Miami-Dade Classrooms Using Computerized Math Lessons
John O'Connor
Frances S. Tucker Elementary students use the i-Ready software during class.
On one side of Yaliesperanza Salazar’s math class at Miami’s Frances S. Tucker Elementary School, students were learning to group data and draw conclusions using a line plot.
But another lesson was happening on the other side of the class, one tailored for each student using i-Ready computerized instruction.
i-Ready tests each student, identifies the concepts which he or she is struggling with and then delivers lessons, games and other activities to help the student master them. And this can all happen without the teacher’s help.
Salazar divided her class in half. While students worked in groups on line plots, the rest of the class worked by themselves on i-Ready lessons.
Working with just a dozen students — instead of 24 — allowed Salazar to spend more time with each on the complicated line plot lesson, which included more math concepts than usual. Salazar planned to switch the two groups the next day.
When Miami-Dade schools announced they were eliminating some local tests last year, the district said i-Ready could serve the same purpose as the eliminated exams.
i-Ready is just one way Frances S. Tucker Elementary constantly tracks student progress. Salazar puts a star next to a student’s name each time they finish a section of lessons. The chart shows one of her fifth grade classes is further along than the other.
A bulletin board in the school’s courtyard tracks the progress of each grade in meeting goals for the state’s math and reading exams.
Principal Annette DeGoti said posting progress was a way to help every student meet expectations.