Feedback From Schools
Some examples of the feedback SuccessMaker NZ regularly receives from New Zealand Schools
Te Kowhai School, Melville High, Maeroa Intermediate, Kings Prep, Mahora Primary, Sacred Heart College, Mt Richmond Special School, Melville High Community Education, Neighbourhood Trust
Tony Grey, Principal Te Kowhai School, Hamilton
"With so many educational products on the market, it is difficult to take the time to explore what is available. I have been associated with the SuccessMaker programme in my last 3 schools. SuccessMaker is an incredibly powerful piece of software that enables personalised programmes to be delivered to students in core areas of mathematics, reading, writing and spelling. The software constantly adjusts/tweaks the programme based on how students are progressing.
During 2010 the students that worked on the reading programme had an average gain of 1.11 months in reading per hour spent on the SuccessMaker programme!
The students whom attended also achieved 4x the expected progress when using asTTle reading results and an average gain of 0.34 in STAR stanine. Results were taken from a sizeable group of students (100+). SuccessMaker has had a significant impact on the overall achievement gains within the school. It is also backed by research from John Hattie, citing that SuccessMaker leads, on average, to 2.5x greater progress than what he would consider significant.
Further to the achievement gains, we have surveyed those students that have attended SuccessMaker to gauge the "anecdotal" things regarding student engagement/motivation and enjoyment. Of the 45 students attending in Term 4, 100% agreed that SuccessMaker helped them learn (63% strongly agreed). It has been particularly noticeable the improvement and motivation of our boys. I am more than happy to host anyone interested in viewing the programme in action, the logistics, how we initially funded it etc etc."
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Margaret Black, Melville High School
"SuccessMaker has built confidence in the students that use it. One obvious feature is the way it motivates students. Once students start seeing success, there is no stopping them. This success transfers into the classroom.
We also use it to extend those students who need a challenge. We have found it be a wonderful support tool and are amazed at the difference it has made to our students!"
"SuccessMaker has built confidence in the students that use it. One obvious feature is the way it motivates students. Once students start seeing success, there is no stopping them. This success transfers into the classroom.
We also use it to extend those students who need a challenge. We have found it be a wonderful support tool and are amazed at the difference it has made to our students!"
Delwyn Bain, Principal Maeroa Intermediate, Hamilton
"The award for the most improved learning strategies went to a SuccessMaker student."
"The award for the most improved learning strategies went to a SuccessMaker student."
Tony Sissons, Principal Kings Prep. School, Auckland
"I wish to endorse the SuccessMaker programme which is quite outstanding. I am yet to see a more powerful learning tool than software provided in this package. The programme benefits the full range of children including our gifted and special needs programmes.
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"I wish to endorse the SuccessMaker programme which is quite outstanding. I am yet to see a more powerful learning tool than software provided in this package. The programme benefits the full range of children including our gifted and special needs programmes.
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Michael Taffe - Principal Mahora School, Hastings
"SuccessMaker does what a good teacher would do if they had the time! Mark all the work, record all the assessments and adjust the programmes of work to suit individual needs. As a learning resource, at the primary and intermediate school level, between 9am and 3pm a fulltime classroom teacher provides about one thousand group teaching hours per school year. As a learning resource SuccessMaker provides us with between four and five thousand individual teaching hours per year based on 5 licences (one thousand hours per licence per year)."
"SuccessMaker does what a good teacher would do if they had the time! Mark all the work, record all the assessments and adjust the programmes of work to suit individual needs. As a learning resource, at the primary and intermediate school level, between 9am and 3pm a fulltime classroom teacher provides about one thousand group teaching hours per school year. As a learning resource SuccessMaker provides us with between four and five thousand individual teaching hours per year based on 5 licences (one thousand hours per licence per year)."
Gail Swartz - Sacred Heart Girls College - Hamilton
“After having nearly 150 girls through the programme up to this point, progress has ranged from 3 months to 22 months. After a 5-7 week course on SuccessMaker, the average progress has been 10 months. As this seemed exceptionally high, I randomly selected 15 Form 3 (Year 9) students and 15 Form 4 (Year 10) students and re-tested them in September on the P.A.T. ReadingComprehension to find out if there was any correlation between their progress on SuccessMaker and their P.A.T. results. The ideal was, of course, to see a substantial improvement in their P.A.T.s since February. The results seemed to confirm this.”
“It has been obvious to me, that the girls not only progress academically, but for many of them, progress is particularly noticeable in their self-confidence and their renewed enthusiasm for learning. Records of every student’s progress have been kept and analysed.
The results have surpassed all expectations. Progress in reading and reading comprehension has been particularly impressive.”
Staff Comments on Students
Able to focus and concentrate for longer.
More independent in work habits and less distracting.
Improved self-confidence.
More enthusiastic about learning.
More interested in doing well.
Student Comments on SuccessMaker
I can understand what I read and write now.
It has helped me with my other subjects.
I like Maths because it is fun.
I am focusing more now.
It is so fun – not boring.
I am reading better and not shaming myself out in front of the class
It is fund and enjoyable.
I think it was a good idea to put it into our school because it helps us with our subjects
To help me understand things better and some of the things that they have on it, I haven't even done before
I like typing and it’s quiet.
I liked everything on SuccessMaker.
Being in a small group.
Smaller class – being able to concentrate.
Confidence and when there are small amounts of people so you can sometimes have individual training with the teacher
It praised you when you got answers correct. It has made me get better in what I do and think more and slow down.
When asked if they thought being on SuccessMaker had helped them, 100% answered 'Yes'.
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“After having nearly 150 girls through the programme up to this point, progress has ranged from 3 months to 22 months. After a 5-7 week course on SuccessMaker, the average progress has been 10 months. As this seemed exceptionally high, I randomly selected 15 Form 3 (Year 9) students and 15 Form 4 (Year 10) students and re-tested them in September on the P.A.T. ReadingComprehension to find out if there was any correlation between their progress on SuccessMaker and their P.A.T. results. The ideal was, of course, to see a substantial improvement in their P.A.T.s since February. The results seemed to confirm this.”
“It has been obvious to me, that the girls not only progress academically, but for many of them, progress is particularly noticeable in their self-confidence and their renewed enthusiasm for learning. Records of every student’s progress have been kept and analysed.
The results have surpassed all expectations. Progress in reading and reading comprehension has been particularly impressive.”
Staff Comments on Students
Able to focus and concentrate for longer.
More independent in work habits and less distracting.
Improved self-confidence.
More enthusiastic about learning.
More interested in doing well.
Student Comments on SuccessMaker
I can understand what I read and write now.
It has helped me with my other subjects.
I like Maths because it is fun.
I am focusing more now.
It is so fun – not boring.
I am reading better and not shaming myself out in front of the class
It is fund and enjoyable.
I think it was a good idea to put it into our school because it helps us with our subjects
To help me understand things better and some of the things that they have on it, I haven't even done before
I like typing and it’s quiet.
I liked everything on SuccessMaker.
Being in a small group.
Smaller class – being able to concentrate.
Confidence and when there are small amounts of people so you can sometimes have individual training with the teacher
It praised you when you got answers correct. It has made me get better in what I do and think more and slow down.
When asked if they thought being on SuccessMaker had helped them, 100% answered 'Yes'.
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Mt Richmond Special School - Eduvac Article
Melville High Student Community Learning Centre
Teen Mother attends SuccessMaker Literacy and Numeracy Programme at Neighbourhood Trust in Christchurch
