The Indian River County School Board just approved yet another online learning program without asking even basic questions, this time for high school students scoring in the lower ranges on state reading tests.
The new program is Achieve 3000, which will cost about $85,000 a year and will be used by 9th- through 12th-graders achieving poorly – at level one or two – on the Florida Standards Assessment in English Language Arts. The new program will replace two existing online programs – AimsWeb Plus and Smart Horizons – that have a combined cost of $60,000 a year.
Smart Horizons is an accredited online school that’s geared toward helping students pass state tests needed for graduation, while also getting certified in work programs such as child care, homeland security, and food and hospitality. If students failed the state tests and couldn’t graduate, they were transferred into Smart Horizons before the end of the year, getting a diploma from the online school, but walking down the aisle with their cohorts getting a standard diploma.
Board members, however, didn’t ask why Smart Horizons and AimsWeb Plus are out and the new program is in. No curriculum committee was convened and no report or research supporting selection of Achieve 3000 was shared by Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Pamela Dampier.
Superintendent Mark Rendell said “It’s similar to i-Ready,” hinting at the reason for Achieve 3000’s adoption.
I-Ready was purchased without question by the board for elementary schools two years ago for nearly $300,000 annually. Despite bad reviews from teachers, the board expanded the program to middle schools this school year, adding about $200,000 to the yearly expense.