Cindy P. understands how student engagement and academic progress are deeply linked. A longtime teacher and Title I math interventionist in a Kansas township north of Wichita, Cindy uses the Pathways adaptive learning solution to monitor her middle schoolers’ progress and apply interventions when needed, while continually engaging students and keeping them motivated.
Targeted Interventions
Cindy has used Pathways Learning (formerly ScootPad) since 2015. “With Pathways Learning,” she says, “I can create customized learning paths for each student using one or more of the domains that students need to work on, and easily monitor each student’s progress.” As students work through the assigned material in their learning path, Cindy watches for “the red flags in Pathways Learning which tell me when an intervention is needed.” She then creates a targeted practice for the student in real time and reviews sample problems with that student before they complete an assignment, to try to clear their red flags. “If I see that more than one student is struggling with a specific concept, I reteach the concept in a small group before they work on their targeted practice.”
Time Savings
“I teach students in Tier 3 for math and Pathways Learning frees up my time so I can focus on the areas where students need the most help,” says Cindy. “When students answer questions correctly, Pathways Learning automatically moves them to the next concept without needing attention or action from me.” Enabling her to be most efficient, “Pathways Learning adapts to each student’s learning and allows me to keep students engaged and progressing while pinpointing areas of greatest need.”
Engagement and Incentives
Cindy has made engagement and incentives part of students’ learning. “Pathways Learning includes a “Fun Zone” which provides incentives and lets me add my own rewards,” she says. “The best approach for me is to open the Fun Zone once in a while and leave it open for a limited time during class. I tell students to work in Pathways Learning for a set amount of time before I open the Fun Zone on that chosen day. Students can earn things like snacks from my “store” and I set a limit on the items they can earn per day. They can also earn a “coupon” to sit in my “cozy corner” and work or buy tickets for a special prize drawing later on. The flexibility and creativity of the Fun Zone have definitely helped with motivation,” Cindy says.
Versatility and Adaptability
Cindy has evaluated other learning solutions but feels they don’t provide the versatility or adaptability of Pathways Learning. She relies on the variety of practice problems for each learning standard and the range of options Pathways Learning provides for teachers to help each student. “I have seen many students progress through their adaptive learning paths over time,” she says.
