click on on-screen buttons to link to Emailed Report Manager, Printable User List, and Adjust Student Difficulty.
An SAT button takes the user to a page offering three selections: Math, Verbal, and Practice Tests. The Math option leads to a page with nine math lesson areas and more than 50 specific lessons. The Verbal option leads to a page with nine verbal lesson areas that link to a total of 34 specific lessons, a guide to writing SAT essays, and practice prompts. Check boxes offer a direct link to the selected lesson areas. As students work through a subject, their results are recorded on this page as well.
Once users select a lesson, they are taken to a page that lets them select session options including Test Mode, Classroom Response Systems, Printable Worksheet, or Games. In addition, users can select a number of questions for the session, from a range of 1–20.
Each time the Test Mode or Worksheet options are selected, a different result can be generated. The Games selection links to 28 Java games.
The Classroom Response Systems option provides a page that enables the selection of specific clickers for use in study sessions. The Study Island SAT and ACT programs work with eInstruction’s Classroom Performance System, Promethean’s Learner Response Systems, Qwizdom’s Student Response System, Renaissance’s 2Know! Classroom Response System, SMART Response interactive response systems, and the TurningPoint student response system.
A number of Study Island reports can be used to guide future drill work or to drive classroom instruction. Lists of students can be generated with grading options for each subject, topic, or program. A breakdown of class or student usage for a selected lesson area or program can be generated. The reports can break down information on student performance and can compare individuals or classes by school and state.
The program’s Class Manager function allows teachers to create assignments for individual students and to view student progress. Teachers can see class averages, send messages to all students in a class, or make a class page and class assignments.
Teachers can create custom assessments as needed, choosing questions from either the standard Study Island question bank or from a new question bank designed specifically for the Custom Assessment Builder. (The Custom Assessment Builder is currently available for math and reading in grades 3–8; not all subjects and topics have unique question banks available.)
The Live View feature provides a real-time monitoring system that allows teachers to observe the students’ progress as they work. Live View displays the logged-in students in a class, the assignments and the topics they are working on, the number of questions correct out of the number of questions attempted, and more.
The program includes several additional helpful features. A parent notification system automatically notifies parents of student progress by email. A text-to-speech option enables students to select whole questions, parts of questions, or individual words to be read aloud. The message center offers an area for student and teacher communication.
Study Island is an online test preparation tool which incorporates computer games into learning. Since introducing it at Woodglen during the 2007-2008 school year, our students have taken an instant liking to it.
In Study Island, students answer questions which are linked to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards in math and language arts. Science is also included for eighth graders. A variety of computer games are incorporated. As students answer questions correctly, they earn playing time. Student progress, number of questions answered, and high scores are logged, allowing students to challenge themselves and teachers to track their progress. Kim Holloway cheers students on as they work to earn blue ribbons in the Study Island lab. Study Island was purchased for the school by the PTO and Local Sales Network. Pictured, from left, are Anysia Crew, Holloway, Mauricio Cardoso, Jimmy Ramos and Madison Jarrett. Herald-Citizen Photo/Ty Kernea
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PUTNAM COUNTY -- Online learning has taken hold at the high school level and Study Island is helping elementary students in some county schools learn in an online format as well.
"Study Island is an online, standards-based practice program for children," Kim Holloway, Title teacher at Park View Elementary School explained.
The program is designed for students from kindergarten all the way through high school and offers lessons with accompanying games that help students master learning standards set by the state.
"For each grade level, the state gives us standards and skills that we have to teach to every child," Holloway explained. "These games and lessons are based on those standards according to what state you live in."
Schools can buy a site license and set up accounts for their students, allowing student access to Study Island learning tools from home, in the classroom computer labs or in after school programs.
"You can play in two different modes," Holloway explained.
In test mode, students are given a question to answer.
"If you are working on addition facts in the math program it will give you some math problems and you have to choose which ones is the right answer," Holloway said.
If they answer the question correctly, a game pops up for the student to play.
"Then after you get to play the game you go back and it asks you another question," Holloway said.
There are about 50 different games for the students to play.
"The way that we use it in the lab is, there are 10 questions. If you get at least seven of those 10 questions correct, you get a blue ribbon," Holloway said. "When you get a blue ribbon, you can play for the rest of the class time in game mode. Meaning, you can answer the questions and play the fun games.
"I use the blue ribbons to get them to focus on the questions and the information that the questions are asking."
Although the program is not being used by all elementary schools in the county yet, a several schools have implemented the program, Holloway said.
Park View began using the program last spring.
With the help of the Park View Parent Teacher Organization, Park View purchased the rights to use the program for math and reading first.
"Our third grade teachers were worried about science and social studies because their kids were low in that so we went to Local Sales Network and asked them to purchase another component, science and social studies, for the third graders and they did that," Holloway said.
In one of the games, students chase an animal through a maze, they must follow the animal with the right letter of the correct answer.
Read more: Herald Citizen - Study Island gives students interactive learning experience
Affordable Online Graphic Novel Reading Intervention Program for K-12 Students
Using rich, visual illustrations in conjunction with the written word, the Study Island Reading: Revisited and Reconsidered program is designed to actively engage and assist struggling readers, reluctant readers, avoidance readers, and English language learners. Our primary aim is to help students revisit what reading means and reconsider what they think literature can be.
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Parents often have to convince their kids to stop playing video games and do their homework. But now some schools are using video games in their curriculum to teach students some very important lessons.
Not only do students at IS 123 get to play educational video games, they have a choice of games to play.
"I played the home run derby game," student Desiree Rojas said. "It's fun because you have to get the answer as soon as possible before the ball passes you."
The games are generated by a Web-based program called Study Island, which is an important part of the curriculum at IS 123.
"It actually taught me how to divide and how to multiply," student Nyla Jones said.
Study Island is more than just fun and games. It is designed to help students study materials that meet the academic requirements in each subject, for each state where the program is used.
The games are similar to those kids already like to play. They earn the privilege of playing by scoring high on Study Island tests, which help educators keep track of student progress.
"It's material that's tested on the state test, so it's not that they're throwing in just basic level stuff," teacher Christina Varghese said. "They're actually giving them stuff that they need to know for the test, so because it's standards based, I really love it."
"It gives you more chances to make up what you got wrong," student Krizya Gutierrez said. "And if you got something wrong, it offers you an explanation."
IS 123 principal Virginia Connelly considers Study Island to be a successful part of the school's overall strategy.
"We've used it very extensively in math," she said. "And we've had tremendous growth in our math scores over the past three years, the same amount of time that we've been using it."
Study Island costs between $2,500 and $3,500 per year for each school. There are other ways of supplementing school curriculums, but educators at IS 123 feel it is worth the investment.
Back to school isn’t just for kids. Thanks to programs like Parent University, hundreds of adult learners are tackling new subjects this fall. On Sept. 15, dozens of CMS parents attended a Study Island workshop at Bailey Middle School.
Study Island is a web-based tool designed to prepare students for their End-of-Grade (EOG) tests. Students are tested on objectives based on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Parents were invited to learn more about Study Island to help their children master coursework.
“It's a pretty good way for them to get that extra practice, specifically in reading and math, the two things they're tested on in the End-of-Grade tests,” said Cathy Bell, who is a Study Island consultant. “It’s also great for when there is a snow day because this gives them something to work on.”
The program features traditional assessments and interactive games where students answer questions that provide immediate feedback. If an answer is wrong, the program explains why.
“If they're not doing well on math problems, teachers can look at the data and find out what problems they are having trouble on,” Bell said.
One of the unique features about this program: teachers can compare their class test results to others at the same school. They can also look at how the school is doing compared to others in the district and state. Teachers can also e-mail parents their child’s report.
Teachers aren't the only ones pleased with the program.
“This is an amazing tool,” said parent Donna Poff. “There is no reason why a child can’t make a three or four now on the EOG tests.”
Bell has seen a correlation between students who do well on Study Island and EOG test scores.
“For the majority of the children that work on the program, and really use it to their best effect, I think it benefits them and it benefits the whole school,” Bell said. “Four out of five schools that I have consulted with have recently made Adequate Yearly Progress.”
Students can log on via the Internet anytime, anywhere to master coursework content. Study Island is currently offered in CMS for kindergarten through eighth grades. The district is working to get the program in high schools. Study Island is the company that has been building and marketing online, state standards-based learning programs that are the most effective and easiest to use of their kind. Their in-house technical development and content teams design and create educational programs, which are then sold to schools on a subscription basis through a direct sales force. Used by millions of students in thousands of schools across the United States, all of their programs are built specifically from state standards and are designed to create a very user-friendly experience for both students and teachers alike. If you would like to join the Study Island team creating excellent educational study tools for students to master their tests, then consider working as a Educational Sales Representative. These positions are flexible and involve some travel, but are home-based. SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- University of California-Santa Cruz scientists have determined rats living on islands disrupt ecosystems on both land and sea.
Researchers said their findings have already helped make the case for this summer's first major rat eradication effort in the Aleutian Islands.
The UCSC scientists found the presence of rats on islands dramatically alters the intertidal zone, reducing the amount of seaweed and increasing the numbers of snails, barnacles, and other invertebrates.
Graduate student Carolyn Kurle, who led the study, said the changes result from the decimation of seabird populations by the rats.
"When you're on an island with rats, there are so few birds it's silent, in contrast to the cacophony on the islands without rats," Kurle said.
Some of the affected birds -- sea gulls and oystercatchers, in particular -- are major predators of invertebrates in the intertidal zone. In their absence, snails, limpets, and other grazers increase in abundance, eat more algae, and clear more space for other invertebrates to settle and grow, Kurle said, noting the result is a shoreline practically stripped bare of the usual cover of fleshy algae, or seaweed. K-12 educators and administrators can now take the free online video tour of Study Island and learn more about Virginia Standards Mastery and Standards of Learning Test Preparation. Study Island uses online/distance technology to help students prepare and improve their performance in mastering the concepts of Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOL) guidelines, which describe Virginia's expectations for achievement by K-12 students.
Study Island is web based and requires no software installation. With a subscription, students and educators have unlimited access to Study Island from any computer through an internet connection.
Study Island builds online standards-based programs specifically for state SOL requirements, including the Commonwealth of Virginia. Program benefits include immediate feedback and explanations directly to the student. Tests are organized into subjects and topics as per the Virginia SOL. Instructors can choose the order of lessons and tests or permit students to choose.
Progress reports track student achievement, and can be set up to report by grade, class, or student. If a student needs to retake a test to raise their achievement level, the answers and questions change, which allows for learning the concepts not memorizing the answers.
Study Island uses tests as well interactive games and worksheets to enhance learning skills. According to Study Island, 98% of teachers using say that the program helps students, 95% of teachers say it's fun and enjoyable, and 91% of teachers and 89% of students say it is easy to use.
Built from the Commonwealth of Virginia's standards, Study Island subscriptions can be purchased through the website or a sales representative. You can request a free in-school demonstration or "test drive" and sign up for free webinars that explain the program benefits. On the Virginia price list, each section can be purchased separately. Districts may qualify for special discounts. School licenses allow for access by all students for 1 year.
Here is a pricing example: for a single class, less than 30 students, 3rd grade math is $141. Study Island also offers Integrated Benchmark Tests (4 benchmarks per subject), Extended Learning Curriculum (includes biology, algebra, history, etc.), GED products, AP products, and Graphic Novel products.