“Age of Learning” at JCS

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Wriggling excitedly, a group of second graders enters the library at Jefferson County K-12 (JCS) on a Wednesday after lunch. They settle into assigned seats at kid-sized tables, ready to channel their energy into their daily Age of Learning class. Next to the sturdy, blue-rimmed tablet at each seat sits a card for each student with a personal QR code. Quick as a flash, the scanned code seamlessly logs them into game-like education programs designed to accelerate their progress with reading and math.
There's no waiting for class to start. The children just dive right in, eager to pick up right where they left off, primed to tackle the next incremental step in their journey to become stronger readers and mathematicians. The students happily anticipate that today they'll be learning with “Shapeys,” who accompany them on their learning adventures.
The students may not realize it, but their parents, teachers and school administrators know that for many of these students, this journey needs to bridge a significant learning gap, and fast. While regaining local control of the school for the 2022-23 school year, district educators and staff have wasted no time putting in place a highly qualified faculty, rallying the support of the community and forging partnerships with professionals who are taking a special interest, not just in these second graders, but in every public school student in the county from preschool through twelfth grade.
Across the early elementary classes at JCS, one significant partner is Age of Learning, a leading education technology company, and the creator of ABCmouse Early Learning Academy, the award-winning digital education program. Age of Learning, which is based in California, has a strong track record in Florida schools that have needed a boost. Whether students are below grade level, on grade level or above grade level with their reading and math achievement, the Age of Learning programs they are using will meet them where they are and accelerate them forward. The company has applied well-established principles of learning science to develop their research-based math and learning programs, and their system is proven to deliver results.
Around 250 students at JCS from preschool through third grade are using Age of Learning's My Math Academy and My Reading Academy adaptive learning programs. These personalized programs continuously reassess each child's knowledge and proficiency while they are learning, dynamically adapting the curriculum to speed their progress as they master knowledge, skills and abilities in each subject.
JCS Principal Jackie Pons couldn't be happier to have Age of Learning involved and says that the partnership was “genuine from day one.” He noted that after an initial meeting during the summer, the company quickly flew in a team to do a technology assessment.
“When you're trying to close an achievement gap,” says Pons, “technology really helps.”
Age of Learning followed up on their initial assessment with a significant commitment to JCS, providing tablets, access to the software, professional development for teachers and regular weekly visits from the company's own personnel to ensure that teachers are supported.
Sunil Gunderia, the Chief Innovation Officer at Age of Learning, said, “We became aware of JCS's long-term challenges and wanted to help. When our senior team met with Jackie, he was very impressed with our evidence of accelerating kids to proficiency, unlocking potential.”
Not long after that class of second graders arrived in the library, a class of first graders also arrived and settled into another area of the media center. For the first quarter of the school year, these students have enjoyed Age of Learning programs in a special area class every day. As the second quarter gets underway, they'll rotate into another special area class, such as art or music, but they will continue to have regular time with the Age of Learning programs in the classroom. All 250 students using My Math Academy and My Reading Academy will be making steady progress all year long, by having both dedicated time in the classroom and rotating into the special area class.
Nicole Roddenberry, who teaches the Age of Learning special area class in the library, says, “We have seen tremendous results with student engagement.”
Teachers are able to monitor engagement, pace, progress and achievement in real time as their students work along their personal paths. The program alerts teachers and their assistants when a student may need help and provides guidance on how to assist them.
Pons observes that this kind of game-based instruction brings joy to the learning and taps into the children's existing skills using digital devices. He's very hopeful that this strong beginning with the Age of Learning curriculum will bring meaningful, measurable results for all the students.
For more information about Age of Learning, visit www.ageoflearning.com.