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Teachers: Get your information here...
MINDsprinting At-A-Glance
MINDsprinting is a unique, easy-to-use, educational tool to help you and your students � and it�s FREE:
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MINDsprinting uses comprehensive K-12 curricula for both reading and math that have been approved for NCLB tutoring. It has been honed over 20+ years and has been recommended by a renowned international panel of educators.
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We create programs tailored to the student based upon the results of our comprehensive, interactive, FREE Assessment Tests. They can be taken as often as desired from our homepage (to re-assess a student�s progress for example)
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We assign the lessons. We continually assess student understanding and assign lessons based upon lesson results.
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Lessons are printed; they are not done online. MINDsprinting can be used anywhere; all you or a student needs is access to the Internet and a printer.
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You manage all of your students from one screen � your Dashboard. Here you can obtain Answer Keys, enter lesson results, and access our many other features, such as Fast Tracking (see below) and up-to-date Reports.
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Lesson result entry is easy: simply enter the number of errors and the time taken in the boxes provided on your Dashboard and we assign the next lesson.
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You can use our curricula to create your own lesson plans or to supplement your class materials (see Fast Tracking below). For example, you may elect to focus on a particular math skill, state standard, or reading skill/level rather than follow the tailored programs at all times. Our lessons can be used for homework and extra help on difficult concepts.
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We provide up-to-the-minute reports that can be printed or emailed to third parties (e.g. parents). You may select a detailed Transcript, Progress Report (a motivational tool for younger students), or a Custom Report you create with the information you choose.
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Teachers and students have different usernames and passwords to log in, and only teachers can access certain key functions (unless you change the default settings at your discretion), such as Answer Keys, lesson result entry, and Fast Tracking.
MINDsprinting Math
MINDsprinting offers two Math courses - Personal
Math and State Standards Math:
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We teach math the way the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recently recommended it be taught. Math lessons typically take 10-20 minutes each.
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Lessons are comprised of self-teaching and practice lessons that address particular skills. They allow students to learn on their own, at their own pace, making our programs ideal for both remedial and enrichment students.
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Our math Assessment Test is extremely comprehensive - there are more than 40 questions for most grades (and significantly more for the upper grades). Such extensive testing is necessary for us to identify skill gaps and assign lessons to remedy them (each incorrect Test answer causes lessons aligned with the skill tested to be assigned). As a result, students in the same grade may have completely different programs - but each one will have a program tailored to his/her abilities and needs.
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MINDsprinting offers two different math programs (both are simultaneously tailored to the student from the results of the math Assessment Test) and you can switch back and forth between them whenever you want:
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Personal Math creates a unique program based upon the skills the student should have mastered before his/her current grade level, and the skills actually mastered. It is not limited to grade level material; it identifies skill gaps and automatically assigns lessons to ensure the student masters those skills. So remedial students can privately raise their skills to grade level while enrichment students have the opportunity to maximize their potential without limits.
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State Standards Math follows the standards in your state (there are 51 different programs � one for each state and the District of Columbia), addressing all of the skills in the grade selected that are required to be mastered for your state�s annual proficiency exam. Each student�s tailored program identifies mastered and un-mastered grade level skills and we assign lessons to master all un-mastered skills.
These two
programs can be used independently as they were designed for different
purposes. However, when used in tandem, you can provide students personalized
tutoring AND prepare them for the state exam at the same time. Example:
State Standards Math focuses on grade level material; it does
not address skill gaps from prior grades. So remedial students may have trouble
mastering the grade level material required for the exam and enrichment
students may be bored because the material is too easily mastered. By
temporarily switching to Personal Math: remedial students can
fill their individual skill gaps, enabling them to properly prepare for the
exam; and enrichment students can receive the challenges they need, enabling
them to remain focused while preparing for the exam.
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State Standards Math can readily be adapted for classroom use, used as an adjunct program for home study (which can facilitate parental involvement), or be used as a testing and review tool to ensure students have mastered grade level required material.
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State Standards Math assigns all
lessons that are applicable to a state standard. This allows you to select a specific standard at any time and be assured that the standard is fully covered. But to avoid needless repetition (sometimes lessons apply to more than one standard because of overlap between broad standards), we
do not assign lessons that (i) address skills the Assessment Test identifies as
mastered (they are marked as Fast Tracked); or (ii) have been completed in Personal
Math or for another standard; but we provide you the ability (via Fast Tracking) to assign those lessons if you choose.
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Students are constantly assessed. Each lesson (in both programs) has a companion Optional Homework that provides extra practice on the skill addressed in the lesson. That Homework becomes a Recommended Homework appearing in red on the student�s Dashboard when the student does not pass the lesson.
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In Personal Math, students only advance to the next unit when the skills taught have been mastered. A Unit Test must be passed to evidence mastery of the skills learned. Failure to pass the Test causes the system to re-assign some or all of the lessons in that Unit to review the material not mastered.
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Both math programs allow you to easily assign specific skills or state standards for individual students (or the entire class at the same time) to work on (see Fast Tracking below).
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We also enable you to obtain a copy of your state's standards on the Fast Tracking page so you can see how the lessons we assign address each standard.
MINDsprinting Reading
MINDsprinting offers two Reading courses - Reading Excellence and Reading Comprehension:
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Students are assigned to the appropriate grade level in each program based upon the results of the Assessment Test (not based on their current grade). Grade level determinations are criterion-referenced and based upon survey results of federal and state standards and textbooks (actual grade requirements may vary in your state or school district). All students start at the beginning of the level diagnosed by the Test: in
Reading Excellence, this ensures proper integration and mastery of all skills needed by new readers; in Reading
Comprehension, skills are improved by doing as many grade level lessons as possible.
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Reading Excellence addresses K-3 basic skills and learning how to read. You may view a detailed list of those skills on the Reading
Excellence description page or view the entire curriculum from Sample
Lessons page. Lesson times vary by student.
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Reading Comprehension (Grades 4-12) focuses on improving comprehension. Lessons typically take 5-15 minutes.
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Student progress is constantly monitored in both programs and students do not advance to the next level unless they achieve aggregate passing percentage required by the program. However you have the option to advance them at any time using Fast Tracking.
Assessment Test
To start every MINDsprinting program students must take an online interactive Assessment Test (but only one math test is
required; it creates both Personal Math and State Standards Math programs). Students can take the Test either
before or after they are enrolled and they can take it as many times as they want. It is always available
(e.g. to evaluate progress) to everyone on our homepage www.mindsprinting.com and to the enroller
only via the Assessment Test link at the top of your Dashboard.
If students take it multiple times before they are enrolled, you can select which results we use to create their tailored program during the registration process. If students have not taken the Test prior to enrollment or you opt not to use prior Test results, they will be required to take the Test the first time they log in. After enrollment the enroller may also elect to reset a student�s program (by clicking on the Assessment Test link at the top the enroller�s Dashboard) and he/she will then be required to re-take the Test from the Dashboard. �
Fast Tracking
Control our curriculum, increase difficulty, or work on specific skills with Fast Tracking.
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Fast Tracking is a special tool we created to give you maximum flexibility in all MIND
sprinting programs. Fast Tracking allows you to quickly and easily do many things:
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Move around in the curriculum - forwards or backwards - as you please (advance/lower grade levels, skip lessons, or select math skills to study).
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Undo a Fast Tracked or Completed lesson if you want it to be taken
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Assign a particular standard or lesson to one or all students (you can Fast Track one student or the whole class at the same time).
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Create your own lesson plan using our curriculum.
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Fast Tracking allows you to �fine tune� a student�s program. For example:
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Our programs are designed for the "average" student so that we can help all students. Where the "average student" requires four practice lessons to master a certain math skill, a particular student might only need two lessons. Fast Tracking allows you to jump ahead; OR
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If a student makes foolish errors on the Assessment Test he/she may end up in a lower reading level or be assigned math lessons for skills already mastered. Fast Tracking allows you to easily adjust the program instead of resetting it and requiring the student to take the Test again.
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Fast Tracking is simple to use: choose a Unit, check off lessons, click Submit and the lesson you selected instantly appears on your Dashboard (and the student�s) for printing. And when you Fast Track a lesson in one math program it is automatically skipped in the other math program too.
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