Approve Purchase of Student Licenses for Renaissance Place for the 2009/2010 School Year (Curriculum and Instruction)

We request approval to purchase student licenses for Renaissance Place (RP) for the 2009/2010 school year. RP is the portal used to facilitate Accelerated Reader (AR), STAR Reading, and other Renaissance Learning software titles. Renaissance Learning is the sole source provider of this educational software. The pilot schools were Deer Park, Foster, Hammond, Mort, MOSI Partnership, Oak Park, Sulphur Springs, Summerfield Crossings, and Witter. Elementary Education staff worked with the district’s Information Services Department to secure server space within the district’s firewall and coordinated an upload of the RP software in October 2007. There will be a recurring yearly subscription cost for these student licenses.

Reading practice is essential to developing the critical-thinking and problem-solving abilities that ensure a lifelong love of reading and learning. While AR does not replace the reading instruction given in a classroom and is not intended to limit student choice, it can be used to support the reading curriculum. The Elementary Education Department supports AR as a motivational reading program.

With RP, all data management is provided from a district level. This alleviates the site of many technical issues as well as entering data and quizzes individually. With the new version of RP every elementary site will have access to every AR quiz that has been written. New quizzes are automatically updated into the database every Wednesday. To date we have received over 2,000 additional quizzes through these updates. No matter where an elementary student transfers, they will have the same AR quizzes available. All elementary schools become equitable with accessibility to AR. This is all provided to the elementary schools at no cost to the site.

Media and technology specialists, along with a reading coach, received specialized, intensive training with an implementation consultant for Renaissance Learning. The team left this four-day event with a tool kit of activities and materials that will help them facilitate training at all the elementary school sites in Hillsborough County. Afterwards, 40 training sessions were provided to media specialists, technology specialists, and classroom teachers.

Executive Summary is continued on attachment.

* Demonstrate consistent and effective teaching methods

Funds of $200,000 are available from the Comprehensive Reading Plan (Project # 4526)

Success will be measured through statistical data retrieved from Renaissance Place. This will include usage at each site, and more importantly, the success index based upon 85% or higher on reading comprehension quizzes.