Two Minnesota High Schools Choose WriteToLearn to Prepare Students for New State Writing Assessment
Pearson's Web-Based Tool Will Help Students Build Writing and Reading Comprehension Skills
BOULDER, Colo. - April 8, 2008 - Pearson announced today that students at two Minnesota high schools are now usingWriteToLearn™ to develop writing and reading comprehension skills. Both schools are using the award-winning Web-based learning tool to help students build literacy skills and prepare for the new Minnesota writingassessment.
The schools are Dunwoody Academy High School, a new technical charterschool in north Minneapolis administered by Dunwoody College, andRobbinsdale Cooper High School, part of Robbinsdale Area Schools in NewHope, Minn.
With WriteToLearn, students practice essay writing and summarization skills, and their efforts are measured by Pearson’s state-of-the-art Knowledge Analysis Technologies™ (KAT) engine. The KAT engine is a unique automated assessment technology that evaluates the meaning of text by examining whole passages, not just grammatical correctness orspelling.
"WriteToLearn is an awesome program that gives each studentfeedback right away, which is something a teacher cannot possibly havetime to do," said Duane Dutrieuille, dean of Academic and Student Affairs at Dunwoody Academy High School.
Dunwoody Academy, which offers eight-hour days and a 210-day school year, provides career-focused training in four industries - automotive,construction, health care and manufacturing - as well as core subjectsfor its 150 students. Reading and writing skills are vital parts of thecurriculum, said Dutrieuille, and WriteToLearn is an important tool inimproving student achievement. "Our students now know what to write and understand the structure of a paragraph. They’re gaining skills and confidence and are really enjoying using WriteToLearn. I would recommend it to any school," he said.
At Robbinsdale Cooper High school, which serves more than 2,000 students in grades nine through 12 in a northwest suburb of Minneapolis, ninth graders are just getting started with WriteToLearn. Teachers andadministrators will use it to prepare for both the state writing andreading assessments and have high hopes for success.
"We’re excited about the possibilities," said Jill Kind, Robbinsdale Cooper social studies teacher. Students will useWriteToLearn in language arts, social studies, science and even physical education, where teachers spend a portion of the session on writing andreading. "The immediate feedback for the students will be great, as well as the knowledge we’ll gain. We’ll be able to see areas wherestudents need help so we’ll be better able to individualizeinstruction," she said.
These Minnesota adoptions come closely on the heels of the launch ofWriteToLearn 5.0, which debuted with a number of new capabilities. Theyinclude new text-to-speech capabilities that allow students to havehundreds of reading passages read aloud to them, an added dictionary and spot word translation ability, and a new teacher comment feature thattakes the assessment tool to the next level.
More information about WriteToLearn is available at www.WriteToLearn.net.
About Pearson
Pearson is the global leader in educational publishing, assessment,information and services, helping people of all ages to learn at theirown pace, in their own way. For students preK-12, Pearson provideseffective and innovative curriculum products in all available media, educational assessment and measurement for students and teachers,student information systems, and teacher professional development andcertification programs. The company’s respected brands include Summary Street®, WriteToLearn, Scott Foresman, Prentice Hall, AGS,PowerSchool, SuccessMaker, TeacherVision and many others. Pearson’s comprehensive offerings help inform targeted instruction and intervention so that success is within reach of every student. Pearson’s other primary businesses include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.
For more information, press only:
Lisa Wolfe, L. Wolfe Communications, 773-325-9935, lwolfe@lwolfe.com