Title I Schools

How Title I Schools utilize VocabularySpellingCity to bridge the "Achievement Gap"

VocabularySpellingCity can support teachers in furthering achievements in Title I schools by offering a variety of customized vocabulary lists, effective learning strategies, and enrichment activities. It is ideal for meeting the needs of students in Title I schools because it is easy to use, very affordable (less than $2 per child per year), and highly effective. Title I services include take-home computers and computer assisted instruction (CAI). As such, VocabularySpellingCity is covered by Title I funding, making it easy for schools to upgrade to a premium account and benefit from the additional resources that this provides, including individual accounts for each student and automated record-keeping for teachers.

Spelling and Vocabulary Help

Students are motivated to learn spelling and vocabulary, plus they gain computer skills at the same time. VocabularySpellingCity's scope even goes beyond language arts into the realm of math, social studies, and science. There are extensive math and science word lists that are organized by grade level and then further categorized into topics based on the Common Core State Standards for math and on state and national standards for science. VocabularySpellingCity instills a strong foundation of vocabulary and comprehension that ensures strong academic achievement for all students.

The Flexibility of VocabularySpellingCity Resources

• For schools that can not always provide a computer for every student, teachers can access printables for nearly all of the games that are provided. These include handwriting worksheets, vocabulary tests and all sorts if word games.
• Utilize the Find a List feature to search for a list that has been created by other users or create your own list from the extensive word bank.
• You can also network in the Forum area with other teachers. Start a topic for Title I schools!
• Check out the FAQ page for help getting started, troubleshooting advice, and other useful information.
• Title 1 parent involvement is facilitated as parents can access students' online accounts and monitor progress.

Title I Funding

Currently, Title I is the country's oldest and largest federally funded initiative, providing over $14 billion to more than 56,000 schools in the 2009-2010 school year. The needs are growing in response to the wide achievement gap between children from low-income families and those from higher-income families. As our society becomes increasingly aware of the benefits of technology for educational purposes, we are utilizing it more and more in the classroom. In many cases, students from low-income families do not have access to computers at home, and it is essential to expose them to information technology at school.

Effective Learning Strategies

VocabularySpellingCity delivers a unique and effective learning strategy that ensures retention of material covered. A student's understanding of a concept is taken to a new level when he/she is required to answer questions about the concept and to recall the information. The games and activities on VocabularySpellingCity encourage students to think critically and enhance their comprehension. A study by Butler and Roediger (2007) tested the effect of various post lecture activities on students' long term memories, finding that students retained the most knowledge when they took short-answer quizzes after a lesson. This is where VocabularySpellingCity is so effective. Repeating the testing at a week and then a month after the material was originally taught increases the rate of transfer into long term memory. Premium members can use the assignment function to preset future activities and tests so students revisit their word lists at the recommended time intervals to ensure that they retain the material.

Computer Assisted Instruction

One meta-analysis, produced for the U.S. Department of Education, examined 51 studies that compared online learning to face-to-face learning and found that computer assisted instruction was better at improving students' performance (Means et al., 2009). The benefits of online learning are that it is interactive, self-paced, and non-judgmental. Teachers have the ability to assign spelling quizzes and vocabulary quizzes on VocabularySpellingCity that will provide immediate feedback. When students learn right away from their mistakes, they are more confident and their achievement levels increase.

Title I Parental Involvement

VocabularySpellingCity games and activities are available in customizable, printable worksheets so that with or without a home computer, students can bring their learning home. Students with access to a computer can share video lessons and presentations, games and extra resources with their parents at home.

References:

Butler, Andrew C. and Roediger, Henry L. (2007) Testing improves long-term retention in a simulated classroom setting, European Journal of Cognitive Psychology. Vol. 19, Iss. 4-5

Means, Barbara, Toyama, Yuki, Murphy, Robert, Bakia, Marianne, and Jones, Karla (2009) Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies. Project Report. Centre for Learning Technology. Available from http://repository.alt.ac.uk/629/ accessed 1/29/12.