Miami-Dade Superintendent Albert Carvalho’s brainchild project, iPrep Academy, has scored top in the Florida state end-of-course exams (EOC) using online learning. iPrep’s students have surpassed the Florida state average with 100% of its 9th grade students passing the end of year exam in Biology and Geometry.
Out of 822 state schools that took the Biology EOC and the Geometry EOC, only five received 100% on both EOC exams. iPrep, a school designed to fit the technologically savvy students of the 21st century, was one of those five schools.
In February, iPrep adopted a new online standards mastery resource called Penda Learning, based on brain research and differentiated instruction and learning strategies.
“Penda enhanced my biology curriculum by adding excitement, building confidence in all learners, and being a great way to review standards in a non-traditional format,” said iPrep Science Teacher Thomas Gantt. “Penda’s tasks challenged and excited all learners, especially reluctant learners who had trouble completing assignments.
"I really think Penda helped me because I learn more from my mistakes and Penda gave me multiple attempts to get it right and I remember it better," remarked a student after the Biology EOC test. Although the student was an average performer in biology, she ended up scoring in the top 10%.
"Our EOC tests results indicated a 100% passing rate with 91% of all students in the top tier," added Gantt. "We are a public school serving a majority of minority student groups in an urban setting and Penda was also great for students whose native language is not English.”
