Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) and the Virginia Department of Education have partnered to conduct a first-ever 18-month pilot of HMH Fuse™: Algebra 1, the full-curriculum Algebra app for the Apple iPad®. The pilot is announced just days after HMH unveiled the results of a study in Riverside, CA, in which students who learned Algebra using HMH Fuse, on average, scored 20 percentage points higher than their peers who learned using traditional methods. Approximately 75 students across Powhatan County Public Schools, Henrico County Public Schools and Arlington Public Schools will participate in this introduction of a multimedia platform to Virginia math education.
The pilot, which encompasses the 2012 Spring semester and the 2012–2013 school year, will help evaluate to what degree students’ use of enhanced online curriculum leads to measurably improved performance and more favorable attitudes toward math. HMH will provide all content and technical support, as well as conduct all quantitative and qualitative assessments and professional development associated with the evaluation plan.
Students receive step−by−step animated instruction, instant feedback on practice questions, the ability to write, record and save notes, and access to more than 400 video tutorials. Additionally, the platform facilitates personalized lesson plans by combining direct instruction, ongoing support, assessment and intervention in a single suite of tools. HMH Fuse also helps teachers monitor performance with real−time student−specific feedback via Wi−Fi.
"It is exciting to have a group of Algebra I students from Powhatan High School participating in the HMH Fuse Algebra I pilot in Virginia,”said Dr. Margaret S. Meara, Superintendent of Powhatan County Public Schools. “The Fuse app is not just an e-textbook, but much more. The videos and interactive math manipulatives will be extremely useful in helping our students understand abstract algebraic concepts. The Fuse app will allow our students to begin learning in the classroom and then continue at home at their own pace until they truly grasp each concept.”
