Aquin Has Big Results with Online Math Instruction
(Small High School Has Big Results with Differentiated Math Instruction)
How does a teacher differentiate instruction to best the fit the needs of each student in a single classroom? It’s a question that many teachers and school administrators ask, and one that is especially hard to answer when your school has less than 150 students, all of whom have widely different needs.
For Rich Chang, a math teacher at Aquin Junior-Senior High School in Freeport, he knew that his school was facing the challenge of providing a math curriculum that would fit the learning needs of each student. Additionally, the school was unable to provide multiple offerings of the typical math classes that are paced to fit certain groups of students. He was worried that the school risked boring the school’s gifted students and leaving behind the students who required more in-depth remediation.
As Chang and fellow faculty at the school searched for programs to fit their school’s diverse learning needs, they found ALEKS, an online math program, to help differentiate instruction for the school’s students. The program uses artificial intelligence to find and diagnose gaps in student knowledge, while also providing teachers and school administrators with tools to monitor student activity and progress.
To implement the program, ALEKS was first offered as a no-grade summer program for both gifted and intervention students who would be using it during the upcoming school year. The goal was to get both teachers and students comfortable with the new format. Once the school year began, students were given a comprehensive assessment in ALEKS that determined where they would start in their course. This format has proven successful and the school has implemented the program school-wide for use during the school year.
The school cultivates parental support for the program by providing informational sessions at the beginning of the school year to offer additional details about ALEKS. Topics such as how parents could work with their students at home and how they could monitor their progress are discussed and parents are invited back to a meeting at the end of the first semester to discuss their children’s accomplishments so far.
Students who use the ALEKS program dedicate over six hours a week to math, including 30 minutes per night, six days a week at home. According to Chang, students are excited about doing math. He notes that students are engaged and willing to spend more time doing math with ALEKS instead of doing their math in a traditional classroom setting.
“For the first time, the students feel completely in control of their progress and fully aware of where they are and what they need to do,” said Chang, “I have noticed that, without exception, this control gives the students a higher stake in their own learning.”
At the end of one school year, Chang conducted an anonymous survey of the students and their parents. He found that 95 percent rated their experience with ALEKS as "highly satisfied" or better.
“With over 40 students using the ALEKS system as their core math class, we have seen our gifted students excel and regain their enthusiasm for math and the students that have traditionally found math more challenging have thrived,” said Chang, “It has been amazing to see a class full of students come to class, sit down, and immediately get to work without any hesitation or prodding from the teacher.”
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