WESTFIELD – The School Committee voted Monday night to approve the use of $24,000 in school choice funds for a reading intervention program.
Superintendent Suzanne Scallion requested the board’s approval to purchase the license for 100 copies of the Imagine Learning software that will be used at Highland and Franklin Avenue elementary schools.
Scallion said the software package is useful for “struggling readers and English learners.”
Board member William Duval, who observed the use of the Imagine Learning program at a Washington D.C. school during an educational seminar on English learners, said the “software has 13 different languages.”
“This is high-tech learning that employs basic, solid teaching principles,” Duval said. “It assesses the kids’ progress, where each student is in the program. This is money well spent to address kids’ reading problems.”
Scallion said the software can be individualized to meet the student’s specific needs and prints support materials for the student, parents and teachers.
The license purchase is for one full calendar year, with the option to purchase a perpetual license, Scallion said.
The funding request also includes $3,500 for a server, to be located at the Technology Center, for the entire district to train teachers to use the program for professional development to achieve maximum student benefit.
“We do already own 16 licenses, so this would bring us to 116,” Scallion said.
Those licenses are dedicated to one student at a time, but can be moved from student to student and from building to building, as needs dictate.
Scallion said that she is also looking at software programs for gifted students “to challenge them more vigorously.”
The gifted program would be open to all students and “gives kids high interest context” that integrates mathematics, science, art, social studies and language.
Joseph Renzulli of the University of Connecticut, a nationally recognized “guru” of gifted and talented student learning programs, has developed programs that stimulate “high-interest, theme-based learning,” Scallion said. “He’s broadened his approach to include all students.”
“We have a few of those licenses now,” Scallion said. “Everything a teacher or parent would need to develop theme-based instruction, to challenge every child in our schools.”
Scallion said that eventually she would like to expand into an academy program format, which allows students to select projects in their areas of interest.
“We’ll get there one step at a time,” she said.
