Barbara Pirrone, Teacher – Northern California
"This program would be great to use for accelerated students in the Gifted and Talented Educations program who use individualized learning plans. It would also be good for second language students who need individualized instruction in their first language. It is a very good program."
Joshua M Guillemette, Math & Physics Teacher – Pine Castle Christian Academy – Orlando, FL
"Over the summer I had the opportunity to teach remedial math to a seventh grader the school was seriously considering holding back. Our school had just finished hooking up the Acellus server, so I thought I would see if it could help this young man.
"He struggled diligently, albeit slowly, through the video lessons and assessments. After a less than satisfactory score on one of his tests, we would talk about what happened, what the right procedure was, and how to solve the different problems that kept stumping him. Then he would go back to the video lectures and try again.
"I was very impressed with the language the instructor used and the examples that were used to teach concepts. However, I was not impressed with the progress that was being made by my young learner.
"By the end of our four weeks I still felt like he might benefit from another year in seventh grade.
"Had I made the right decision to let the Acellus program give him the bulk of his instruction over the summer?
"The answer is a resounding, YES! The administration promoted my pupil to the eighth grade after taking everything into account.
"I ran into his math teacher just before first nine weeks report cards, and she said, "Come take a look at this." I looked in amazement at the grades being made by a student I was not sure was going to make it. He was not just passing; he was one of the higher achievers in the class.
"Due to the Acellus program's focus on the fundamentals and the weak area of the student he now has a foundation in mathematics. His hard work and that foundation are now creating success in a subject that used to defeat him."
"Acellus is such an easy program to use. I sat down when I got it, opened the Teacher's Manual and went through it without a problem. I wanted to take a thorough look before my students got on it, and from what I have seen so far, I am really impressed.
"Acellus is the perfect solution for the kids that are in the middle, as well as the ones that are at the low-end to bring them up to speed."
Mike Partin, 7th and 8th Grade Teacher – Malden Grade School, Malden, IL
"Last year I used Acellus– with a very gifted student who loved the challenge and the learning mode. Also, a young girl who was two years behind in math did so well that she decided she liked math.
"I find the system to be the apparent 'answer to prayer' in many ways, but especially in helping students who are behind and who need more challenges."
Mary Ghasemi, Teacher – Valley View High School, Blue Springs, MO
"We have students that would not have graduated without Acellus. Because of the level of difficulty of the course, if our students complete all 85 lectures of Acellus Algebra they get one full credit. We're using Acellus to get those needed credits for graduation. That's our big goal – and it's working."
Beverley Fenn, Teacher – Northern Missouri
"Acellus is an excellent program for students struggling with math. Also it created a way for gifted students to really excel. Acellus brought personal tutoring to each of the students in my classroom, and it made my job as a teacher a lot easier."
Brother Kevin Finnegan, sc – St. Joseph Preparatory School, Metuchen, NJ
"I've been using Acellus in a freshman Algebra class for two years. We initially deployed the software as a trial a while back in the second semester, and then scheduled it as a semester-long course beginning in September of the following school year.
"The students who are placed in the Acellus course are those freshmen who scored in the bottom 25% of the Mathematics section of our school's admissions and placement test. It is important that these students begin to experience success in Math. Many of them have not had much success in Math over the years, and a few of them say they hate the subject and despair of ever "getting it". They also develop a sense of dread and more than a little fear of upcoming courses such as Geometry, Algebra II, Physics and Chemistry. This history of struggle in the subject and the sense of fear and loss of confidence have very real effects on students. None of them are good.
"I have ascertained that the best place for these students to begin is in the Fundamental Math course. This way, they get a solid refresher in basic mathematical operations. They tend to move fairly quickly through the lectures, tests and exams and they gain a bit of confidence as well.
"In addition to Acellus I also teach two sections of a traditional Algebra 1 course. I have about three fourths of the Acellus class in this other course. I have noticed that these students generally begin the semester performing well below average in the traditional Algebra 1 course. As the weeks go by however, these students begin to improve. By the end of the first quarter they're generally earning grades of 'C' or better. By the end of the first semester, many of them are earning grades of 'B' or even higher. I have gotten the same report from the other Algebra I teacher. She says the students in her class who are also enrolled in Acellus improve significantly as the semester progresses.
"Part of this improvement is simply a function of the greater amount of time that the Acellus students are devoting to Math each day. If a student spends an additional three and a half hours a week in a structured environment working on Math, they're bound to improve. But I think it's fair to say that another source of improvement in their performance is directly related to the software itself. They watch a video and they take a test. If they answer a question incorrectly the question pops up again later on and they have another chance at it. This happens again and again until eventually they learn to solve the problem.
"Another interesting aspect of the software is it forces the students to provide their answer in a specified format. The instructions may say, "Use set notation "{ _ }" in your answer" If the correct answer according to the software is { 4 } and the student simply answers "4", it's marked wrong. How often do teachers have to remind students to submit their work in a specified format? How often, as adults, do we have to submit work to our employers or employees or clients in a certain way? Acellus will not accept an answer unless it's submitted in a way that's recognized as 'valid'. This is a lesson that students learn quickly and that stands them in good stead later on.
"The single factor I've noticed this year that is keeping students from performing as well as they might in Acellus (not to mention their other coursework) has nothing to do with the software at all. It is simply that students appear to be unused to taking notes during a lecture. They just do not, can not, or will not write things down. This phenomenon seems to be getting worse over the years, and teachers from other schools who I've spoken with say they've noticed the same thing. The students need constant reminders and prodding to perform their calculations on paper or even organizing their notebook. I believe that if students would simply take careful notes they would do much better in all their courses, not just in Acellus. Next year I plan on requiring that students use a notebook. I'm going to show them how to set it up, how to take notes and how to label and index these notes. I do this in the other courses I teach, but I admit I have been remiss in expanding this into Acellus. I also plan on making this notebook count for a significant part of their Acellus GPA, perhaps as much as 10 to 20%.
"Acellus has an effective help line for tech support. I find myself calling perhaps five or six times during the year – not because Acellus is malfunctioning but to offer suggestions so as to improve items such as I just described, or to find out how to perform a specific task in Acellus. These suggestions have come about from watching one or more of my students struggling with that specific issue in a given problem. I have never called the number and been put on hold. I have never called the number and been told that "the next available operator" would call me back. Whenever I have called, someone picked up the phone and I got help immediately.
"Finally, not every teacher in our school (or any school, I imagine) wishes to have a small number of students working independently on Acellus while the rest of the class is listening to a lecture. Not every school has enough computers so that every student or class can utilize Acellus every day. I believe it would be feasible for two teachers to do an alternating "two days on, three days off" type arrangement where the classes move between Acellus and a regular classroom environment during the week. The Acellus students could, on their "off" days, work together on a single topic related to their regular Algebra 1 work. The other group of students could utilize Acellus as either enrichment or reinforcement, depending on what the teacher sees as being most beneficial.
"I was recently informed that plans are in the works to expand this technology to incorporate other subjects such as those in the sciences and humanities, as well as throughout various grade levels from the primary grades through graduate work at the university level. This is exciting. It opens up limitless possibilities for students and families around the world who don't have access to safe, high-quality schools.
"Here at St. Joseph High School, we're pleased with the results we've been getting from Acellus. We look forward to utilizing it to an even greater degree and with greater effectiveness as time goes on."
Janie Jones, Math Instructor, Colbert Public Schools - Colbert, OK
"I have several students who can pass Algebra I and Geometry because of Acellus. There just isn't enough of me to go around and be everywhere I need to be."
"I also tried using Acellus for an ADHD student who was very disruptive. It helped him so much! When working with Acellus, this student was able to focus and to accomplish something."
Zylphia A. Nobles, Math Teacher – Ridgeland Middle School, Ridgeland, SC
"As a teacher, Acellus has allowed me to provide individual tutoring during the regular class period. It allowed me to better understand why a student responded incorrectly and provide additional examples/strategies to ensure comprehension.
"I noticed that my Acellus students felt more comfortable asking for assistance with a given concept. They also seemed to feel more comfortable because they were working at their own pace. I found that they were able to focus on weak areas (division, rounding, estimation, etc.) and to strengthen their knowledge in certain specific areas (GCF, LCM, Ratios, etc.)."
Klint Glover, Math Teacher – Kane County School District, UT
"I use Acellus every day and plan to use it in the future. I have at least 25 students throughout the day that use Acellus for their primary instruction source. I also use the program to supplement what I teach in the classroom by using it in pieces with my projector. I use it for both slower and accelerated students and foresee it being used more and more."
Kory McElravy, Math Chair – Wishkah Valley School District – Aberdeen, WA
"Here at Wishkah we have set up a 7th and 8th grade math lab. Each student is enrolled in the Acellus program. The class is run by [myself], a math teacher in my 7th year, and one tutor, a calculus 1 student. The students are in my pre-algebra course and then also take the math lab. The Fundamental of Mathematics course parallels my own teachings in pre-algebra. FUNmath does a great job of teaching to many parts of the state GLE's. Some students are moving more quickly than others. This allows them to see math concepts before they are introduced to them in my pre-algebra. Many times I have taught a concept just to see my students practicing them later in Acellus. On one occasion I had a student who was struggling with an up-coming test. I set him into solving percents and decimals which gave him the practice needed to be successful.
"In the 8th grade the students labeled as low math skills were put into the Acellus math lab. This was determined by WASL scores, star math, and in class performance. Of the 8th graders in Acellus (10 out of a class of 31):
* 30% are now at the top with the students labeled as math advantaged.
* 50% have shown a great improvement; on average they have improved their pre-algebra grade 20%.
"One student in my class says that he has never passed a math class. At semester he passed with a C - for the first time ever. Students are gaining confidence through their successes; I can see a definite change in their behavior toward mathematics. A sophomore was put into the Acellus program to help build his skills because he was unable to complete the work needed for Algebra 2. He finished the FUNmath with a B+ two weeks before semester. He had always had an attitude that he can not do math. Now, he is enrolled back into Algebra 2. He is doing much better and his attitude now is: I can, it takes me longer, but I can.
"We have had such great success with FUNmath that we are now purchasing the Algebra 1 program. We are also working on ways to use the Algebra 1 along with peer tutors to improve our 9th grade class. At semester: 3 out of 11 passed with a D or better. Most will be enrolling into an Acellus Algebra 1 study course. I hope to see the same type of improvement."
