District to add Success Maker to classrooms

District to add Success Maker to classrooms

Computer program can tailor lessons to individual students

By Jean Cowden Moore
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September 29, 2003

A new computer program that can tailor reading and math lessons to individual students is being introduced into some Conejo Valley schools.

Success Maker tutors students in reading, spelling and math. Students work at their own pace, so that a child who is struggling can get extra help, while the gifted child can move ahead.

"Studies confirm that this is a program than can help the struggling student, the average student and the above-average student," said Robert Fraisse, superintendent of the Conejo Valley Unified School District. "Its ability to individualize ... is its greatest strength."

The program was introduced at Park Oaks School in February, and started at Glenwood this fall.

Three other schools will soon have it -- Aspen, Conejo and Manzanita.

Schools pay roughly $55,000 for the program.

In the Hueneme Elementary School District, where Fraisse used to be superintendent, students have gained a full grade level by using the program for 20 hours a week, he said.

And at Mountain Meadows School in Moorpark, some second-graders are doing fourth-grade math, Principal Del Carbine said.

The program appeals to kids, Carbine said, because it offers a variety of activities.

"It's not just a drill-and-kill where you do the same thing over and over again," he said. "If it were, we'd lose their interest."

At Park Oaks School, students work on the program three days a week for about 20 minutes each session.

Kids who need more help can also come to the computer lab after school and in the evenings with their parents. Sometimes parents, especially those who are learning English, work right alongside their students, said Principal Dave Becker.

"This is not a panacea," Becker said, "but it is another way for kids to learn things they may be struggling with."