Recently, Linden Elementary School in Fremont, Nebraska took part in a school-based research study that involved the use of the Essential Skills program Readiness Skills. In October, a kindergarten class of 23 students was tested on letter recognition (both upper and lowercase) and number recognition (up to 20). As a supplement to regular classroom instruction, the program Readiness Skills was used in the computer lab two times a week for approximately 25 minutes. Then in May a post-test was taken. Using the average of the students’ scores, results are reflected in the graph below. They seem to indicate a substantial improvement. Both sets of results show the improvements are statistically significant at an alpha of 1%. Readiness Skills provided students with interactive opportunities to learn about numbers and letters. The software allowed the students to immerse themselves in a variety of fun games and practice activities. They loved the graphics and were quickly immersed in an effective combination of clicking and typing the appropriate responses. Readiness Skills had a dramatic and positive impact on the kindergarten curriculum. It improved the students’ performance in all aspects of the skills covered. It put the students in the learning zone and gave many of the students a sense of success. The teachers also appreciated the quick and easy process of producing reports for each student. Brenda Roerty Media Specialist Linden Elementary School Fremont, Nebraska
