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Tuesday, May 26th, 2009USATestprep is currently looking for qualified educators to author content. Click here to learn more.
Archive for the 'Announcements' Category
2009 Survey Results
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009We hope that your year is wrapping up well. Thanks for taking the time to complete our recent survey; we use this data to plan our future development. Here is a summary of the results.
SUMMARY
As of May 5, 2009, 734 educators from 13 states completed our survey. Over 99% of these respondents felt that USATestprep helped their students review for their tests. We are very proud of this statistic.
FEATURES FOR NEXT FALL
USATestprep’s goals are to provide the most effective online system to help you and your students prepare for state-level tests. Based on your responses to our survey, we will continue to innovate our product to reach this goal. Next year you will see (at no additional charge):
• Individual student and teacher login
• Topic/Standard-Specific item review
• Updated benchmark test system where teachers create custom tests
• New design layout with powerful data management
CONGRATULATIONS TO WINNERS
These survey-takers had their names drawn and will each receive a $50 Target Gift Card.
• Clay Jones, Florence High School, MS, Teacher
• Julie Novak, Hillgrove High School, GA, Graduation Coach
• Shawna Koch, Cullman Area Career Center, AL, Teacher
It has been our pleasure to develop, maintain, and assist you and your students with your test review needs. It is our hope that we maintain this relationship by continuing to provide you with the best possible service. As always, it is by your feedback that we have been able to do this, and we thank you for your continued support.
Great Idea from Klein High School (TX)
Friday, May 1st, 2009We receceived a great idea from Klein High School in Texas. They shared with us how they encourage the use of USATestprep by their students. The ideas were so good, we asked permission to post their email. Rose, thanks for letting us share the information.
We developed a campus wide math and science initiative which included
two parts. One part was a tournament for Head of the Class champions,
using your elimination brackets. We had students compete to become class
champions and then selected a teacher champion. We just had a rally
yesterday to acknowledge our HC Class and Teacher Champions. The final
round of our tournaments will be next week to decide a subject champion.
The second part was a competition for homework assignments which
included students receiving prize drawing tickets for completing 5
assignments on the USATestprep. Math and Science teachers were
encouraged to incorporate the use of the site as part of their TAKS prep
and content reinforcement. We had a weekly drawing for $50 gift cards
and we will have a final drawing for $75 to $100 for students who
completed 4 out of 5 weeks of TAKS Smackdown homework.
We are also providing recognition to the gamers by giving away small
gift certificates for the highest gaming score.
So as you can see we really wanted to use this site to its fullest
potential. We are excited by the student’s response and anxiously
anticipate the positive impact it has had. We are already planning to
reflect on how to maximize its use for next year by starting in the fall
instead of the spring. I hope this explains why me, Tia and Darlene
have been corresponding and calling with problems to solve and
suggestions.
Thank you for providing us with a great tool and making the adjustments
to make it more effective.
Rose Bostick
IPC Instructional Specialist
Klein High School
Mathematics 1 Available for Georgia Middle Schools
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009We have heard you!
We have had numerous calls from middle schools around the state of Georgia with eighth graders who are taking Mathematics 1. These subscribers need a Math 1 review for these advanced students. That is why we have decided to offer our high school level Math 1 review to all of our middle school CRCT review subscribers. This online review has all of the same features you find in our other subject reviews and is aligned to the rigorous Math 1 standards.
Best of all, we have decided to offer this to you at no extra cost. That’s correct. For all schools who have a current subscription to our 8th Grade Math CRCT Review, you will receive access to our Math 1 review, free of charge, beginning April 27th, 2009. For any schools that do not currently subscribe to the 8th Grade Math CRCT Review, the same price ($300) will now give you access to both of these products. Simply call or email us to start your subscription.
Good luck to you on your CRCTs this week, and we hope you enjoy this new product.
2009 Annual Subscriber Survey
Monday, April 20th, 2009
Once a year we seek input from our subscribers. Based on your feedback from last year’s survey, we implemented the top 5 most requested features over the past year. We want to ensure we continue to help your students succeed and offer the best review product possible.
- What is it that you value?
- What do you think can be improved?
Just answer a few quick questions to help us continue to help your students succeed. Doing so will earn you a chance at one of 3 $50 Target Gift Certificates.
Rules for your chance to win one of 3 $50 Target Gift Certificates:
- Survey must be completed in full.
- You must be an educator and current customer of USATestprep.
- You must have your survey completed by 5/01/09.
Survey time expired…
Mississippi Middle School MCT2 Review Launched
Friday, March 20th, 2009Due to requests from Mississippi middle schools, we have recently completed our review for the Mississippi Curriculum Test, Second Edition (MCT2). We custom built this review from the Test Item Specifications and Blueprints to accurately match the Revised Curriculum Frameworks. We have included all MCT2 subjects at the middle school level - 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Math and Language Arts, including both Pre-Algebra and Algebra I.
To sign up for a free, 7-day trial of our MCT2 review, simply contact us by phone or email.
Launch of South Carolina History Completes PASS Review
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009Due to requests from South Carolina middle schools, we have now completed our review for the Middle School PASS tests. We have added the final online review product, South Carolina History, which is the 8th Grade Social Studies PASS Test. We custom-built this review to accurately match the South Carolina Academic Standards.
If you would like to evaluate our new 8th grade Social Studies product, simply email or call us.
Growing Pains
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009Yesterday, March 10th, the site experienced some technical difficulties around 10-11 A.M. EST. The outage was caused by the addition of a new server. We added this server to provide increased speed and performance for users and to accommodate future site growth. When the server was brought online, its internal clock was not set properly. This caused the site-wide login problems. We corrected the problem and put in place a fail-safe script to prevent a similar problem from happening in the future.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you during this busy testing season. Do not hesitate to call or email if you have any questions.
Prices Remain Constant for 2009-2010 School Year
Monday, March 2nd, 2009Due to the economic challenges faced by small and large school systems alike, USATestprep has announced that their current pricing structure will remain unchanged for the entire 2009-2010 school year. This means that schools now know in advance what to budget for quality, online test review.
Schools can expect to receive the same level of customer service and an improved online review product for the same price they spent in 2008-2009. This also considers that we have plans to implement some of the most requested features in the upcoming school year.
Since our inception, over 10 years ago, we have always striven to keep our product affordable for the classroom teacher. During this time, our price has increased by less than 25%. However, the quality and variety of our site has increased dramatically. We hope that you value our product, and we look forward to continuing to provide your students with test review during this problematic economic period.
USATestprep announces Middle School PASS Review
Monday, February 23rd, 2009Due to requests from South Carolina middle schools, we have recently completed our online reviews for the South Carolina Middle School PASS Tests. This includes reviews for 6th, 7th and 8th grade ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies. We custom built each of these resources from the ground up to accurately match the South Carolina Academic Standards.
As a valued subscriber we wanted to make you aware of this addition. Please feel free to pass this information on to any South Carolina middle schools that you feel may benefit from our product. If you would like to add any of these subscriptions, please contact us by phone or email.
