Section 1: Applicant Summary Sheet (1 page)

Transcription

1 Name of Course Provider Organization Which Best Describes Your Organization? (indicate one please) Section 1: Applicant Summary Sheet (1 page) Please complete all yellow sections in the table below. FastPath Learning, LLC X Post- secondary educational organization Online or virtual educational provider Corporation or industry association Educational Entrepreneur (see RFA page 5 for definition) Other: Course Type(s) (indicate all that apply) Focus Area (s) (indicate all that apply) Proposed Geographical Reach Potential Enrollment Primary Contact Person X X Online X Hybrid (online and face- to- face) Face- to- Face Other: Elementary/Middle School Credit High School Credit Advanced Placement / IB Dual Enrollment Industry- Based Certification Career and Technical Education Internship / Apprenticeship Other: Statewide Indicate statewide or specific region / parishes / schools Max students / class 30 Max number of concurrent sessions Name Address Phone: Land Phone: Cell Is this the only application your organization will be submitting? Is your organization applying in alliance with one or more other organizations? David Callaway 99, Austin Centre Blvd #320, Austin, TX dcallaway@fastpathlearning.com Yes No X No X Yes Allies (list all) Note: if an alliance is applying, the alliance team should only submit one application. FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 1 of 40

2 Section 2: Provider Vision, Background and Capabilities (9 pages) 2.1 Provider Vision / Strategy (open- ended response) Describe your vision and strategy, indicating how your organization s vision and strategy logically lead you to apply to provide innovative courses to Louisiana students. OVERVIEW In this application, FastPath Learning proposes to provide a math fluency course for Louisiana students who are eligible to select our services under the Course Choice program. Our Precision Math course (course numbers to be determined) teaches fluency in fundamental math skills from whole numbers through Algebra II. Even students who have completed an Algebra II course will benefit from this class, because the focus of the course is on increasing the fluency of students (both speed and accuracy) in the skills covered. This course is designed to be delivered in a study center environment (typically on campus), with the direct assistance of a certified teacher or specially trained paraprofessional to help keep students engaged and progressing on their learning plans. Student progress in this course is based on mastery of content; therefore, the course may be completed by some students in substantially shorter time than traditional two- semester courses. This course may be offered on a compressed schedule (such as during the summer) in addition to the traditional academic calendar. Precision Math is offered to students in grades 3 through 12. VISION and STRATEGY The vision of FastPath Learning is A World Above Grade Level. Our social mission is to ensure all students especially those who are economically disadvantaged are college and career ready, which motivates us to participate in the Course Choice program. Our strategy is to help students achieve grade level performance or higher in core academic subjects and nurture a lifelong love of learning. Our core values are innovation, excellence and integrity. We believe they are a perfect fit with the values underlying the Course Choice program. INNOVATION FastPath Learning is a national leader in educational technology. Our program offers adaptive, personalized and accelerated instructional materials. The program is student- centered and builds fluency in academic fundamentals. The course is effective and engaging. Because instruction is offered online and adapts to each student s individual pace, students can accelerate their completion of the course outside of school at any place they have internet connectivity and wish to study. For this reason, we use a competency- based credit model instead of a traditional, attendance- based system. Nevertheless, we find that most students find the discipline of a regular school day study session to be helpful in completing the course requirements; therefore, while classroom attendance is not a requirement for course completion, it is highly encouraged. EXCELLENCE FastPath Learning and its affiliates have been working with Title I schools and disadvantaged K- 12 students for the past ten years. We have worked with school districts to improve the academic achievement of thousands of low- income students in grades 3-12 across more than 100 school districts throughout Louisiana, Texas and six other states in the past two years alone. INTEGRITY FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 2 of 40

3 The integrity of our organization is evidenced by stature of our management team and board of advisors, listed in the Leadership section below. 2.2 Provider Background: history, leadership, strengths (open- ended response) Describe your organization s comparative advantages. HISTORY FastPath Learning, through its SES subsidiaries, has been providing remote instruction since We served over 15,000 students during each of the past two years, including more than 700 in Louisiana during the school year. FastPath Learning and its affiliates have worked with school districts to improve the academic achievement of more than 40,000 low- income students in grades In the past two years alone, the company has served over 100 school districts, with a completion rate in excess of 85% of students who started our programs. This is an outstanding success rate with students who are highly mobile and exclusively low- income. Achieving these adoption rates has not been easy. There are numerous barriers to success that we have had to overcome, especially since most of the low- income students we serve come to us performing two or more years below grade level. LEADERSHIP The Honorable Dr. Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education of the United States, chairs our advisory board. Since his retirement from public service, Dr. Paige has spoken and written frequently on effective strategies for closing the academic achievement gap. Prior to accepting the appointment to the president s cabinet, Dr. Paige served as dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University where he established the Center for Excellence in Urban Education and as Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District. Professor Eric Nadelstern, another member of our advisory board, currently directs the Principals Academy at Teachers College at Columbia University. Previously, he has served as Deputy Chancellor for the Division of School Support and Instruction for the New York City Department of Education. Edrian Walker, our Program Director, has been with the company for the past ten years. She is an experienced Title 1 teacher in the Compton Unified School district, with a track record of raising her students test scores on annual standardized tests in reading and math. Ms. Walker holds a law degree and a Certificate of Eligibility for the Administrative Services Credential. She has spent her teaching career working with diverse student populations; she is especially proud of the success of FastPath Learning in closing the achievement gap. FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 3 of 40

4 Mr. Vicente Cordero, our Chief Executive Officer, was born in Mexico City. Mr. Cordero grew up in Texas and learned English at the age of 12. He graduated with a BBA from Notre Dame and an MBA from Harvard. Before joining FastPath Learning, he was a Senior Global Marketing Manager for Dell Computers and a Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble. STRENGTHS Comparative Advantage #1: Our program teaches key sub- skills other programs do not address. For example, Precision Math teaches over 200 math topics and first teaches, to mastery, the most fundamental and essential skills. One reason many K- 12 instructional materials are ineffective is that they do not teach all of the key sub- skills needed to master state standards. In most cases, students fall behind in mathematics because they have not developed a proper foundation with basic number sense. Without an intuitive grasp of basic number operations, these students are unprepared to think critically and solve real world problems. As these students progress through the grades, their weak foundation prevents them from learning higher- level math skills as they get older. Our course focuses on all of the essential sub- skills of math. As a result, our students tend to perform better on state standardized tests and in the classroom. Comparative Advantage #2: Our motivational system. Some students come to us 3-4 grade levels behind and have a history of academic failure. We have a high level of experience motivating these students to learn by providing successful academic experiences that make learning more intrinsically rewarding. Because we understand the barriers and difficulties facing these students, we have built our curriculum, technology platform and team of professionals specifically to help school districts drive academic achievement with struggling students. It is because of this that over 77% of math students who started with us completed our program and 83% of parents and students who participated in the program would recommend us to a friend or colleague. Comparative Advantage #3: Our mastery teaching pedagogy. Both our software and the professional development we provide our instructors emphasize the importance of mastery teaching. Our instructional software provides immediate and direct praise and corrective feedback. The material is organized into five strands of related math skills and topics. Students can move between the five strands at their discretion, but must show mastery of each skill or topic before moving on to the next one in the strand. Comparative Advantage #4: Our fun and engaging content. Our course offers unique interactive content in a game- like format. We utilize game mechanics to enhance students learning experience. Students earn points, ranks and power numbers as they master each math concept. Students using the program rigorously practice critical math skills with a time criterion I have to beat this level feature found in popular computer games but rarely seen in educational software. This balance of rigor and fun produces more effective math practice than paper- based approaches and has consistently produced significant test score increases in math interventions. Comparative Advantage #5: Our large and dedicated local staff. We employ a large number of local academic coaches and student support specialists. Unlike most virtual course providers, we can supplement our distance learning delivery with local staff to guide, remediate and encourage our students. These instructors and academic coaches resolve technical issues as they arise and keep the students engaged in their instruction with direct communication and a face- to- face interaction when needed. Comparative Advantage #6: Our pay for results pricing. We are a national leader in advocating for pricing strategies that pay for results. In the tuition section of this proposal, we are FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 4 of 40

5 proposing that a portion of our payment for each student be contingent on the performance of that child s school in the state accountability system. 2.3 Course Choice Goals Addressed (please fill in yellow sections of table below) Indicate which Course Choice Goals your proposed course offerings will address (check all that apply). Use bottom row to include any explanatory text X X Students enter the next, age- appropriate grade on time and on level Students successfully complete rigorous and advanced high school and post- secondary course work Students successfully complete industry- based certification courses, programs, internships and/or apprenticeships based on Pathways to Careers Students graduate on time or early Students graduate with the skills to enter post- secondary programs and workforce- ready 2.4 Overview of Proposed Course Offerings (please fill in yellow sections of the table below) Add rows to the table, if required. New as of July 31: applicants intending to offer many course offerings can include an Excel spreadsheet listing their course offerings, using the same column headers as the table below. Spreadsheets of up to two pages will not count against the application s 40 page limit. Course Title State Course Code Max Enrollment 1 Max Number of Separate Classes 2 Precision Math TBD 30 25,000 Statewide Parishes Included 1 maximum number of students the applicant can fit into a single class 2 maximum number of separate classes applicant can support at the same time Add any open- ended description of your proposed course offerings: This course covers math facts and concepts up to and through Algebra II. Students take an initial assessment to determine placement into instructional tracks, and the software adapts to each student s performance as he or she progresses through the instructional program. Progress is measured by mastery of math topics. The software is not grade- specific; it has been effective for students from grades 3 through Format / Technologies Used to Deliver Courses (open- ended response) Describe how courses are delivered to students (online, face- to- face instruction, combination, other) Our course will be delivered to students using a blend of video instruction on a handheld media player, online software and face- to- face instruction. Students work through the video- based portion of the course primarily as homework outside the regular school day. This homework consists of working through video lessons on the math topics the student is working on in class. Because many students come from households without a working computer or internet connection, the video instruction is provided to students FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 5 of 40

6 on a portable, handheld device loaded with video lessons. This maximizes the amount of time students spend during class on the software- based portion of the course where they solve math problems using the skills taught in the video lessons. The software- based portion of the program is delivered online and requires a working computer and internet connection. This course blends the video and software based instruction with face- to- face instruction in person from a qualified instructor, typically through one on one student teaching. Our course also includes systemic contact from our instructors and student support specialists in person or via telephone to provide praise and support, as well as occasional challenges that encourage students to reach milestones of progress in the course material. The Precision Math program is primarily a video and software driven instructional program with personalized instruction by our academic coaches and instructors provided on an as- needed basis. This blend of technology and personalized attention is an effective and scalable strategy for improving the academic achievement of our students. Accessibility to our instructional software is critical to course completion, which is the most reliable indicator of academic achievement on the part of the students. To the extent schools do not have adequate technology for students to access our program during the school day, we will provide additional netbook computers (or comparable learning tools, such as tablet computers) and, where feasible, internet access. The FastPath team has developed and maintained interactive websites for the past ten years. During these years, our team has maintained uptime for students in excess of 99.9% through scheduled maintenance and machine redundancy, including maintaining server capacity at well over 200% of actual demand with hot standby servers, and hosting our services with server providers who have excellent histories of maintenance. The FastPath Learning website is functional across most popular browsers, including Windows Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple s Safari and Google Chrome. The program also works on most popular operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, MacOS and Android. The program can be accessed from almost any device that has access to the internet and operates with one of these popular browsers. Unlike most online educational programs, the FastPath Learning online program will run properly on almost any web browser and almost any internet device. This includes ipads or other Apple devices that will not display websites that use Adobe Flash. With these parameters, our programs will run on virtually all computers with internet access currently installed in Louisiana schools. Our students have enjoyed access to our services from their homes, school campuses, libraries, and any other locations where they have access to the internet with traditional computers or mobile devices, such as smart phones. Because online students can access the program from home or other locations at any time convenient to them, we are able to accommodate students who cannot adhere to a rigid schedule. Under the course provider program, schools will schedule one class period per day for the entire school year for our course. But students are not required to spend a fixed or minimum length of time during each session or each day to complete our program with a passing grade. Students must complete minimum course requirements to complete the course and earn a passing grade. Once a student meets these minimum course requirements, we will invoice the state for course completion; but the student can continue completing additional coursework to raise his or her grade until June 30th after the end of the school year. Because students can complete our course requirements quickly, we are able to successfully engage many hard to reach students, especially underachieving and low- income students who are highly mobile. Our program is technology- based and emphasizes fundamental math skills; therefore, it is easy to coordinate with the needs of individual students. Our instruction is highly focused because lessons are taught diagnostically; students only study items if they fail to demonstrate proficiency on a diagnostic pre- test. Instruction is also intensive; students must respond frequently to stay logged into the program servers. We track the true academic engaged time of every student. FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 6 of 40

7 Section 3: Overview of Proposed Curriculum (12 pages) 3.1 Curriculum Sources (open- ended response) Describe your proposed curriculum/curricula. The FastPath Learning Precision Math program is an online math program that provides individualized instruction, practice and assessments for students. Our programs are built upon the principles of precision teaching and mastery learning, incorporating both spiral instruction and precision teaching concepts. The FastPath Precision Math software builds fluency in basic math operations and develops higher order math skills leading up to and through Algebra II. Students using the program rigorously practice critical math skills while placed under a time criterion. This produces more effective math practice than paper- based approaches and has consistently produced significant test score increases in math interventions. Students experience test score improvement with only a few hours of use. The course applies mastery- based learning principles to enable students to learn math efficiently. Our approach is often referred to as "scaffolding." The system is structured so that it develops competency one topic at a time, building upon that competency in more difficult topics by assuming that the student has learned all prerequisite skills. For example, our Fraction Simplification topic focuses on how to simplify a variety of fractions, including mixed and improper fractions. When a student makes a mistake, we display an easy to follow, step- by- step explanation for how to simplify that fraction. Students must first master Fraction Simplification before proceeding to Fraction Addition. Therefore, in the solution explanations of Fraction Addition problems, we don't show the steps for how to simplify a fraction; we simply focus on the steps for adding fractions, and we display fraction simplification as one step without showing the details. That's the essence of scaffolding - we achieve more efficient instruction by removing the support steps for fraction simplification because the student is now self- reliant in that skill. For students who need to refresh their understanding of fraction simplification, the software provides a link to that math topic where students can work through an easy to follow lesson and even get additional practice on fraction simplification. Benjamin Bloom pioneered this approach with his Learning for Mastery model. In 2008, the National Math Panel released Benchmarks for the Critical Foundations of Algebra, which highlighted the skills that they felt were by far the most important for future Algebra I success. These skills included math facts, decimals, fractions, negative numbers, percentages and some geometry concepts. FastPath s Precision Math incorporates all of these skills and concepts. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education released "Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools." One of their most important conclusions is that, for math intervention students, there is not enough time to teach everything, so you must prioritize your curriculum for these students. The document makes eight research- based recommendations. The FastPath Precision Math course supports all eight of the recommendations. The Precision Math course is divided into eight tracks: the Core Skills Track and grade- specific Supplemental and Advanced Tracks. The Core Skills Track contains 37 math topics covering fundamental computational math skills that are essential for success at all levels of mathematics. There are Supplemental and Advanced Tracks for high school and each grade from 3-8, which cover additional math topics appropriate to each grade level. The number of math topics contained in each Supplemental and Advanced Track ranges from 50 to 100. The Core Skills Track is further divided into five strands of related math topics. Students are able to work on all five strands simultaneously but within each strand they must master the math topics in order: prerequisites must be mastered before dependencies. Because the skills in the Core Skills Track are FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 7 of 40

8 so critical for success in mathematics, all students start the Precision Math course in the Core Skills Track and must complete it before proceeding to the Supplemental and Advanced Track where they can apply their core skills to solve real world problems and develop additional math skills appropriate to their grade. This ensures that students develop a proper foundation with basic number sense and an intuitive grasp of basic number operations, so that they are prepared to think critically and solve real world problems. Elementary students in grades 3 and 4 are only required to complete an abridged version of the Core Skills Track that omits the math topics that are more appropriate for middle school and junior high students. Please see Attachment B for a listing of the math topics introduced in each track. Students begin the Core Skills Track with a diagnostic assessment when they first log into the system. This assessment was developed carefully to ensure face validity; it has been used successfully as a formative assessment with thousands of students. Our diagnostic assessment in math yields a virtual map of what needs to be studied, as shown in the screen shot below. Based on the diagnostic, our software creates a learning plan for each student, which highlights the skill gaps which that child needs to address. Using this learning plan, the software guides students to study and work on the math topics in which they are not proficient. Our diagnostic assessment identifies gaps in skills that students should have mastered in earlier grades. This type of evaluation is essential for identifying skill gaps that prevent students from mastering math curriculum standards at their current grade level. Our assessment outputs include a list of topics in which students need to improve and the areas in which they are already proficient. Because the software is diagnostic, students do not spend time during the Core Skills Track on material with which they are already proficient. Our math instructional engine also acts as an ongoing diagnostic. It uses proprietary algorithms that constantly adjust the difficulty level of practice math problems, so that students can grow in mastery at their own pace. After the initial placement test, our program monitors student FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 8 of 40

9 progress during instruction. Students practice the math skills of each math topic by completing timed quizzes. These quizzes assess each student s understanding on an ongoing basis. Academic progress in math is measured both by how fast and how accurate the student is on each quiz. Students start each of their math topics with a rating of 0. As each student s ability increases, the software automatically adjusts their rating to reflect their growing proficiency. When a student s rating increases, the software also adjusts the overall difficulty of the quizzes by shortening the time limit, increasing the complexity of the problems, increasing the number of problems, or a combination of all three. When a student s rating reaches 100, the student will have demonstrated that he or she has mastered and become fluent in the math skills covered by that math topic. Student ratings and other metrics of academic progress can be viewed on the instructor s dashboard and also on generated progress reports. The software adapts to each individual student. Student ratings in each math topic (and the corresponding difficulty of each quiz) are constantly assessed and modified by the software s algorithms to match each student s individual ability. Students who acquire new math skills quickly will see their ratings (and corresponding difficulty of the quizzes) increase rapidly. Students who acquire new math skills more slowly will see their rating (and corresponding difficulty of the quizzes) increase more gradually Describe each curricular model and focus, listing curriculum sources. The curriculum sources for the course are proprietary products produced by our company and adapted from a software Math Engine that we license. The curriculum is delivered primarily via online software that teaches, to mastery, the fundamental math skills required for students to succeed at math. The program first ensures that each student possesses a high level of fluency in math facts and simple arithmetic operations and then builds fluency in more complex math skills on this foundation. The curriculum and the software engine were designed using the principles of precision teaching and mastery instruction: intensive engagement with frequent corrective feedback, frequent checking for mastery and a carefully designed spiraling presentation of skills Describe how the curriculum is aligned with State Content Standards Initiative, Common Core State Standards, Louisiana s state- adopted guidelines or industry- based standards, and/or Board of Regents. The curriculum offered by FastPath Learning focuses on strengthening fundamental math fluency skills that are required for students to successfully meet Common Core Standards, Louisiana's state- adopted guidelines and the Board of Regents standards. Because the skills we teach are so fundamental to student success in meeting these standards, our curriculum is well aligned with State Content Standards Initiative, Common Core State Standards, Louisiana s state- adopted guidelines and the Board of Regents standards. Our innovative and effective use of technology is structured to meet multiple State Content Standards as well as Common Core State Standards. Because these skills are essential for success in community or technical college courses, they also should be expected to support any standards for industry- based training students will encounter. The Precision Math curriculum is designed to help prepare students to meet the minimum admission standards set by the Board of Regents. Preparation for college and career is an integral component of our curriculum. The Precision Math curriculum provides rigorous and engaging instruction in mathematics and aligns to Louisiana Math Content Standards across grades All 37 math topics in the Core Skills Track and 164 math topics in the grade- specific Supplemental and Advanced Tracks align with a Louisiana GLE. For example, some specific FastPath Precision Math units aligned with Louisiana Content Standards at elementary grades include: Long Addition to 1,000; Beginner Multiplication; and Arithmetic Word Problems. Long Addition to 1,000 aligns with Louisiana GLE M.3.11, which FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 9 of 40

10 requires students to add and subtract numbers of 3 digits or less. Beginner Multiplication aligns with Louisiana GLE M.3.9, which requires students to know basic multiplication and division facts [0s, 1s, 2s, 5s, 9s, and turn- arounds (commutative facts), including multiplying by 10s]. Arithmetic Word Problems aligns with GLE M.3.15: Use objects, pictures, numbers, symbols, and words to represent multiplication and division problem situations, as well as GLE M.5.7: Select, sequence, and use appropriate operations to solve multi- step word problems with whole numbers. A sampling of aligned Precision Math curriculum for middle school includes the following math topics: Factoring, Long Division with Remainders, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Decimal Multiplication and Decimal Division. Factoring aligns with GLE M.5.1, which requires students to differentiate between the terms factor and multiple, and prime and composite, and also aligns with GLE M.6.2, which requires students to determine common factors and common multiples for pairs of whole numbers. The Long Division with Remainders math topic aligns with GLEs M.5.8 and M.6.12, which require students to use the whole number system (e.g., computational fluency, place value, etc.) to solve problems in real- life and other content areas, and divide 4- digit numbers by 2- digit numbers with the quotient written as a mixed number or a decimal, respectively. The Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Decimal Multiplication and Decimal Division math topics all align with GLE M.7.5, which requires students to, multiply and divide positive fractions and decimals. 49 math topics in Precision Math are aligned with 34 Louisiana Content Standards for high school. 19 of the ninth grade GLEs are aligned with 32 math topics instructing the mathematical concepts to mastery. 8 GLEs are aligned at the tenth grade level; 7 additional GLEs are addressed and aligned in eleventh and twelfth grade. Please see Attachment B for a summary of the alignment of Precision Math topics to Louisiana Content Standards. Common Core Standards are also aligned with the FastPath Precision Math curriculum. 34 of 37 math topics in the Core Skills Track align to the Common Core Standards; 149 math topics in the Supplemental and Advanced Tracks are also in alignment. For example, the Decimal Addition; Decimal Subtraction; Decimal Multiplication; and Decimal Division math topics are all in alignment with 6.NS.3, which requires students to Fluently add, subtract, multiply, and divide multi- digit decimals using the standard algorithm for each operation. At the high school level, Linear Equations, Single Variable Equations and Single Variable Inequalities are math topics that align with A- REI.3, which requires students to, solve linear equations and inequalities in one variable, including equations with coefficients represented by letters. Please see Attachment B for a summary of the alignment of Precision Math topics to Common Core State Standards. Furthermore, the FastPath Math curriculum also aligns with the NCTM Focal Points through eighth grade, meeting and often exceeding the revised standards set by the Curriculum Focal Points report released by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). College and Career preparedness and strong academic foundations are integrated in our curriculum at every level. Each unit has been created to meet or exceed alignment with state and/or national standards Describe how your offering will deliver rigorous, engaging and effective instruction for the targeted student population. RIGOROUS The FastPath Learning program is designed to deliver one to one individualized instruction. The program is built upon the principles of precision teaching and mastery learning, incorporating both spiral instruction and precision teaching concepts. The interaction of student and instructional software is constant if the student fails to respond or otherwise interact with the program for more than two minutes, the system will log off. They simply must pay attention to progress in the course. FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 10 of 40

11 Precision Math requires students to achieve 100% accuracy in order to demonstrate mastery. This prevents students from advancing without first demonstrating 100% accuracy in critical, fundamental math skills. To hold students to a lower standard would result in students having difficulty with more advanced material. All quizzes must also be completed within a specified time. If the student has not completed the quiz when time runs out, the software takes this into account and may adjust the difficulty of the subsequent quiz. This precision teaching approach allows the students to work on material appropriate to their skill level as long as needed to achieve the necessary speed and accuracy in providing correct answers, thus benefiting students with improved fluency and retention. Because the software automatically adapts difficulty based on student performance, quiz problems become harder or easier based on student speed and accuracy. In order to prove mastery of a math topic, students have to complete a fully randomized quiz at the highest difficulty settings. Students must meet very clear, specific and measurable criteria to demonstrate mastery. For example, you must score 50 out of 50 correct in 130 seconds to prove mastery of math facts. ENGAGING In order to achieve the levels of participation and program completion we have enjoyed in our SES programs, we have developed proprietary student engagement and monitoring software that allows us to monitor, in real time, all student activity on our system. Our program has also been updated to include certain game elements like virtual rewards and progress points. EFFECTIVE Precision Math course has been adapted from the software Math Engine. In , an independent study designed to evaluate the effect of technology on the teaching of mathematics included 583 students in grades 4-7 from a Title I school in rural northwest California. While there were many conclusions to the study, the self- assessment reported by the 290 students is impressive. The students self- reported impact of their participation in the project showed that students believed the Math Engine helped improve their math skills (69%), helped them get better grades in math (65%), made math easier (61%), made math more interesting (55%), and made them faster at solving math problems (69%). Another assessment evaluated the impact of the Math Engine program on state benchmark tests while controlling for other variables. This part of the study involved 77 students from one of the campuses, as this campus had had the greatest amount of exposure to the math program. The students who had studied for at least 6 hours on the program were compared to their classmates, who had studied for less than 6 hours during the six month study. The data clearly showed that the group of students who used Math Engine for a cumulative total of more than six hours (the experimental group) had greater gains on the California Standards Test (CST) than the control group of students (those with less than six hours of program utilization). The Math Engine group s level of proficiency moved one entire level (from above Basic (3.0) to above Proficient (4.0)), while the control group s level of proficiency dropped slightly (from slightly below Proficient to slightly above Basic). The frequency distribution of students scores on the California Standards Test (CST) was analyzed before and after the project (Spring of 2008 and Spring of 2009). The percentage of students in the experimental group testing at the Advanced (5.0) level increased from 11.9 % to 45.2%, as compared to a decrease from 31% to 8.6% for the control group. The experimental group (high use math program students) ended up with 83% of students in the category of Proficient or Advanced, compared to 40% of the control group in the Proficient or Advanced levels. Also noteworthy is the fact that none of the experimental group tested at Below Basic (2.0), as compared to 20% testing at Below Basic or Far Below Basic (1.0) in the control group. FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 11 of 40

12 In a study involving 80 5th grade math students in a California school district in , we found a strong correlation between time on the program and increase in proficiency as measured on STARCal2 standardized tests. In this study, gains of at least one proficiency level were correlated with total tutoring time of 14 hours. In a study of 77 4th and 5th grade California students in , 83% of the group using our Math Engine tested at proficient or advanced on the California Standards Test in math, as compared to 45% testing at these levels before tutoring. In the control group that relied on classroom instruction only, the percentage of students testing at proficient or advanced in math actually declined from 57% to 40%. The improvement in proficiency in math was directly correlated to both the number of hours the students spent in tutoring on our program and the number of math topics mastered. This correlation was also seen in the entire 583 students who participated in the study. The scatter plot shown above shows the correlation between Math Engine engagement hours and CST gain for 77 students at Bess Maxwell School that participated in the program. The plot was generated by assigning two coordinates to each student as follows: The x axis is equal to the number of engagement hours recorded by the application, and the y axis is the year- to- year gain in CST score computed by subtracting the spring 2008 score from the spring 2009 score. FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 12 of 40

13 The correlation between Math Engine engagement hours and CST gain is demonstrated by drawing a linear trend- line through the data points. As can be seen, there is a strong correlation between these two variables. This indicates that the use of the Math Engine intervention causes improvements in students performance on the math CST. The analysis also showed a similar positive correlation between use of the program and points earned by students for effort and completion of Math Engine problems. Even though the participating students in other schools did not have a full year in the program, a somewhat positive correlation was found between the level of use of Math Engine and increases in math proficiency as measured by the CST for all 583 participating students. In a 2012 controlled study of Precision Math with 274 5th, 6th and 7th grade students at IS 171 in New York City, the test group showed significantly greater gains than the control group. Both groups of students were pre- tested before the program on the Performance Series Global Scholars standardized assessment and then post- tested on the same assessment after the program. During the program, the 156 students in the test group spent, on average, just 10 hours and 20 minutes on the Precision Math program, yet still showed significantly greater gains on the post- test than the control group. The average score of the control group was unchanged from the pre- test to the post- test, whereas the average score of the test group increased 40 points. This corresponds to an effect size of 0.29, which is quite impressive considering the relatively short amount of time the test group spent on the Precision Math program. A 2010 meta- analysis of studies that focused specifically on the effect of combining computer technology with math instruction also found that there were "statistically significant positive effects of [computer technology] on mathematics achievement." The study also found that the benefit of combining computer technologies with math instruction was particularly strong in younger (elementary and middle school) students, as compared to secondary school students. (Q. Li, Educational Psychology Review, 2010 Spring.) 3.2 Proposed Instructional Material (open- ended response) Describe the instructional materials required for the course and the sources for these materials. Our instructional materials are contained both within our online FastPath Learning software and within instructional videos contained on a handheld device that students are required to view at home. The learning software can be accessed from almost any computer with a working internet connection. Because the instructional videos are contained on a portable handheld device, they are accessible at home, even to students without working computers or internet connections. The software is accessed over the internet using a unique student login ID number and a separate PIN to log into the system. This dual security system has proven reliable in assuring that each student does his or her own work. Moreover, all password use is encrypted using the same level of encryption typically used by online banking. After students complete their initial assessment and master a certain number of math topics, they will be provided a handheld device for viewing instructional videos at home, which they may keep. The portable handheld device is loaded with instructional videos on numerous math topics and functions as a video textbook. Students are assigned video lessons to watch as homework when they begin working on new math topics for which video lessons are available. This frees up class time for students to use the FastPath Learning software to practice the math skills taught in the video lessons. Video lessons are not available for topics on math facts, so some students may not receive their handheld device until they reach topics on math skills for which video lessons are available. This flipped classroom approach is designed to maximize the amount of time students spend during class solving problems using the math fundamentals learned earlier in the program. The advantages of this approach are outlined by Salman Khan, a pioneer in the use FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 13 of 40

14 of video for instruction, in his presentation at the 2011 TED conference and further described in articles by Bergmann and Sams (see bibliography in Attachment A). In particular, Khan reports that his early students prefer the recorded me over the live me, as they could review his instruction at their own pace without having to interact directly with him. Khan states that this process humanizes the classroom Describe the facilities and technologies needed to deliver the course, and how enrolled students will access these required assets. FACILITIES Under the course provider program, schools will provide students enrolling in our course with a classroom, computers and a functional internet connection for one period each day during the entire school year. TECHNOLOGIES The Precision Math course is designed to be accessed over the internet and on a portable, handheld device that functions as a video textbook. Unlike most online educational programs, the FastPath Learning online program will run properly on almost any web browser and almost any internet device. This includes ipads or other Apple devices that will not display websites that use Adobe Flash. The portable handheld device that we provide to the student is loaded with instructional videos, making the video lessons available at home, even to students from households without a working computer or internet connection. The FastPath Learning website is functional across most popular browsers, including Windows Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Google Chrome. The programs also work on most popular operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, MacOS and Android. The programs can be accessed from almost any device that has access to the internet and operates with one of these popular browsers. With these parameters, our programs will run on virtually all computers with internet access currently installed in Louisiana schools. Although schools are required under the Course Choice program to provide students with computers and a functional internet connection, we anticipate some schools will not have adequate technology infrastructure, or it will not be fully available due to competing demands of other courses. Therefore, on a best efforts basis, FastPath Learning will provide computers or other internet devices for use in classroom or learning centers to the extent that existing devices are not available for student use. Each student will have a unique personal login ID number and a second four digit PIN to use to log into our instructional software. Our website may be reached from any computer with internet access, so instructional time is not limited to school days or on- campus facilities. Our students have enjoyed access to our services from their homes, school campuses, libraries and any other locations where they have access to the internet with traditional computers or other mobile internet devices. 3.3 Title / Course Sequencing (open- ended response) Describe the recommended timeframe for course completion. Under the Course Choice program, schools will provide students with a classroom for one class period each day for an entire school year, but we will use a competency- based approach to determining course completion. If allowed, we would like to begin services to some students as soon as they complete course enrollment. Students will not be required to start the course before school in August, but we expect some students will be eager to start the course on an accelerated schedule. For these students, we will invoice the state for starting services two weeks after they start participating in the course online. We find that many students achieve great benefit from completing our course on FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 14 of 40

15 an intensive, accelerated delivery schedule. Students will still be encouraged to attend class on campus through the school year but, in addition, will be allowed to use time and facilities off campus and outside the regular school day and regular school year. If they work intensively, some students could complete the course requirements as fast as one or two months. Any such students will be encouraged to continue learning to improve their skills and final course grade. Students taking an accelerated approach early in the academic year can produce improved performance and grades in other classes due to their improved competency with math fundamentals. Minimum course requirements include: o Completing an initial assessment of core math skills o Mastering at least 13 math topics Meeting these minimum course requirements will allow a student to pass the course (and allow us to invoice the state for course completion), but they will only result in a D grade for the student unless the student masters additional material Discuss course sequencing requirements or prerequisites. Because instructional videos are in English, English Language Learners should be at an Advanced level before taking this course. Our staff includes bilingual teachers and academic coaches who can provide translation support to Advanced English Language Learners. Otherwise, there are no sequencing requirements for any of our courses, and there are no prerequisites. Students may find it helpful to take a course a second time to master more of the available content. 3.4 Delivery Methods / Differentiating Instruction (open- ended response) Describe the instructional methods used to deliver the course(s) and the ideal learning environment (class size, structure, etc.). INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS Our program uses a number of research- based methods of instruction, with a special emphasis on the key components of mastery learning and precision teaching. All students start each class logged in to our online educational software, where they receive individualized mastery instruction in math topics appropriate to their ability. Our staff can provide personalized instruction and support to students who struggle with the content; but, in our experience, most students spend the majority of their class time working independently on the software. This allows our staff to focus on providing praise and encouragement to keep students engaged. IDEAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT While our program can be effective in a variety of environments, the ideal environment is a closed classroom or computer lab. If the school has organized its computers with enough space to prevent students from distracting each other, this is ideal. Also, all computer screens ideally will be facing the same direction so a proctor or an instructor can monitor whether all of the students are on task simultaneously. CLASS SIZE A maximum class size of 30 students per proctor is ideal. If an additional proctor or teaching assistant is present, our program can be effective at larger class sizes. Proctors are provided by the home school. FastPath Learning Course Choice RFA Application Package page 15 of 40