Herndon, Virginia, May 22, 2018 — To keep students actively learning over the summer and to help prevent summer learning loss, the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE), with the help of Fuel Education® (FuelEd®), is launching its sixth annual Alabama Summer Learning Challenge. From May through July, students across the state have free access to two FuelEd online learning tools, Stride™, an award-winning digital learning solution that rewards student progress with games, and Big Universe®, an online reading literacy platform featuring thousands of eBooks.
“The Alabama Summer Learning Challenge is a unique opportunity for our students and their families,” said Barbara Cooper, Deputy State Superintendent at ALSDE. “Giving students access to these engaging tools can help prevent summer learning loss, but it is also an advantage for their families. Parents no longer have to scour the internet or bookstores for high-quality content. These vetted programs are given to students for free and are accessible anywhere they can get online using their tablets or computers.”
Stride is an online, adaptive game-based learning platform that inspires students to practice and master concepts in math, reading, language arts, and science. When they answer correctly, students earn Stride “coins” to redeem for Stride games, which motivates students to practice skills throughout the summer and better prepare themselves for the new school year. Stride can also be used during the academic year for assessment and test readiness in the classroom. Built-in benchmark and formative assessments gauge whether students are at grade level for end-of-course and end-of-year tests. Real-time data and in-depth reports help educators track student performance and guide instructional intervention.
Big Universe gives students 24/7 online access to a library of more than 13,000 leveled eBooks from well-known publishers. The library has titles addressing a wide range of skills and grade levels, as well as topics tailored to students’ interests in order to spark a love of reading. The mobile program has engaging reading practice opportunities, such as read alouds, guided reading, interactive writing, writing workshops, and reading workshops. It also includes integrated tools such as embedded assessments, a student recommendation engine, and analytics to demonstrate reading growth.
“Both Stride and Big Universe not only engage students and enable them to take ownership of their learning this summer, but they are also valuable tools for teachers in the classroom come fall. By providing students with access to these tools all summer long, the Alabama State Department of Education is setting their students up for success,” said Sean P. Ryan, General Manager of Fuel Education.
While Big Universe is a new addition to the Alabama Summer Learning Challenge this year, there was a 55 percent increase in Stride usage from summer 2016 to summer 2017. Last summer, Alabama students answered 6.9 million Stride skills practice questions in math, reading, language arts and science. Parents were impressed with Stride’s ability to keep students engaged and gave the following feedback after last summer’s Challenge:
- “My sixth-grader enjoyed Stride, especially the option to play games after some academic work was done, and my second grader liked being able to rack up the gaming points and play for longer periods at times. It really motivated her. Stride became part of their routine. From the parents’ side, I enjoyed the interactive educational program. I especially appreciated being able to look at the various levels to see if they were below or on target for their grade.” – Tiffani, parent, Auburn, AL
- “We enjoyed using Stride this summer. My incoming first-grader had a lot of fun with it and really enjoyed earning points to play the games, but also enjoyed answering the questions, much to my surprise. We really appreciated having that resource available.” – Anna, parent, Troy, AL
To learn more about the Alabama Summer Learning Challenge or to get started today, visit fueleducation.com/ALSummerLearning.
About Fuel Education
Fuel Education® partners with school districts to fuel personalized learning and transform the education experience inside and outside the classroom. The company provides innovative solutions for pre-K through 12th grade that empower districts to implement successful online and blended learning programs. Its open, easy-to-use Personalized Learning Platform, PEAK™, enables teachers to customize courses using their own content, FuelEd courses and titles, third-party content, and open educational resources. Fuel Education serves more than 2,000 school districts, offering one of the industry’s largest catalogs of K–12 digital curriculum, certified instruction, professional development, and educational services. To learn more, visit fueleducation.com and Twitter.
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