8/3/2019 NYSCATE Media Kit
19/24
ast Orange, New Jersey, with a
population of nearly 70,000 is
located in Essex County, only
11 miles from New York City and three
miles from Newark, NJ, making it a
major hub between metropolitan areas
and a thriving industrial and business
community.
While the city of East Orange has
many things to brag about, it is most
proud of its Jaguars: the students, staff
and parents of the East Orange
Campus High School.The East Orange Campus High
School, one of the 20 schools that
make up the East Orange School
District, is located on the former
campus of Upsala College. Focusing on
a very diverse urban student
population, the school houses more
than 1,300 students in grades 1012.
The school was developed around
career academics and uses the Whole
School Reform model of "High Schools
That Work."
One of the biggest challenges
facing the school was how to succeed
on the English Language writing
portion of the High School Proficiency
Assessment (HSPA), New Jerseys
high-stakes exam. The exam is crucial
in measuring not
only the success of
individual students,
but of the schools
and districts in the
state as well.
While East Orange
High has a solid
track record on the
exams, the schoolwas looking for the
right combination
of technology and
teacher
involvement to
make the best
writers possible out
of its students, and
to boost scores on the writing portion
of the HSPA.
In 2009, the East Orange
Curriculum and Technology
departments went in search of a
solution to the challenge, and believe
they have found the solution: the MY
Access! online instructional writing
program from Vantage Learning.
According to Language Arts teacher
Elissa King and
Principal Dr. Kelvin
Harris, the school is
an ideal one in
which to use MY
Access!. It was
vitally important fo
us to find the right
combination of
technology,student
engagement tools
and professional
development to
allow our students
to embrace the
writing process
and prepare for the
HSPA Exams, where the ability to write
proficiently is the main objective, they
said. Based on this ideal, the school
implemented MY Access! with 600
students in each grade level.
The school also believes that while
MY Access! is the best writing program
Spotlight On Success East Orange School District, NJ
NJ Students Gear Up for
Statewide Exams Using anOnline Writing Program
Combination of MY Access!
and teacher professional
development at East Orange
High School prepare
students for the HSPA
exams!
EIt was vitally
important for us to
find the right
combination of
technology, student
engagement tools
and professional
development to
allow our students
to embrace the
writing process and
prepare for the
HSPA Exams.
8/3/2019 NYSCATE Media Kit
20/24
370 Scotch Road, Ewing, NJ 08628 Phone: 800.230.2213 Fax:
215.579.8391 www.vantagelearning.com Copyright by Vantage Learning,
2009
available, it is critical to make assure
that each teacher is proficient in the
mechanics and tools of the program
itself, and to make the software the
ultimate teachers assistant and tutor.
With that in mind, the District took part
in Vantage
Learnings
intensive Test
Success Teacher
Training.
A feature of MY
Access! that
benefits ELLstudents (or ESOL,
ESL) at elementary,
middle and high
schools across the
world, is the
instant feedback
students receive in
their native
language.
Students submit
essays in English, and can receive
instant, targeted feedback and
instruction in seven dif ferent
languages.
To use MY Access!, students write
an essay based on a teachers
assignment, and submit it to the
Web-based system. The program
instantly analyzes over 350 semantic,syntactic and discourse
characteristics,
and scores the essay on focus and
meaning, organization, content and
development, language use and style,
mechanics and conventions, and
overall writing proficiency.
According to Ms. King, Our
students have benefited enormously
from this program. Our students are
so enthusiastic about using MY Access!
and receiving their feedback right
away. They have
been writing and
revising more than
ever, and feel
challenged and
motivated to
continue to
improve.One of the most
unique aspects of
teaching writing
with MY Access! is
that teachers no
longer spend every
spare minute
scoring essays and
marking corrections
that students
seldom read. I can check an
individual students progress from
essay to essay or check how my entire
class is doing on an essay. The data I
obtain is very meaningful in helping
me pinpoint where my students need
instruction, said Ms. King.
While success on the HSPA Writing
Tests in the spring is cruciallyimportant to Ms. King and to
the
school district, she added that MY
Access! provides much more than test
preparation, Using MY Access! allows
my students to think and to show their
voice as a writer, something they have
been hesitant to do in the past. Our
students essay scores increased, but
more importantly, so has their
confidence. I hope my students can
use MY Access! throughout their
education and into other subject
areas.
Since we started using MY
Access!, Ive seen a dramatic
difference in students eagerness to
write. Many of our students come from
homes where they had little contact
with computers. MY Access! givesthem the chance to perfect
their
writing skills while also perfecting their
technology and typing skills, all of
which are so important for kids today,
Ms. King concluded.
There is no doubt that the students
and teachers at East Orange High
School in New Jersey have become a
tremendous example in showing how
technology, coupled with dedicated
students and trained teachers,
canand willcontinue to grow well
in the Garden State. As the HSPA
exams approach, these budding
students are ready for the challenge!
NJ Students Gear Up for Statewide Exams Using an Online Writing
Program
Our students have
benefited enormously
from this program.
Our students are so
enthusiastic about
using MY Access! andreceiving their
feedback right away.
They have been writing
and revising more than
ever, and feel
challenged and
motivated to continue
to improve.
